Temporary diva

Every month the readergirlz focus on a different book, and this month its book of a thousand days! They had me answer a few questions, come up with a playlist for the book (it was fun to come up with--I laughed picking some of them, but they're all rockin' songs). There's a forum where you can discuss different questions relevant to the book with others, and I'll be doing a live webchat on May 22 at 6pm EST. I got to meet some of the fabulous readergirlz while I was in Seattle with Libba, including the indomitable Miss Erin, poster girl extraordinaire. Readergirlz is a fantastic, friendly, fiesty group where you can discuss books, get recommendations, and meet authors online. It was created by diva authors Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, Justina Chen Headley, and Mitali Perkins.

A bit from a PW article about YA versus adult books:

Despite the number of acclaimed writers for adults who have also produced works for young adults, said Devereaux, the YA genre has not yet shed its stigma. Alexie spoke of the response he’s received from writers in the adult world, since publishing Absolutely True Diary. “I thought I’d been condescended to because I’m an Indian,” he said. “That was nothing compared to the condescension I get because I’ve written a YA novel.” He said that fellow writers have also accused him of chasing a lucrative market. “Because I’ve written a book about a 16-year-old,” he said, “that means I’m a capitalistic whore.”

Calandria asked recently what songs transport me to my youth, and it got me thinking...
Manic Monday
Take On Me, A-Ha
Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles
Wild World, Cat Stevens
Don't You, Simple Minds
Summerday Sands, Jethro Tull
Eye of the Tiger
Forever Young, Peter, Paul, & Mary
You Might Think, Cars
Dream Baby, Go-Go's
You Take My Breath Away, Berlin
Hey Mickey!
Into the Gap, Thompson Twins

I'm off to Atlanta!

Comments

[calandria]

Thanks for the list, Shannon! Those are some great tunes. Some of those transport me too--especially Hey Mickey! :-)

Wow, what Sherman Alexie said is very telling. What's wrong with people? Why don't they get it that YA is where it's at?

[Rose]

Take Me On--the song played at every stake dance since I was 14 (or before), and I am not kidding, I even heard it last year *in Germany!* at a dance I was chaperoning. It was like no time had passed AT ALL. Freaky.

Have fun in Atlanta!

[calandria]

Oh, and congrats for being on readergirlz! That is a really cool site. I'd already seen that you were on there from a HipWriterMana heads-up.

[Shawn]

And Max has his first published story, on readergirlz, no less. Congrats to him, and to you, too, of course!

[Mitali Perkins]

hey shannon, i was in california while you were in utah, i think, but we were listening to the same songs ... we are SO thrilled to have you over at readergirlz, and we all loved BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS.

[Miss Erin]

Oh! You just made my day! Thank you!

I love that you included "Here Comes the Sun" on the playlist for B1000, it's one of my favorite songs right now.

Thanks so much for coming to readergirlz this month...and once a diva, always a diva. :)

[Marcus Aurelius]

@Rose: a-ha's Take On Me is the one of the very few constants in the multiverse*. It exists in every single parallel dimension (even ones where life never developed!) and is theorized by many to being the key to unlocking a unified field theory.

Myself, I submit that it IS a unified field theory. I've already utilized it to cement general relativity to electromagnetism.

Shannon, I can't believe you used the "W" word on this blog! I'm shocked and dismayed, and perhaps a little hungry.

Good day, madam!

*The other multiversal constant, for those of you wondering, is celery. Its destructive power and pure evil mark it as an equal but opposite force that is sadly necessary to keep a-ha from reaching a critical mass of awesome.

Now THAT'S science!

[Frogster]

That's fantastic news, Shannon! I just re-read B1000 for the third time yesterday, and fell in love with it all over again. You truly are an amazing author.
I don't get the stigma over YA books. These books are just the right mix of everything: adventure, romance, comedy, without getting too deep in adult themes. We're all blessed because of what you and other YA writers do. Thanks bunches!

[Dr. Sallie N. Cheinsteen]

I'm not sure I totally understood Marcus and the science comment. But I like celery. Shannon, you are completely awesome! Eye of the Tiger!! "We're gonna bring you to your kn kn kn kn kn kn kn knees! knees!" Readergirlz sounds really interesting. I just can't wait until summer so I can read books all of the time. Okay I'm completely losing my mind from studying nonstop so before I make more of a fool of myself, I'm going now..

[Laura Z M]

Dr. Sallie, if you don't understand Marcus's comments about celery, it's because you've never witnessed his visceral reaction to the substance. It would make you, too, a believer in the destructive power of this evil, multiversal constant. (I must confess, however, that I had no idea it was "Take On Me" that was keeping celery in check. Imagine that.)

And to all you capitalistic YA authors out there, you keep writing today's best literature, and I'll keep reading.

Signed, The Invisible Hand

[Calliope1of9]

Wait I thought Marcus was referring to the celery-Austenland-email incident. Who knows. Maybe celery just carries bad vibes in general...

[cindy]

when i first wrote my novel, i thought i was just writing an asian fantasy. then people began to tell me i had written a YA novel. so i'm adjusting to the new genre and trying to learn more and read more.

since fantasy as a genre already had its presumptions and stigma, i don't mind being labeled a YA writer. people can make all the assumptions they want. that's their issue, not mine.

thanks for a great post!

[taylor]

well happy cinco de mayo yesterday everyone!!!! ahaha thank you for the gr8 post shannon!!! that is awesome!!! bibi!

[Maribeth Kayla]

Here Comes the Sun, The Beatles-Love this song and now you have me playing it in my head.

[Olivia T.]

So what other songs were on your Dashti's playlist besides "Here Comes the Sun", Miss Shannon??? Oh, and just in case you didn't notice, in the second picture of you at the Goose Lake ballet, your nose is crinkled just like Dasha! I thought this was awesomely wonderful! :) You always make me smile!

[Chelsea]

I'm about halfway through Smekday. It is definitely a permanent bedside book, along with everything by shannon hale, the blue sword, howl's moving castle, the king of attolia, etc...

[Ellenboro]

Of course B1000 was chosen!
The book is fantastic!
I've read it about five times since I got it, but sometimes when I can't sleep (I think I suffer from insomnia but mum doesn't think so), I pull out the book and read a few of my favorite parts.
I do that like twice a week, maybe? It's one of those books for me that I can read and reread and reread again and not get tired of it. Like Pride and Prejudice, which I've read like a million times.

Anyway... Congrats! And I love the playlist. Especially The Beatles!

[Christen]

That's totally awesome, Shannon; good for you! Book of a 1000 days was incredible and you completely deserve it. :D

(The playlist is rad, particularly Take On Me)

[Corinne]

I've only just stumbled on your blog - but your comments about YA books reminded me of a conversation I had at my online book group. The genre is not really defined very well - what brought on our conversation was that The Book Thief is considered YA here, but adult in Australia. YA is my happy place :)