Where are they now? A Look back at our Author Interview Series...

Paper Hangover has been going strong for a while now, with its followers growing weekly, I thought we should recap our Author Interview Series with some updates on what they are up to now.

We kicked off Paper Hangover with YA Highway Blogger, Travel Writer and Debut Author Kirsten Hubbard. LIKE MANDARIN was released March 8th, 2011, and Kirsten had some amazing reviews, a great marketing plan, and an amazing book. LIKE MANDARIN is followed by WANDERLOVE releasing March 13th, 2012.

Source: Goodreads.com

It all begins with a stupid question:

Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back. 

Add Wanderlove to your To Be Read List today! 

Source: Goodreads

Last time we caught up with C.Lee McKenzie her YA Novel Princess of Las Pulgas was on the horizon. After a successful book release Ms McKenzie is back with a talented group of authors in a anthology titled, THE FIRST TIME.

25 YA authors writing about “Firsts”... first kisses, first loves, first zombie slayings, first realizations.

THE FIRST TIME is edited by New York Times Best Selling Author Jessica Verday, and includes short stories from Cyn Balog, Jackson Pierce, Carrie Ryan and many more.  

Kelly Hashway filled out our next author interview, her Debut Picture Book MAY THE BEST DOG WIN was released April 2011. It went on to be repackaged into a Coloring Book.

Source: Goodreads

Kelly has some other news she recently signed a deal to publish her YA Novel TOUCH OF DEATH with Spencer Hill Press, releasing January 13th, 2013.
Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.

All three books sound exciting, and the covers are amazing. Congratulations to Kirsten, C.Lee and Kelly on all their hard work! 

Happy Memorial Day!

For those of us in Canada, we are deeply jealous that our State-side friends have a holiday today and get to watch the Criminal Minds Marathon all day, 'cause you are, right?

I thought I would re cap our interviews and get you excited about our interviews to come as all the authors I approached were too busy to interview today, they are no doubt at the beach!

We first spoke with Kirsten Hubbard author of LIKE MANDARIN, many of you know her from the YA Highway and her global travel writing. Here are some pictures from her release party.

Next up was C.Lee McKenzie, C.Lee has been busy touring PRINCESS OF LAS PULGAS and had a recent interview...




Kelly Hashway is busy revising her YA Novel with her Agent, Lauren Hammond of ADA Management Group, they are featured on YaLitChat's June Newsletter on how that writing community helped them find one another amongst other writers Lauren has scooped up. I will link it up as soon as it goes live...

Up Coming Authors on Paper Hangover...

Dawn Metcalf Debut Author of LUMINOUS coming up June 13th in anticipation of her release June 30th. You can Pre-Order LUMINOUS here.

L.M Preston author of BANDITS released June 1st, 2011, will be dropping by Paper Hangover June 30th to discuss writing from a boys point of view.

July 11th, we welcome Leanne Beattie just released May 16th, 2011.























So however you spending your Memorial Day, make it a good one and think of me recording the Criminal Minds marathon to watch later...

Introducing Debut Picture Book Author: Kelly Hashway

Most of us are parents, and through probably one degree of separation we have nieces, nephews, god children and friends with children. I'm sure most of us are fed up of reading the same picture book after picture book. I came across Kelly's wonderful debut at JacketFlap.

Changing it up this week from YA authors, even though that's what Kelly writes, Kelly took some time to talk picture book publishing with me and seeing her words go to print after many, many, many edits....

Most of our readers and contributors have children, writing a Picture Book seems like so much fun. Can you share with us how you write a Picture Book?

I spend most of my day reading picture books to my daughter, and that really helps. I study different books to get a feel for the sound quality, the word choice, and the balance between what needs to be written and what can rely on the illustrations. After that, I start much like I would when I’m writing a novel. I have an idea and I brainstorm how to develop that idea into a story kids would want to read.

Morality seems to play a large part in Picture Books, how do you work out what lesson to put in each book?

I don’t like to be preachy. No kid wants to have a lesson shoved in their face, so I try to be subtle. I have some picture books that are more humorous than anything else, and others that have definite lessons but also entertain so the lesson isn’t overwhelming. I never begin writing the book with the lesson in mind. I create a character or situation and the lesson will develop from that, never taking over the story though.

A Picture Books Journey...

How long would it take from First Draft to complete manuscript?

For me, it completely depends on the story. I spend a while just brainstorming ideas, jotting down everything that comes to me—bits of dialogue, plot, character names. Once the story is fleshed out in my mind, I sit down to draft it. I’m a perfectionist so my drafts can take a while. After I revise a few dozen times, I let the manuscript sit for a few weeks and work on something else. Then I’ll go back to it with fresh eyes before sending it off to my critique partners. After that it’s back to revisions again. When my eyes are about to fall out of my head, I know it’s ready to start submitting.


How long would the illustrations take to complete?

I didn’t illustrate my book, but I was paired with the very talented Valerie Bouthyette. My picture book was accepted for publication in October and Valerie had her sketches drawn pretty quickly—probably a month later. It was amazing to see my story come to life through someone else’s eyes. The sketches then became full-color illustrations by the end of December. It happened rather quickly.

Assuming the book has already sold, the road to publication of a picture book differs from that of the regular publishing process. Can you take us through the steps to publication after your work is complete.

I went through several rounds of edits. You’d be amazed how many edits you can go through with a picture book! Since the books are short, word choice is very important. Once my illustrations were competed, I went back to edits to make sure the text and pictures matched. I had to make some minor changes to accommodate some of the illustrations. It’s very much a 50/50 between the text and illustration. After these changes were made, I went to another round of edits before my final edits. I told you it was a lot of editing. Then the proof was created and the book was sent off for reviews.

Thanks so much Kelly for joining us, I'm off to order some copies for my children's school Library.

You can order your copy of MAY THE BEST DOG WIN

For other works of Kelly Hashway visit www.kellyhashway.com
or Follow her on Twitter at @KellyHashway