FFBC: Welcome to the club, How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake

How to Make a Wish
by Ashley Herring Blake
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 2nd 2017

Genre: Young Adult, GLBT, Contemporary

Synopsis:

All seventeen year-old Grace Glasser wants is her own life. A normal life in which she sleeps in the same bed for longer than three months and doesn't have to scrounge for spare change to make sure the electric bill is paid. Emotionally trapped by her unreliable mother, Maggie, and the tiny cape on which she lives, she focuses on her best friend, her upcoming audition for a top music school in New York, and surviving Maggie’s latest boyfriend—who happens to be Grace’s own ex-boyfriend’s father.

Her attempts to lay low until she graduates are disrupted when she meets Eva, a girl with her own share of ghosts she’s trying to outrun. Grief-stricken and lonely, Eva pulls Grace into midnight adventures and feelings Grace never planned on. When Eva tells Grace she likes girls, both of their worlds open up. But, united by loss, Eva also shares a connection with Maggie. As Grace's mother spirals downward, both girls must figure out how to love and how to move on.

Hello Ashley! We are super excited to have you again in our FFBC tours. 

Favorite Book? 

That’s a tough one, I have so many! But if I had to choose one, I’d say Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere.

Favorite TV show? 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer for life.

Favorite movie? 

Amelie

Favorite Song? 

Depends on the day. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Kishi Bashi!

Favorite Food? 

Anything with sugar.

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat. 

Hogwarts, any world that Anna-Marie McLemore creates, Red London from Victoria Schwab’s Shades of Magic series.

What were your favorite books growing up? 

(I was a Fear Street girl!) Judy Blume and Babysitter’s Club.

Favorite Quote? 

Currently: “Out of the ash I rise with my red hair and I eat men like air.” Sylvia Plath. I’m feeling sassy lately.

What do you find yourself “Fangirling” over? 

Nina LaCour, Jandy Nelson.

If you could meet one author, dead or alive, who would it be? 

Charlotte Brontë.

Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about HOW TO MAKE A WISH? 

The book follows Grace, a seventeen year-old pianist who has been the adult in her relationship with her mother for too long. The summer she meets Eva, a grieving girl searching for her own life separate from her mother, Grace starts to believe happiness might be possible for her, but she torn between breaking away and taking care of her mother, whom she really loves. Eventually, Grace has to choose—herself or her mother. It’s a story about family, friends, grief, and first love. And, of course, kissing.

What 3 hashtags would you most associate with your book? 

(Could be a word or phrase or anything that would instantly make you think of HOW TO MAKE A WISH.) #pizzafrieds #kissinginatree #livinginalighthouse

The arts seem to play a big role in your characters’ lives. Do you have personal experience with music and/or dance? 

I do! I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I did musical theater in high school and choir in college. After college, I was part of a folksy duo with a friend of mine and we both played guitar and sang. We made an album and played in dive bars and I even moved to Nashville, which I ended up loving and still call home.

How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing? 

The opening scene, in which Grace finds herself returning home from a two week-long piano workshop only to discover that her mother has moved them into a new place with her new boyfriend, was actually inspired by a friend of mine. A very similar thing happened to her as a teen and I really wanted to explore the type of mother-daughter relationship would create such a dynamic. My friend knows I borrowed her story, of course, and hers was very different in many ways from Grace’s, but that initial situation was the initial spark. And, honestly, I wanted to write a story about a bi girl falling in love with another girl and Grace’s story seemed the perfect place for that.

Tell us your favorite quote from HOW TO MAKE A WISH. 

“’Did we just kiss in a tree?’ ‘K-I-S-S-I-N-G.’” Hey, I’m just being honest. ☺

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write? Or which part was the most difficult to get through? 

I love any scene that involves kissing, I have to admit. And I love the ways in which Grace and Eva gravitated toward each other, so writing any emotional scene between them was really fun. The hardest scenes were ones in which Grace was really grappling with her feelings about her mother. She has a complicated relationship with her mom and, as I didn’t have a toxic relationship with my own mother, I really had to dig for those scenes, as well as listen to those I reached out to who did have these kinds of experiences. 

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for HOW TO MAKE A WISH – Which one would you pick? 

“Dark Paradise” by Lana Del Rey.

Are there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read HOW TO MAKE A WISH (specific music, snacks…)? 

Well, pizza fries, something my friends and I sort of, maybe invented, play into the book, as well as any type of diner food! 

What’s next for you? 

I have another YA coming out in 2018 called Girl Made of Stars, which deals with a girl whose twin brother is accused of rape. Yeah, it’s pretty heavy.

Thank you so much for everything, Ashley!

Follow the How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Ashley Herring Blake is a reader, writer, and mom to two boisterous boys. She holds a Master’s degree in teaching and loves coffee, arranging her books by color, and watching Buffy over and over again on Netflix with her friends. She's the author of the young adult novels SUFFER LOVE and HOW TO MAKE A WISH.

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne

Absolute Brightness
by James Lecesne
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 31st 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, GLBT, Teen, Mystery, Contemporary, Coming of Age

Synopsis:

From Academy Award-winning writer, actor, and activist in the LGBTQ community comes a groundbreaking story about love, prejudice, and being yourself.

