School’s out! Spring is making way into summer, which is one of the best reading and writing seasons for YA authors. Teen bookworms all over the country are ready to toss the textbooks and cuddle up with some new YA reads. At SparkPress, we’re ready for the Best Writing Summer Ever, and are kicking it off with this SparkPress YA author roundup to help you get ready for summer.
We’re bringing you a diverse collection of tips from 5 SparkPress authors, some that we see as the best and brightest in YA Fiction. Read on for 3 tips from best-selling, award-winning YA author Colleen Oakes, then check out what some of our other YA authors have to say, including Sandra Kring, Jessica Stevens, and Brady Stefani.
Colleen Oakes
best-selling, award-winning author of the Wendy Darling and Queen of Hearts series
1. Give them realistic reactions to issues; no one wants a teen responding like a wisened adult, which is tempting to do when you are a wisened adult writing for teens.
2. Teens don’t talk how they text, nor do they talk like teens in television shows, who talk like the 30 year old actors that play them. Teens have their own, distinct voice based on region, maturity and education. The best way to hear how teens talk is to actually talk to them.
3. Let teenage girls be friends! Not everyone is bitter enemies throwing shade in the hallways. I want to see more positive and supportive female friendships portrayed in YA books. The relationships that teenage girls make in their high school years are deep and meaningful, but they’re often treated lightly. Let them be real.
About the Wendy Darling series, fall 2015 & fall 2016:
From the author of Queen of Hearts comes the much anticipated sequel to Wendy Darling. Wendy Darling: Seas finds Wendy and Michael aboard the dreaded Sudden Night, a dangerous behemoth sailed by the infamous Captain Hook and his blood-thirsty crew. In this exotic world of mermaids, spies and pirate-feuds, Wendy finds herself struggling to keep her family above the waves. Hunted by the twisted boy who once stole her heart and struggling to survive in the whimsical Neverland sea, returning home to London now seems like a distant dream―and the betrayals have just begun. Will Wendy find shelter with Peter’s greatest enemy, or is she a pawn in a much darker game, one that could forever alter not only her family’s future, but also the soul of Neverland itself?
About Colleen Oakes:
Colleen Oakes is the author of books for both teens and adults, including the Elly in Bloom Series, the Queen of Hearts Saga (HarperCollins 2016) and the Wendy Darling Saga. She lives in North Denver with her husband and son and surrounds herself with the most lovely family and friends imaginable. When not writing or plotting new books, Colleen can be found swimming, traveling, or totally immersing herself in nerdy pop culture. She’s currently at work on a standalone novel and another YA fairytale series. Find the Wendy Darling series and more at SparkPress.
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