What I like

What excites me in YA writing, what I seek and aim for is emotional authenticity. If I can’t believe a character would say that, then you’ve lost me.  I want characters put in surprising situations with difficult choices and if it’s a world I’ve never seen before, then I’m really happy. I love clean, honest writing that doesn’t draw attention to itself, but knows that its purpose is to serve the story.

You’ll see from my list below, I gravitate toward certain types of science fiction, futuristic thrillers, smart dystopians and some fantasies. Give me fresh, keep me guessing, engage me with something I haven’t seen before.

Some of my favorite things: (there are many, so just because it’s not on this list doesn’t mean I don’t love it)

Films: Memento, Vertigo, Inception (minus the snow sequence)

YA dystopian/fantasy/science fiction: Hunger Games/Uglies/Across the Universe/Wither/Legend/The Maze Runner/Divergent/White Cat and Geektastic/Incarceron/Beautiful Creatures/Never Let Me Go/The Potter series, and anything by Neil Gaiman.

Also a major fan of James Rollins, Eoin Coefer, Joe Hill, Dean Koontz and Stephen King.

Bands: Bat for Lashes/Spark/Anna Calvi/Florence and the Machine/Amanda Palmer.

Food: Good Karma’s Mudd Pie rice cream (try it and be amazed)

Brilliant art chart: The History of Science Fiction by Ward Shelley (segment in banner)