Phoebe’s life in Neptune, New Jersey, is somewhat unremarkable. She helps her mom out with her hair salon, she goes to school, and she envies her perfect older sister. But everything changes when Leonard arrives.

Leonard is an orphan, a cousin who Phoebe never knew she had. When he comes to live with Phoebe’s family, he upsets the delicate balance of their lives. He’s gay and confident about who he is. He inspires the people around him. He sees people not as they are, but as they hope to be.

One day, Leonard goes missing. Phoebe, her family, and her community fight to understand what happened, and to make sense of why someone might want to extinguish the beautiful absolute brightness that was Leonard Pelkey.

This novel by the cofounder of The Trevor Project inspired the critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway show The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey.

Hello James! We are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours.

Favorite Book?

TO KILL A MOICKINGBIRD – I know it’s almost a cliché by now to have YA authors cite Mockingbird as an inspiration, but for me as a gay man growing up in a society that didn’t accept LGBT people, that book was evidence to me that justice was worth fighting for even in a largely unjust world. And the dignity of every human life mattered more than social norms. It got me through my youth and guided me as an adult and inspired me as a writer. 

Favorite TV show?

Currently? PLEASE LIKE ME, a charming, funny and quirky half-hour comedy from Australia. I wish I had written it. 

Favorite movie?

OF ALL TIME? Harold & Maude. It was made in the late 1970’s but it still says everything we need to hear about living in the world as an authentic individual. 

Your Favorite Song?

Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

Favorite Food?

The Avocado – the perfect food

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire from OUR TOWN

Maycomb, Alabama from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Middlemarch from the novel MIDDLEMARCH

Favorite Quote?

"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny." - Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. 

If you could meet one author, dead or alive, who would it be?

Oscar Wilde – To me he is a hero and a genius, but I bet he’d just be fun to hang out with. And I like to think he and I would have a lot to discuss. 

How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing?

I had been working for many years as a writer/performer, creating my own solo shows and traveling around the country. At a certain point I challenged myself to create a really long monologue, to tell a story from the first-person point of view. As I was looking around, I was seeing too many stories about LGBT young people who were either being victimized or hurting themselves because of who they were. I didn’t want to sugarcoat the problem, but rather tell a story about the real dangers and the real beauty that comes when we dare to be our true selves. I turned to some books that were important to me as a young adult, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, A MEMEBR OF THE WEDDING, GREAT EXPECTATIONS and CATCHER IN THE RYE and tried to honor them by writing the best book I could possibly write. 

Tell us your favorite quote from ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS.

“Once Leonard Pelkey disappeared, he was everywhere.” This is an encapsulation of what the book is about – how the inherent goodness of every person somehow escapes us and yet this invisible goodness is, I believe, the very thing holds the world together. 

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?

There’s a scene towards the beginning of the book in which Phoebe finds Leonard crying in his room, shortly after his arrival in Neptune. I don’t know if it was the most fun to write, but it certainly surprised me, and there’s fun in being surprised by your own writing. Up until then I’d been thinking of Leonard as a pretty happy-go-lucky kid. Despite his misfortunes, he always managed to show the world a bright face and he put a positive spin on everything. But the scene in his room revealed to me the hidden depths of Leonard’s character and showed me how difficult it was for him to always be chipper and up. It took his tears to make him real for me. 

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS – Which one would you pick? 

ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS was adapted into a solo show, which I performed Off Broadway in 2016, and I got to work with singer/songwriter Duncan Sheik. He actually wrote a song called PHOTOGRAPAH, which became the theme song for the show. Could it get any better than that?

Imagine that we get to see your book on the big screen (how awesome would that be?). Who would you pick to play your characters?

Mark Ruffalo as Detective Chuck.

Marisa Tomei as Ellen

Jacob Tremblay (ROOM) as Leonard

Elle Fanning as Phoebe

What would you recommend to read to those readers eager for more stories like yours after finishing ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS?

THE GREAT AMERICAN WHATEVER by Tim Federle

ONE MAN GUY by Michael Barakiva

BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

IF I WAS YOUR GIRL by Meredith Russo

TWO BOYS KISSING by David Levithan

What’s next for you? 

I’m writing a YA novel, which is due to be published in 2017, published by Feiwell & Friends about a gender-neutral 16-year-old who travels to Florida with their mother to take care of their ailing grandmother. And accidently becomes a mermaid. 

Something to say to our Book Addicts?

Be who you are. There is no substitute for being your true self. And only you know who that is – and the fun is finding out. You will never know the impact your authenticity has on other people. One of the reasons I wrote the novel, ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS was to remind readers that each of us has a particular brightness that cannot be hidden or disguised; that brightness changes the world we live in – if only we will let it shine. 

Thank you so much for everything, James!

Follow the Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

For over 25 years I've been telling stories. Whether I'm writing, acting, producing or trying to create social change, it's usually the story that got me involved. But in the process of getting things done and trying to make the world a better place, I've also been telling the story of my life. This website is my best effort to provide the general gist. But my hope is that you find something here that will inspire you to live your life more fully and continue to tell your story.

