OTBF 2019 AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Kayla Cagan

It is that time of year...again! Events and places where teens, authors and books meet! For many booknerds and readers alike, we attend many book festivals and author events all over the United States. I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this blog tour for this event! And...I get to host one of the amazing authors that will also be in attendance! You'll find out who I'm hosting soon...after discussing some details about this fun event! And, of course, at the end of sharing all this exciting and fun information, there is an awesome Blog Tour GIVEAWAY...at the end of this post! So... Follow the tour and get to know all the authors before meeting them on March 9th!

Well, this coming March 2019, the City of Ontario will be holding their 9th Annual Ontario Teen Book Fest featuring various bestselling YA authors. Booknerds and fans of all ages are welcome to attend!

The event will be filled with a series of panels, break-out sessions, and keynote presentations! So, don't miss this fun-filled day of books and authors. Come and hang out with all these awesome authors and fellow booknerds alike!!!

When:

March 9, 2019, Saturday

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Where:

Colony High School

3850 E. Riverside Drive

Ontario, California 91761

Did I mention that to attend is absolutely FREE and it is NOT ticketed!

Ontario's Teen Book Fest is completely FREE to attend!

For more information on the Ontario Teen Book Fest, go to:

www.ontariotbf.com

Sponsored by:

Once Upon A Time Bookstore

*Books and other stuff will be available for purchase during the event*

FREE lunch will be provided by:

Feel free to share this event on your social media!!! Use hashtag #ontariotbf

Join us as we celebrate teens and books with an amazing lineup of authors! And, of course, there will be signings as well! Yay! To celebrate this upcoming and exciting event, we are having a blog tour spotlighting each of these amazing authors!

Blog Tour Schedule:

February 26th:
Spotlight on Abdi Nazemian - What a Nerd Girl Says

February 27th:
Spotlight on Suzanne Young - Movies, Shows, & Books
Spotlight on Cindy Pon - Bookchelle

February 28th:
Spotlight on Isabel Quintero - Read Now Sleep Later

March 1st:
Spotlight on Amy Spalding - Nite Lite Book Reviews
Spotlight on Julie Buxbaum - My Fangirl Chronicles

March 2nd:
Spotlight on Kayla Cagan - Movies, Shows, & Books
Spotlight on Demetra Brodsky - Adventures of a Book Junkie

March 3rd:
Spotlight on Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka - BookCrushin'

March 4th:
Spotlight on Jeff Sweat - Movies, Shows, & Books
Spotlight on Robin Reul - What A Nerd Girl Says

March 5th:
Spotlight on Jessica Brody - The Readers Antidote

March 6th:
Spotlight on Stephanie Garber - Adventures of a Book Junkie

March 7th:
Spotlight on Jennifer Brody - Bookschief Managed
Spotlight on Carrie Arcos - Read Now Sleep Later

March 8th:
Spotlight on Nicole Maggi - Bookchelle
Spotlight on Mary Weber - BookCrushin'

Today, I have the great pleasure to spotlight this amazing YA author, Kayla Cagan!

**About the Author**

Kayla Cagan’s first book, PIPER PERISH, received universal praise and was a Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Month in 2017. PIPER PERISH was also picked as a Spirit of Texas High School Reading Program 2018 selection. Her second book, ART BOSS, called “an engaging portrait of the artist as a young woman” by Kirkus Review, came out in October 2018 from Chronicle Books. Her short plays and monologues have been published by Applause Books and Smith and Kraus. She lives in Los Angeles with her funny husband and funnier dog.

