Catherine Ryan Hyde Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than 25 published and forthcoming books, including the bestselling When I found You, Pay It Forward, Don't Let Me Go, and Take Me With You.
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Brian Farrey is one of my “Tweeps” (translation: Twitter pals). He’s also one of the four people who participated in (and, irritatingly, won) The Bet. Yet, bizarrely, these are not his main claims to fame. Some actually find it more important that he is the debut author of the terrific YA novel WITH OR WITHOUT YOU (which…I just have to say…please let me know if that book doesn’t pull in most of the major LGBT awards in its category so I can go hurt someone for being on the take) or that he is an editor at Flux books. Or that he has a middle grade novel tentatively titled THE VENGEKEEP PROPHECIES due out this year. People and their priorities, huh Brian?
It's officially here, folks. If you sent me a photo of yourself for my third reader slideshow, check yourself out. Music is courtesy of my good friend Jude Johnstone...and it's a song about a writer. What could be better than that?
I have an announcement about reader slideshow #4: it's going to be all Pay It Forward. This doesn't mean I don't want photos of you with my other books. It just means that I'm going to put together one whole slideshow devoted to Pay It Forward, and then go on to another mixed slideshow. I'll also reuse several good Pay It Forward photos that were sent to me for previous shows.
I’m really not a book reviewer. I’ve never pursued reviewing, probably because I’m not comfortable being critical with another author’s work. I’ve only ever been asked to do one review, once—by Ron Charles of the Washington Post. I have no idea why he asked me. He stated as his reason remembering my novel Electric God, which he reviewed kindly when he was with the Christian Science Monitor. (He armed me with that wonderful retort for Simon & Schuster’s positioning disaster: “The book jacket says this is a modern retelling of the Book of Job, but I hardly think that’s a selling point.” It was enough to help me leverage that ridiculous and untrue log line off the paperback edition.) I’m getting off track. The book he asked me to review was Jackie’s wonderful CAGE OF STARS.
A little background for my readers. When I was a starving author…oh, wait, I still am. I mean, I am again. Let me start over.
The first time I was a starving author, Chris Moore lived here in my tiny town of Cambria. He used to work at a motel in San Simeon with my mom, but, when his big break hit, I’d still never met him. One day, post-meteoric success (his), he dropped in to our Cambria Writer’s Workshop on a day I was scheduled to read my work. Heart pounding, unable to breathe, I quickly
I'm not a hundred percent sure what got into me. Except that for many years now, I've had the feeling that I should be doing more with my photos. A couple of days ago the idea to create this video came out of nowhere, and I didn't ask any questions.
All of the photos are mine. And the Vivaldi music is legally and respectfully reused (the attribution is in the video information on YouTube).
Some of the photos are from far-flung countries like Tunisia, India, France, Italy, Greece
My first interview (and don't miss the giveaway at the very end!) in this series is Holly Schindler, Young Adult author (author of Young Adult novels, that is--Holly herself is grown) of A BLUE SO DARK and PLAYING HURT. It's been wonderful to watch her career blossom. Which I have. From a position that feels, in a nice way, just a little bit like being an insider. You'll see why on my very first question:
Me: I haven’t met you in person, Holly, but I feel like I know you. Here's a bit of “reader feeder” (in fiction, when your character tells someone something they already know for the sake of the readers): You emailed me out of nowhere and asked me if I would consider reading and possibly blurbing your first novel, A BLUE SO DARK. And I did, because I loved it. Now, that novel tackled some pretty weighty subjects. It really delved into mental illness, and how it
I promised I'd give away more advance reader's copies of When You Were Older in the new year. Promise about to be kept.
For those who don't know, When You Were Older is my brand new UK novel, due to be released by Transworld (Random House Group) on 29 March. (Don't I say that just right, UK fans? I'm learning.)
For anyone who still doesn't know, Anne Allen and I go way back. We live within about a half-hour's drive of each other, and I figured out a week or so ago that we have been friend for 14 years.
On the first weekend in February (and possibly the second weekend as well if I get enough takers) I'm going to be doing a weekend workshop at my studio in Cambria. This will be a read-and-critique workshop with a heavy focus on self-editing. In other words, the stuff your read-and-critique group will miss if they are only listening to the work, not reading it on the page (students will be encouraged to bring enough copies for everyone). Self-editing is a must for any author considering the indie, rather than traditional, publishing model. Class size is limited to eight. Hours on Saturday and Sunday will depend on class size, so please email for more information, and to reserve a space: ryanhyde at cryanhyde dot com
Charley sends out this message the night before the big event:
Hey Everybody,
Here is the link to watch the TEDx event LIVE that I will be speaking at tomorrow, Saturday, January 7th. The event starts around 10:15am PST/1:15pm EST!