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Each participant blog is hosting an individual giveaway just like this one. So if you want to win a copy of James Lecesne's YA novel, don't miss any of the tour stops!

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul

Underneath Everything
by Marcy Beller Paul
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: October 27th 2015

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, GLBT, Realistic Fiction

Synopsis:

Mattie shouldn’t be at the bonfire. She should be finding new maps for her collection, hanging out with Kris, and steering clear of almost everyone else, especially Jolene. After all, Mattie and Kris dropped off the social scene the summer after sophomore year for a reason.

But now Mattie is a senior, and she’s sick of missing things. So here she is. 

And there’s Jolene: Beautiful. Captivating. Just like the stories she wove. Mattie would know; she used to star in them. She and Jolene were best friends. Mattie has the scar on her palm to prove it, and Jolene has everything else, including Hudson.

But when Mattie runs into Hudson and gets a glimpse of what could have been, she decides to take it all back: the boyfriend, the friends, the life she was supposed to live. Problem is, Mattie can’t figure out where Jolene ends and she begins.

Because there’s something Mattie hasn’t told anyone—she walked away from Jolene over a year ago, but she never really left. 

Poignant and provocative, Marcy Beller Paul’s debut novel tells the story of an intoxicating—and toxic—relationship that blurs the boundary between reality and fantasy, love and loyalty, friendship and obsession.

Favorite Book?

Since this question is basically impossible, I’ll break it down into categories. Favorite nonfiction: THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING by Joan Didion, Favorite adult fiction: THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tart, Favorite Young Adult Fiction: BONE GAP by Laura Ruby

Favorite TV show?

When I was a teenager: My So-Called Life. Now: Friday Night Lights

Favorite movie?

Wet Hot American Summer

Your Favorite Song?

For this book: Jolene by Dolly Parton, For me: These Days by Fountains of Wayne

Favorite Food?

I love to start each day with a fresh vegetable juice. My favorite has kale, lemon, cucumber, cilantro, and cayenne pepper

Who is your perfect fictional boyfriend?

Akiva from Laini Taylor’s exquisite DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE trilogy. Strong, smart, serious, thoughtful, superhuman, tender. What more could a girl ask for?

Favorite Quote? 

Just as my fingers on these keys 

Make music, so the self-same sounds 

On my spirit make a music, too. 

Music is feeling, then, not sound; 

And thus it is that what I feel, 

Here in this room, desiring you, 

Thinking of your blue-shadowed silk, 

Is music.

--Peter Quince at the Clavier, by Wallace Stevens

What do you find yourself “Fangirling” over?

I’m a huge fan of comedy, and I’m pretty sure if I ever met Louis C.K. I wouldn’t be able to speak. Ditto for Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters. And there are so many authors that awe me on a daily basis it’s impossible to list them all, but a few are: Laura Kasischke, Nova Ren Suma, Jandy Nelson, Laura Ruby, and Joan Didion. 

If you could meet one author, dead or alive, who would it be? 

Toni Morrison. Not only are all of her books unique and mindblowing, but every interview she’s given spouts so much wisdom I can barely take it all in. She is the definition of class.

Something to say to our Book Addicts? 

UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING is the first book I ever wrote and answers a question about female friendship I’ve been asking myself for 20 years: why did she do all those things to me? Why did I let her? Mattie’s answers aren’t mine, but her story is one I could have used in high school. I wrote this book for all the girls and women who may be asking themselves these same questions. I hope this book helps them find their answers.

Can you tell us a little about “Underneath Everything?”

UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING is the story of two girls bound by an obsessive friendship: Mattie, a map-collecting senior who quit her school’s social scene; and Jolene, the imaginative beauty who rules it. 

If you could describe Mattie in 5 words, what would they be? 

Searching for herself in others.

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?

“Fun” is a tough word for this book. Most of the crucial scenes were painful for me to write, but in the best way. I was forcing Mattie—and myself—to confront really difficult truths about who she is and why she’s doing the things she’s doing. But if I had to pick? I really enjoyed writing the flashbacks between Mattie and Jolene. And if any scene could be described as “fun” it would have to be the party scene toward the end. Who doesn’t love the game I Never?

What is harder to write the first line of a story or the last?

The first. Finding the story is the hard part, at least for me. Figuring out where to begin. Once I have that locked down it is easier to move on. Not that the endings are easy. In my first draft of UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING Jolene was not a main character, so the ending didn’t have anything to do with her. Once I realized I was writing Mattie and Jolene’s story, though, the ending was clear. That’s not to say I didn’t work hard on the ending. I had to revise it more than a few times. But that last line stayed through each revision. 

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a couple of new projects now that I’m very excited about. Both are contemporary young adult stand alones. Both are dark and edgy. Both have female protagonists. Otherwise they’re very different in both language and feel. But right now I’m trying to be present for this book, which I’ve worked so many years on. I’m so excited to finally share this story.

Follow the Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Marcy Beller Paul is a young adult author, former editor, and full-time mom who still has all the notes she passed in seventh grade (and knows how to fold them).

She graduated from Harvard University and lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children. Underneath Everything will be published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins, in Fall 2015. It is her first novel.

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