Yes, I went to see ‘New Moon’ on opening night, and yes, I fell madly in love with the werewolves. Psh. I’m easy. Shirtless hot buff men have my number any day. Take a look at the sexiness.
Today we have author Wendy Toliver joining us to discuss her writing life with us. Let’s see what she has to say! 
What is your brainstorming process for a new book?
I guess I don’t really have a “process.” I tend to get my ideas at random times, doing random things, and amongst random people. Once I come up with a story idea I believe is a winner, I tend to obsess about it until the story just flows out of me.
Can you explain your typical work week day?
I have three little boys, so the majority of my schedule is wrapped around their needs. They’ve grown accustomed to me writing, and I try to plan fun activities for them to do, like taking them to the park for a picnic while I type away on my laptop. Sometimes I arrange for a babysitter to come over, at which time I hibernate in my home office and go full speed ahead on my work-in-progress. Otherwise, I just run around like a typical mom, my mind abuzz with ideas to incorporate into my story at my first opportunity.
Tell us about your big break in the writing industry.
A friend of mine (who is now a CP) introduced me to a literary agent seeking YA authors. It was a good fit, and I consider this the first part of my “big break.” Next, after some yays and nays from publishers, she sold my story about a teenage siren to Simon Pulse. I consider this part two of “big break” because they’ll be publishing two more of my novels (and hopefully more!).
What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?
If your goal is to someday be published, I recommend joining at least one writing organization, whether local, national, or even online. People view writing as a solitary endeavor; however, I’ve found that getting to know writers (as well as people who fill other roles in the publishing industry) is invaluable.
Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what we can expect from you in the near future.
I’m working on my third YA novel, Lifted. It’s about a fifteen year-old girl who moves to a small, religious, Texas town and gets inducted into a shoplifting clique. It is scheduled to come out in April of 2010.
Really looking forward to ‘Lifted’, Wendy! Thank you so much for joining us today! For those of you who want to know more about Wendy and her books, you can check out her website here.
In honor of the one week mark to the big release day of ‘New Moon,’ Today’s Sexy Saturday is the whole Cullen Clan. Check out these sexy smoldering pictures of everyone’s favorite vampy family.
When I started reading young adult books again, one of the most inspiring stories was “Wish You Were Here.” Today we have fabulous author this story Catherine Clark joining us to share with us her writing process/advice. Let’s see what she has to say!
What is your brainstorming process for a new book?
That’s a very interesting question. I usually start with a phrase, or a character, that keeps coming back to me–starting as a sentence that I jot down somewhere, and find myself wanting to know more about. After a while, if it still interests me, I attempt to write up a few pages about what might happen in a story about that, or where that sentence might take me. If the few pages turn into more, and more, then it’s a going concern and I’ll try to finish it. I don’t always succeed, though. I’ve got some favorites half-written. Or, half-written favorites I guess I should say. Ooh, good title. “Half-Written Favorites”.
Can you explain your typical work week day?
I don’t have any typical days, but one I’m quite fond of is: I get up around 6 and look at all the stuff on my desk and freak out, then I have some coffee and decide I can do it all, then get our daughter up and after I drop her at preschool I rush to a coffee shop/office and work for 3 hours until it’s time to pick her up. Most of the time is writing, or outlining, or revising. A little of it is plain old emails and such.
Tell us about when you made the decision to write.
Hm. I think it’s a decision I’m still making. I mean, I could say that it was a certain time or place, but that wouldn’t really be true. Certain events made me want to write; certain people gave me the confidence to try it. And both things had to happen many times before it actually became the thing I do for a semi-living. I can say that I really got into writing in high school; really got intimidated by it in college; and then got a lot of work experience editing and rewriting, and that was what I needed to pursue writing to the next level. There are tons more levels I still want to get to! (How many floors are there, anyway?)
What suggestions do you have for aspiring writers?
Practice your writing in any way you can, any way that you enjoy, and have fun with it.
Tell us about what you’re working on right now and what we can expect from you in the near future.
Well, I just finished revising a book called Sundae My Prince Will Come, which is the third book featuring a character named Courtney Von Dragen Smith, who keeps a journal and is slightly off-kilter and funny. It’ll be published by HarperTeen in Fall 2010. I’m now working on a couple of new (half-written) ideas and have a middle-grade novel I’m revising, just to keep things interesting. I hope to publish some of my more realistic fiction (like The Alison Rules) in the near future as well.
I can’t wait for “Sundae My Prince Will Come”! It sounds great! Thank you for joining us today, Catherine! For those of you who would like to read more about Catherine, you can check out her website for bio information. If you’d like to purchase her books you can check out your local bookstore or here.
Catherine Clark is the author of several young adult books, including The Alison Rules, Maine Squeeze, Better Latte Than Never, Rocky Road Trip, and Banana Splitsville. She grew up in western Massachusetts and is a graduate of Wesleyan University. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Colorado State University.
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