Dear Amy Tipton: Happy (Unofficial) Official Agent Appreciation Day!

In case you didn’t know (which you probably didn’t since this is the first time ever), today is Agent Appreciation Day.  You won’t find it on any calendars, but a hodgepodge of YA authors decided that our beloved agents needed their very own holiday, so here it is.

Amy Tipton of Signature Literary Agency is rad for several reasons.  For one, this is her agent photo:

Who else but an awesome person would have this as her agent photo?

Secondly, she called me that winter morning two years ago and told me she loved the book I put my heart and soul and dreams and tears into writing.

Thirdly, it took her less than a month to get me a great deal with a great publisher and a great editor, Anica Rissi at Simon Pulse.

Fourthly, she has an amazing sense of style.

Fifthly, she encourages me to challenge myself and to write the best possible book I can, one that I will be proud of (not just one that’ll sell).

Sixthly, she is strong and brave and tenacious and ferocious.

Thank you, Amy, for all you do.  You’re an inspiration, and I am a lucky girl to have a warrior like you on my side.

Hugs,

Amy

PS:  Here’s a list of all the writers (and their agents) taking part in today’s festivities: http://lisa-laura.blogspot.com/

What a list!  We YA authors are quite a loving bunch.

When I was a one-woman army…and some other stuff I was obsessed with as a teen

I got really nostalgic the other day listening to an Ani Difranco cassette tape in my car.  I haven’t listened to her in years, but I still remember every single word, every inflection of her voice, every little warble and giggle.  I found myself singing at the top of my lungs with a big grin on my face, my voice cracking, on the verge of sentimental tears.  I remembered the concerts, being surrounded by hundreds of singing women, feeling that surge of energy and love and pride in my chest, feeling like anything was possible.

It was so easy to fall in love with things back then.  Not that I don’t any more–I’m reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road right now, and I can’t stop gasping out loud while reading it on the train to work, and I can’t stop telling people how in love I am with it.  But it seemed like I fell in love so much more often when I was younger.  Was I just easier to impress?  Was I less jaded and cynical?  Were things really that much better?  I don’t know.  All I know is I’m glad I had a little Ani blast from the past in my car the other day, and I’m grateful for all the amazing stuff I got to discover as a teen.  I know I meant it every time I exclaimed “This is the best _____ ever!”  And I’m positive all my little obsessions back then have a great deal to do with who I am and what I love today.

In no particular order, here’s some stuff I know I called “The best ____ ever” at some point during my teens and early twenties.

• Ani Difranco
• Tom Robbins
• Anne Sexton
• Elliott Smith
• wearing jeans under dresses
• My So Called Life
• The Grateful Dead
• Girl, Interrupted
  
• Heathers
• Pump of the Volume
• The Pump of the Volume soundtrack
• Gregg Araki
• the album Hips and Makers, by Kristen Hirsh
• the album Black Eyed Man, by Cowboy Junkies
• Dan Savage
• Harmony Korine
• PJ Harvey
• Brave New World
• Atlas Shrugged (I’m sorry!)
• sloths
• Pablo Neruda
• coffee

What’s on your list?

Suggested reading for YA skeptics

I often find the need to defend myself when I tell people I write Young Adult fiction.  Not that anyone’s ever been openly rude to me–it’s more of a self-imposed inferiority complex.  I just feel like some kind of pre-emptive strike is necessary to ensure that new acquaintances understand that I’m a real writer.

I need you to understand that Twilight is not representative of the entire genre, that there is more to YA than the Gossip Girl series, that I keep company with phenomenal writers who in no way resemble Lauren Conrad.  Please, I beg you.  You must believe me!

Or maybe I should just let the books speak for themselves.  Here’s a short list of titles that I feel are superb examples of why Young Adult literature deserves to be taken seriously, and why YA writers are indeed real writers.

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
• Luna, by Julie Ann Peters
• Dream Boy, by Jim Grimsley
• Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson
• King Dork, by Frank Portman
• The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

While I’m at it, I think I’ll throw in another list.  Here are some classics that, if published today, would most definitely be categorized as YA:

• The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
• The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
• Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
• The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
• To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Do you have any titles you think should be added to these lists?

Listen to me read on KQED Writers’ Block!

I was honored to be invited back to read for The Writers’ Block, a weekly podcast produced by KQED and distributed through NPR. The show has featured some of the best writers around, including a few of my personal faves like Charlie Anders, Kate Braverman, Junot Diaz, Stephen Elliott, Janet Fitch, Mary Gaitskill, Miranda July, Stefanie Kalem, Jonathan Lethem, Beth Lisick, Kelly Lydick, Armistead Maupin, Edie Meidav, Katia Noyes, Kaya Oakes, MG Roberts, Jonathan Safran Foer, George Saunders, David Sedaris, Bucky Sinister, K.M. Soehnlein, Amy Tan, and Michelle Tea.

Whew! That was a mouthful.

Check out the current episode, featuring none other than yours truly reading an excerpt from Beautiful.

Me and my book. And movies.

Hey look! It’s me and my book in the Barnes & Noble in Emeryville, CA.  I’m stoked that it’s shelved next to Frank Portman’s fabulous new book Andromeda Klein (although the person who shelved them apparently needs an alphabet refresher because, the last time I checked, R does not come before P.)