Stay connected with Kayla Cagan

    

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Books by Kayla Cagan:

 

(covers link to Goodreads)

          

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Praise for Piper Perish

"Piper Perish is the heroine I didn’t even know I was waiting for, so specific and unique, and yet universally relatable to anyone who’s ever longed for more. Kayla Cagan’s beautiful debut novel about art, friendship, and family resonated with me in the biggest and smallest ways. This book is for anyone who’s felt inspired, who’s felt rejected, who’s felt trapped where they are–yes, it’s possible this book might just be for everyone." ~ Amy Spalding, Author of The Reese Malcolm List, Ink is Thicker Than Water, Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys), and The New Guy (And Other Senior Year Distractions)

"With Andy Warhol as her muse and art school as her dream, Piper Perish is a character readers will root for. Style and wit, intelligence and heart, genuineness and longing: this girl is a gem. If you’ve ever yearned to be part of a bigger world than the one you were born in, you’ll find a home in this book" ~ Jennifer Buehler, Ph. D., 2016 President of Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN)

"Meet your new favorite book. Kayla Cagan brings a vibrant, irresistible new voice to YA fiction, and Piper Perish is engaging and beautifully real, from start to finish. A story that will break, heal, and warm your heart." ~ Sarah Skilton, Author of BRUISED and HIGH AND DRY

"[Piper Perish is] A love-letter to the artistic life, filled with glamour, passion, hunger and heartbreak." ~ Hope Larson, New York Times best selling author, graphic novelist and two time Eisner Award Winner

source

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Now that we know a bit about Kayla Cagan and her books, let's get to the interview! Let's get to know her more... on a personal level... Shall we!?!

*Interview with Kayla Cagan*

1.   Why write YA?

I suppose the most simple answer is that it’s my comfort zone to write younger characters, or younger than me anyway! I love writing teens and 20-somethings and am interested in seeing and hearing how they deal with the world. I feel like I learn from their surprises, their joys, their sadness, their intelligence and their insights. I try to shut up my own voice to hear what they say, if that makes any sense.  

2.   When did you know that you wanted to become a writer?

Probably in middle school. I was already consistently keeping a diary in elementary school but I didn’t think I was becoming a writer at that point. I wanted to be an actress or an FBI agent! But by middle school and high school, I was reading a lot of plays and starting to figure out how to write them and then writing them for me and my friends to perform, and then I just kept doing it. By the time I went to college I considered myself a playwright and a poet, because I was also reading and writing A LOT of poetry, and I guess it was around then that I accepted I was writing, so I was a writer. It wasn’t a big AHA! moment for me, more of a long and winding road.

3.   When your first book got published, where were you and what was your reaction?

Well, when my first book PIPER PERISH sold, I was at home, on my old couch, in Los Angeles. I was pretty much in shock that it had happened and I think I just stared out our apartment’s sliding door into the balcony for a very long time.

When I received my first copy of PIPER PERISH, I was at home in our kitchen. I opened the box in front of my husband and a friend who happened to be visiting us. It didn’t feel real, even though it was a physical product. It just felt like here’s a thing someone made, guess what, it’s you! I really couldn’t wrap my head around it. 

4.   What is your writing process?

I try to write or revise 30 minutes to 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, depending on what’s going on in my life. I don’t generally write to music like some writers I know do. I wish I could. I prefer the quiet so that I can listen to the words and story more. I sometimes set my phone’s timer before I start so that I feel like there’s an end time. I do that on the days that I feel more scared or anxious about getting to work. I also almost always start my creative writing practice by writing in my journal first to clear out the muck and cobwebs in my brain.  Usually once I start, the time zooms and my daily writing work is over before I know it.

5.   For those who haven't read your books, describe it in seven words?

PIPER PERISH – Art & High School & Best Friends.

ART BOSS – Art, Activism, Love & Friendship in NYC!

6.   Any favorite authors that inspire you?

For YA – it’s Amy Spalding, Sandhya Menon, and Maurene Goo.

For Adult Fiction – it’s Emma Straub, Jami Attenberg, Julie Buntin, Curtis Sittenfeld.

7.   How do you spend your time when not writing?

I spend a ridiculous amount of time with my dog and my friends. Also, I read a lot, but I do feel like that’s part of writing.

8.   What or who is your source of inspiration when writing?

These days, I’m inspired by news stories and how younger friends are affected by them. Also, I’m enamored of other artists and creators, so I’m usually looking to other artists and writers and soaking in what they do to help me be better at what I do. Looking at art and painting is very important for me as a theater artist and as a storyteller. I also watch a lot of movies. My husband is a terrific writer and I know I can go to him for a fresh take on something if I'm in a quandry.

