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Showing posts from October 13, 2019

Into YA with James Brandon

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Today I'm talking to James Brandon on the blog about his new book Ziggy Stardust and  Me  and how he came to write the story! Hope you enjoy! 1. You’ve written a historical novel set in the 70s. How much research went into creating an accurate setting? Was it difficult to naturally write about a world and events that took place around forty years ago? Once I knew the story would be set in the summer of 1973, I spent a year immersing myself in the time period before I began outlining and drafting the story: I only listened to early seventies music (which I now find to be some of the raddest music to date), I watched TV shows and movies, and devoured books and magazines from that time. I also spent weeks at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco sifting through their archives. I remember finding a set of letters from a pair of lovers who I’m fairly certain never met in real life. (They couldn’t out of fear.) These letters were written with such raw emotion, you could

Into YA with Laura Silverman

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Today I'm posting an interview that has been a long time in the making. I reached out to do this interview with Laura before You Asked For Perfect  came out, and then things got busy so it's been a minute since doing this interview, but YAFP is one of my favorite books all year. If you haven't read the book, it is an absolute must read for anyone involved in high school, heading to senior year, in education, or is a parent. I've never read a book where I yelled "That's me!" so many times. Here's my review to catch up so that you can have a little context for that.  1. Where did you get the inspiration to write a book about the reality students today face? I love how you delve into the intense pressure to take as many APs as possible, and, as the title implies, to be perfect.   I went to an academically competitive high school where we were encouraged to take as many AP classes as possible and to sign up for extra electives, which led to things li