My friend Misty Miller came to me recently with an idea for a possible anthology, and asked if I'd be willing to work with her to make it happen. I say "possible" because what is really guaranteed in this business? Still, if we get great stories/essays, I'm thinking there will be some way of getting them out to be read.
Here's what we're thinking. Misty, if I don't get this right, let me know, and I'll post any further thoughts you might have as a follow-up to this announcement.
We're looking for true stories from people who feel they've tasted the sting of prejudice. Anyone who feels they have not been accepted for who and what they are. Stories of racial and LGBT discrimination are of course welcome. But we are looking for a full spectrum. For example, if we use a story about an LGBT community member who feels the Christian community hates him (or her), I'd also like a story from a Christian who feels they are vilified for their religious beliefs, which may include an aversion to the LGBT community.
Years ago, I was doing a lot of business travel. And I do mean a lot. I was supplementing my writing income as a public speaker. It got out of hand, at least by my standards. I was on the road for about a third of the year.
One day I was exhausted and trying to get home when an airline problem caused me to miss a flight out of Phoenix to San Luis Obispo, my nearest regional airport. And there are only a couple of USAir flights to SLO per day. It’s not like American or United out of LAX or SFO, where they go out every couple of hours. The next flight was a seven-hour wait.
I had a bit of a tantrum at the gate, in front of the gate agent. Not pretty, but I was just so
So maybe you've noticed I have no current giveaways on my blog. No wonder I'm getting sweaty around the collar. Hate to go too long without giving books away.
Behold the advance reader's copy (or proof, as they call them in the UK) of next Spring's UK hardcover title, When You Were Older. It has it's own page on my site already, so either of those links you just read through will get you to more about it. Hope you like what you hear.
My Transworld editor, Sarah Adams, sent me a lovely stack of these with a note saying there were a few extras, and she figured I would know what to do with
I’m a fiction writer, so…nobody likes a good story more than I do. Thing is, there are fiction stories and nonfiction stories. And the difference matters. If you don’t believe me, ask James Frey.
Here are two stories. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is true.
Story number one:
Once upon a time there was a country called America, which wasn’t quite right, because that was not its name. Its name was the United States of America, so just calling it America was a bit insensitive toward the Canadians and
Me, Vance (my mother, who kept the PIFF going for years nearly single-handedly) and Charley Yesterday in Buellton, CA (which is approximately halfway between Los Angeles and the little town of Cambria, where I live) I met up with Charley Johnson in person. I've worked with Charley for years, but I live in Cambria and he lives in Salt Lake City. So it's been email, phone, Skype...everything but sitting down and having an in-person conversation.
If you don't know who Charley is, click on the link on the navigation bar above labeled The Pay It Forward Experience. Charley is the creator and distributor
Not sure how many of you know this, but the fabulous author J.H. Trumble has, by pure coincidence, also written a novel called Don't Let Me Go. It's very different from my Don't Let Me Go. But it's a great LGBT-based story for teens [I stand corrected--Janet tells me it's being released as an adult book, undoubtedly with YA crossover potential] so it's not so different from the things I write. Just different from my novel of the same name.
I'm posting a photo of Janet reading my Don't Let Me Go, and me reading her Don't Let
Well. This is a problem, isn't it? When you just have too many books you want to give away? I was waiting for the scavenger hunt to be over before I started giving away free ebooks of When I Found You. But the coupon code is only good until the end of the month. So I decided I'd better get at it. My readers will just have to cope with multiple giveaways all at the same time.
Here's my thinking on giving away e-copies of When I Found You. I did this with Second Hand Heart when the U.S. ebook and paperback came out, and it worked out very well. (Please note: Second Hand Heart and When I Found You are not available only as ebooks. They are also in paperback on Amazon. But I can't afford to give away a big number of the paperbacks, so I'm talking a bit more about the ebooks.)
In this case I'm not so much announcing the tour as wrapping it up. Today is the last tour day. For those not familiar with the concept of a blog tour, it's a "virtual tour," where the author "visits" different blogs online rather than than different bookstores in various cities.
The thing I like best about blog tours is that I don't have to get on any planes! The second best part is that you can't exactly miss one. If you miss a bookstore appearance, that's it. You missed it. But the reviews, guest posts, character interviews and other features stay online almost indefinitely. So you can browse through the posts after the fact.
Brian Farrey is one of my “Tweeps” (translation: Twitter pals). He’s also one of the four people who participated in (and, irritatingly, won) The Bet. Yet, bizarrely, these are not his main claims to fame. Some actually find it more important that he is the debut author of the terrific YA novel WITH OR WITHOUT YOU (which…I just have to say…please let me know if that book doesn’t pull in most of the major LGBT awards in its category so I can go hurt someone for being on the take) or that he is an editor at Flux books. Or that he has a middle grade novel tentatively titled THE VENGEKEEP PROPHECIES due out this year. People and their priorities, huh Brian?