9.   If you could do a writing collaboration with any author (living or dead), who would it be?

2 (unfortunately) dead writers – Edith Wharton, because she wrote one of my favorite books, The House of Mirth, and Dorothy Parker, who has a pretty macabre sense of humor and a great taste for witty one liners. Quite the poet.

10.  Favorite book you would reread over and over? Why?

There are so many, I wish I had the time to reread all of them all the time! This is going to sound like a really weird and boring one, but Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. It was a big influence on me for my first book, PIPER PERISH. I usually reread it once a year. :) 

OMG! Wow! There you have it booknerds/fangirls! We found out a little bit more, personal, about this amazing author, Kayla Cagan! Be sure to come out and hear her speak!

Thank you Kayla for taking time from your busy schedule for this interview!

***The Giveaway***

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Organized by

BLOG TOUR: What They Don't Know by Nicole Maggi

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Nicole Maggi's What They Don't Know!!! We are thrilled to be celebrating Nicole's new YA novel! On our tour stop today, we had the exclusive pleasure of asking Nicole "What was the Inspiration behind writing What They Don't Know." So, be sure to check out what she revealed to us. Plus, we have a cool tour-wide giveaway to celebrate this amazing new book! So... Check it out and grab your copy now!!! Don't forget to follow the tour, too! Find the tour schedule at the end of this post! 😊

Genre:

Young Adult

Contemporary Fiction

Publish Date: 

October 2, 2018

Publisher:

Sourcebooks Fire

Synopsis:

Mellie has always been the reliable friend, the good student, the doting daughter. But when an unspeakable act leads her to withdraw from everyone she loves, she is faced with a life-altering choice―a choice she must face alone.

Lise stands up―and speaks out―for what she believes in. And when she notices Mellie acting strangely, she gets caught up in trying to save her...all while trying to protect her own secret. One that might be the key to helping Mellie.

Told through Mellie and Lise's journal entries, this powerful, emotional novel chronicles Mellie's struggle to decide what is right for her and the unbreakable bond formed by the two girls on their journey.

      

   

What was the Inspiration Behind Writing What They Don't Know

My four previous novels all had a strong romantic element to them, and while I love romance as much as the next YA reader, I wanted to explore something different for this book. I wanted to write about a female friendship, a somewhat messy, complicated friendship that showed the power of girls when they choose to lift each other up instead of tear each other down. I had actually outlined a completely different book and pitched that to my editor, but she didn't go for it. A passing comment from my agent about the issue of abortion sparked this idea: what if two girls on the opposite sides of the abortion debate were thrown together because the girl on the anti-choice side finds herself pregnant after a rape and needs an abortion? What if the pro-choice girl is the only person she can turn to? And what if the pro-choice girl is also hiding a secret, a secret that the anti-choice girl has the power to dangerously exploit? From those initial questions, I began to build the characters of Mellie and Lise.

I first started writing the book in narrative form, the "I walked into the room and turned on the light" telling that most books are written in. But it just felt wrong. I kept pushing, hoping that something would break through, but the further I got, the more wrong it felt. Then my husband gave me the idea to try writing it as journal entries. I remembered that back in college, I'd kept a journal for one of my acting classes, and we had to turn it in at the end of the semester. I still have the journal and when I looked at it, I was shocked to see the deeply personal, intimate stuff I'd written in there for my teacher to read! That teacher was a wonderfully kind man who I obviously trusted completely. From that I got the idea that the girls were writing their journals to someone, the elusive Ms. Tilson who has tasked them with keeping a journal and handing it in at the end of the year. She doesn't really factor into the story, but she's definitely a presence on the page.

