Young adult novelist Sara Zarr finds third time with Mr. Media is the charm! (Or does she?)

Sara Zarr image by Ron Hogan via Flickr

By BOB ANDELMAN

The life of young adult novelist Sara Zarr has changed dramatically in the last three years, following publication of her first book, Story of a Girl.

That book led her to be a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. She didn’t win, but as I told her in our first interview, the morning after the awards, she might have been better off without that first book pressure.

And she never did hit a sophomore jinx: her second work, Sweethearts, was every bit as good and clever as book #1.

Now book #3, the just published Once Was Lost, confirms Zarr’s talents as an inventive storyteller of consistent and lasting talent. And this is a very different story than her first two; forget about this writer taking the easy, familiar path.

This is Sara Zarr’s third appearance on Mr. Media Radio, making her the first guest to return so many times.

Sara Zarr website

SARA ZARR AUDIO EXCERPT: "Can what I believe stand up to my questions about it? It was really challenging material. It pushed me in every way as a writer." 

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with SARA ZARR, author of ONCE WAS LOST, SWEETHEARTS and STORY OF A GIRL, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

After Richard Doetsch's '13th Hour,' baby, I want more, more, more

By BOB ANDELMAN

Regular listeners know I’m not prone to breathless hyperbole about my guests or their work. If I like a book I’ve read, I tell you straight out. And if I don’t like a book, you probably won’t hear the author interviewed on Mr. Media Radio because to me, lying isn’t worth the effort.

Today, I’m going for what will sound like breathless hyperbole, but when I got to the end of Richard Deutsch’s latest novel, The 13th Hour, I was mad because it had to end! I immediately gave it to my thriller-reading wife and said, “Read this. Now!”

The 13th Hour is the kind of brain-twisting, adult fiction that you can’t—and won’t—put down. Doetsch literally turns the world upside down and sets events in backwards motion.

And dammit, it makes sense.

I’m not the only one who thinks so, either; New Line bought an option to turn the book into major motion picture before it was even published.

Richard Doetsch website

RICHARD DOETSCH AUDIO EXCERPT: "As you travel through this book, friends die. Things change. He's got to set everything in motion because it's all racing to the final hour... Writing it was like playing five games of chess in my head as I moved through the chapters." 

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with RICHARD DOETSCH, author of THE 13th HOUR, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Young adult novelist James Dashner sends Mr. Media in deep with 'The Maze Runner'

Cover via Amazon

By BOB ANDELMAN

Recommendations are worth what you pay for them, so I don’t always accept them at face value.

But the same literary agent who turned me on to young adult novelist Sara Zarr two years ago thought I’d also enjoy James Dashner’s new YA book, The Maze Runner, enough that he sent me a copy without first asking. And Michael—who, in the interests of full disclosure, represents all three of us—even though there is hardly a bit of similarity between the work of these two authors, you read me pretty well so feel free to recommend something else.

The Maze Runner is the kind of book that teens and youthful readers of all ages in search of an appropriate follow-up to the adventures of Harry Potter will no doubt enjoy. It takes place in a fantastical, impossible place, develops a language of its own, and features characters you will instantly love—and hate. (Sorry, Gally.)

This is the first book in a trilogy from Dashner, who you may already know as author of the 13th Reality series.

(James Dashner website)

AUDIO EXCERPT: "The words in The Maze Runner are never used exactly as replacements for swear words. Their main intent was to give their dialogue a futuristic flavor and that they've been isolated and developed some words on their own." 

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with JAMES DASHNER, writer of THE MAZE RUNNER, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Michele Cameron, MOMENTS OF CLARITY... author: Mr. Media Interview

Romance is the top genre in fiction with more than $1.47 billion dollars in sales for 2007. The average romance reader is voracious and goes through 6-7 books per month.

Within the genre, there are many specializations, including tonight’s topic: romance novels written by and for African-American readers.

My guest is Michele Cameron, author of Never Say Never and the hot-off-the-press Moments of Clarity… Also joining us is her editor at Genesis Press, Deborah Schumacher. Deborah is a published author herself; her novel, The Air Between Us was published earlier this year under her pen name, Deborah Johnson, by HarperCollins.

You can LISTEN to this interview with romance novelist MICHELE CAMERON by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Impact of Romance Genre on Black Fiction Panel
• Romance she wrote
• Lauren Conrad Snags Three Book Deal
• Your Very Own Romance Novel
• DailyLit Offers Free Harlequin Romance Novel
• Arts, Briefly: Carrie Bradshaw, the Early Years