Brian and I popped in to the store before seeing the movie “Precious,” based on one of my all-time favorite books, Push by Sapphire.  All I can say is Wow.  I don’t think I was breathing for most of the film.  If you’ve read the book, then you’re prepared for how disturbing and painful it is.  But there’s something about seeing it on the big screen that makes it hurts even more.  I guess when you’re reading, your mind has a certain freedom to imagine a scene however it wants or needs to.  I think when I read Push, I was more focused on the narrator’s emotional experience rather than visualizing all of the horrible things she described.  But watching a movie, you have no choice.  It’s in your face and you’re forced to look at it.

Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t see the film.  Not at all.  Just be prepared.  Believe me, as much as it hurt to watch, it was done artfully and tastefully.  There is nothing gratuitous about the violence; it needed to be shown because it is Precious’s reality.  It would have been wrong to sugarcoat it to make it more palatable.  That would be a disservice to her and her story.

I was really moved by how many families were there.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many parents and teen children at a movie together.  As I was leaving, I overheard the teen girl in front of me say “I’m so glad you’re my mom” as she put her arm around her mother and nuzzled her head on her shoulder.  The mom squeezed her back, and I saw the tears in her eyes as she whispered, “I love you, baby,” and I almost lost it.

I could start pontificating about the social and political power and responsibility of art and artists, but I’ll spare you.  Let me just say that, leaving that movie, I felt like I was part of a profound shared cultural experience, that I was surrounded by a few hundred people whose lives had just been changed.  I walked out of that theatre, one of many strangers whose hearts had just been opened a little wider.  And I am grateful.

The Beat Within

I recently donated a signed copy of Beautiful to this amazing Bay Area organization, The Beat Within. They’re currently holding a fundraiser for their important cause, and my book will be one of many thank you gifts. Maybe it’ll be your thank you gift for your tax-deductible donation to Books for the Beat, which helps empower incarcerated youth in the Santa Cruz juvenile justice system through writing and art.

Interview with YA author Terra McVoy

I was honored when Terra McVoy, author of Pure and fellow Simon Pulse author, asked to interview me for her blog.

Her questions were some of the toughest and thought-provoking I’ve been asked so far.

Thanks, Terra, for the excellent mental exercise!

A Beautiful Interview with Amy Reed

Last month an amazing book burst onto the shelves, inspiring reviewers to use adjectives such as “raw,” “stark,” “gritty,” “disquieting,” “riveting,” “powerful,” and “intense.” And it is all of those things (plus a few more thrown in), make no mistake. But it is also smartly crafted and keenly written, which makes it even more unusual and entrancing.

I decided to try to get to know the brain behind the book, and asked Amy Reed some really hard questions about her really hard (but really worthwhile) novel, Beautiful. Here’s what she had to say . . .

Author of the Month Interview on Harmony Book Reviews

Check out Harmony Book Reviews here!

Author of the Month Interview: Amy Reed

Posted by: harmonybookreviews on: November 3, 2009

You’re a published author! Yay! How does it feel to know that your book is finally on the shelves of bookstores, ready for a reader to pick up?

I’m feeling a whole bunch of emotions. Mostly, I’m just really excited and grateful to have this opportunity. It’s amazing to work so hard on something, to put my heart and soul into it, then have it actually out there in the world. It’s validating, to say the least. It’s a huge honor. But it’s also kind of scary. Because Beautiful is such a personal book, I’m extra sensitive to negative feedback. So far, the response has been really positive, but who knows what’ll happen.

Have you always wanted to be an author? When did you begin writing?

National Novel Writing Month

I’m pretty sure I’m crazy. I decided to do National Novel Writing Month this year. Just a day and a half until the first day of November, when I will hypothetically begin my journey of sleepless nights and sore wrists and computer eye strain. Like I don’t spend enough time in front of the computer already.

What I’m reading….

Marshall Zeringue, from Writers Read and Campaign for the American Reader, recently asked me what I’m reading. Here’s what I said:

I usually try to alternate between reading Young Adult and Adult novels, though distinguishing between the genres seems a little silly to me at times. The only consistent difference seems to be that YA is always about teens, while adult literature is only sometimes always about adults. There’s a perception that YA is somehow less serious or “literary,” while in truth the variation in style, subject and quality is infinite.

I just finished the YA novel The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams. It’s the story of Kyra, a 13-year old girl growing up in an isolated polygamist cult and doomed to become the 7th wife of her 60-year-old uncle. It’s a complex and heart-wrenching look into one girl’s struggle for truth and freedom—not usually what you think of as “kids’ stuff.” I could not recommend it more, to both adults and young adults. This is one of those YA books that is so powerful and well-written, I want it to serve as a kind of ambassador to the adult literary world. I’d like to include it in a gift basket to the skeptics, with a note that reads “Read these books. I dare you to tell me you still think YA’s a lesser genre.”

The thing that touched me most about this book is how much I related to Kyra, despite the fact that my world is nothing like hers. Kyra’s unique story illustrates how curiosity and the need for love and freedom are core human traits, regardless of how one is raised. It is books like this that remind us how alike we are, and how finding empathy for others despite our differences is one of the best displays of our humanity.