So I scrapped six months and 35,000 words of work, and started the book all over again, this time in the journal format. Once I had that, it clicked. I could hear Mellie's and Lise's voices so much clearer. And while Mellie and Lise are their own people, I gathered a lot of inspiration from the women that I interviewed about their own abortion and sexual assault experiences. I also got inspiration from the research that I did. There's a scene where Mellie visits a "fake clinic" - one that's run by anti-choice organizations for the express purpose of coercing women not to terminate their pregnancies. Everything that happens in that scene is something that women have reported experiencing in those clinics. There's also a speech that Mellie's father--a politician--gives that was inspired by a real speech that Paul Ryan gave at an anti-choice event.

The book is so timely it almost feels "ripped from the headlines" but at its core is a timeless story of two girls and how their friendship changed them and even saved them in a lot of ways. I've certainly had friendships like that, and those friendships continue to inspire me to do better and be better. I hope that readers will be inspired by Mellie and Lise in the same way I was when I was writing them.

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**About the Author**

Nicole Maggi was born in the suburban farm country of upstate New York, and began writing at a very early age. Of course, her early works consisted mainly of poems about rainbows and unicorns, although one of them was good enough to win honorable mention in a national poetry contest! (Perhaps one of the judges was a ten-year-old girl.) Throughout high school, her creative writing was always nurtured and encouraged.

Nicole attended Emerson College as an acting major, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Post-college, she worked as an actress in New York City for over a decade, focusing mainly on Shakespeare and the classics.

Now living in Los Angeles, Nicole balances writing full-time with motherhood. Winter Falls, the first in her Twin Willows trilogy (Medallion Press, 2014) is her debut novel. She has a stand-alone novel, Heartlines, released in February 2015 by SourceBooks Fire, as well as the second and third novels in the Twin Willows trilogy in 2015 and 2016.

Stay connected with Nicole Maggi

     

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***The Giveaway***

Giveaway Open to the U.S. Only

Note: Not Responsible for Lost & Damaged Prizes in Your Mail Box

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Follow the Tour

October 2nd

What A Nerd Girl Says - Guest Post

October 3rd

Bookschief Managed - Interview

October 4th

Movies Shows & Books - Guest Post

October 5th

Luna Reviews - Guest Post

October 6th

Gryffindor Books - Interview

October 7th

Knightingale Reviews - Interview

October 8th

Starkiller Reads - Interview

October 9th

Nite Lite Book Reviews - Guest Post

October 10th

The Readers Antidote - Guest Post

Blog Tour Organized by

COVER REVEAL: The Awakened by Sara Elizabeth Santana

We are absolutely thrilled to share with you this Cover Reveal for Sara Elizabeth Santana's The Awakened, the first book in The Awakened Series! We even have an official release date! Here it is! What do you think!?! It is a beautiful cover...isn't it!?!

Genre:

Young Adult

Horror Zombie Romance

Series:

The Awakened Duology, #1

Publish Date:

December 1, 2015

Publisher:

Oftomes Publishing

Synopsis:

Zoey Valentine is concerned with two things: surviving the multitude of self-defense classes her dad makes her take and avoiding Ash Matthews.

That is, until the Z virus hits, wiping out a third of the population in a matter of weeks. If that weren' frightening enough, the bodies of the victims disappear and suddenly reappear, awakened fro their dead state. They're faster, smarter, and they work together to get the one thing they crave, human flesh.

The United States is in a panic and then the government decides the unthinkable: to bomb every major city overrun with the awakened.

Now Zoey is on the run, with her dad and Ash, desperate to find a place of safety amongst the ruined remains of the country.

   

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**About the Author**

Sara Elizabeth Santana is a young adult and new adult fiction writer. She has worked as a smoothie artist, Disneyland cast member, restaurant supervisor, nanny, photographer, pizza delivery driver and barista, but writing is what she loves most. Her first story was written at age nine.

Sara runs her own nerd girl/book review blog, What a Nerd Girl Says. Her favorite books are a tie between Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling and Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce.

Sara lives in Southern California with her Dad, five siblings, and two dogs.

Her debut novel is The Awakened (OfTomes Publishing) due out December 1, 2015.

Stay connected with Sara Elizabeth Santana

    

Cover Reveal Organized by