Getting the Words Out Quickly: 3 Qs for YA writer Hannah Moskowitz

As I mentioned yesterday, Young Adult author Hannah Moskowitz was gracious enough to take time out to visit with BtO and answer our famous 3 questions. She also dishes at the end about her process finding an agent, and her amazing one-night revision (kids, don't try this at home). A warm, smart young woman, Hannah's off to a great start, both as a human being and as a writer, and the fact that she calls her Twitter followers "magic gay fish" makes me almost want to sign up for Twitter. Get to know Hannah, and get to know her novel Break. If you like edgy YA in the style of Laurie Halse Anderson, I can almost guarantee you'll fall in love.


I came across you because of your fabulous blog post about male characters and YA. Can you elaborate on that a bit here? How has it been writing from a male point of view, and why do you think you've chosen it? Or did it choose you? Did you just start hearing the voice?

Writing from a female point of view honestly never occurred to me. My favorite books have always been from male points of view. I actually just recently started reading a lot of female POV (and I've loved it!) and I'm planning my first female POV manuscript for this fall.

Writing boys always made for sense to me, and I've noticed the only people who are surprised by it are people who don't know me; I don't think my friends would have expected anything else!

I think there need to be more books from male POVs, because they've become somewhat scarce lately. But what I really think we need are more books with three-dimensional male characters, regardless of the POV character.

BREAK reminds me a little of SPEAK, WINTERGIRLS, and other work by Laurie Halse Anderson. Is she an influence of yours? What are your other influences?

I love you entirely for saying that. I am a huge, huge Laurie Halse Anderson fan--until recently, she was one of the few female-centric writers I read--and I think she's definitely a big influence for me. I would love to have a career like hers, and whenever I feel a little lost, I'll admit to doing a little bit of "What would LHA do?"

Some of my other big influences are Garret Freymann-Weyr, Chuck Palahniuk, Chris Lynch, John Green, Ned Vizzini, Adam Rapp, and John Irving.

What's your process like as a writer, and how has it been affected by your recent enrollment at Brown?

I write first drafts very very quickly--usually in under a week--and then spend a few weeks revising after that. So my general process is just to get the words out as quickly as possible, before I start second-guessing myself.

I'm not at Brown anymore--I transferred to University of Maryland--but being in college hasn't affected my writing too strongly. I have more free time than I did in high school, after all.

Okay, extra dish question: Is it true that you revised BREAK in a night after receiving a request from an agent for a full manuscript? What's the scoop on how you got an agent?

Heehee, yes. It's not as bad at it sounds; I had two drafts of the book finished but was halfway through draft 3 when I started querying. I knew I could finish in a few hours if I got a full request, and I did.

The short answer for how I got an agent is that I went through it the traditional way. I queried for a year and FINALLY got an offer. The long answer is I'm on my third agent now, and I'm doing a series of posts on my blog about it if you want the full story!

Buy This Book: Break, by Hannah Moskowitz

I came across Hannah Moskowitz's writing quite by accident, when looking up blogs about YA male characters. Tune in tomorrow, when I'll dish with Hannah about this and other subjects, but first I want to introduce you to her and her novel Break, which debuted last year.

Break is in the tradition of Laurie Halse Anderson--edgy but lyrical, intense but nuanced, fast-paced but psychologically ripe. In chapter one, we're introduced to protagonist Jonah, who breaks his wrist in the second sentence. Intentionally. Yes, that's right, Jonah's goal is to break as many bones as he can, and he has his friend Naomi to document it. As usual with a premise like this, the track of the novel is as much about the psychological interworkings and pathology of the central character as it is about the arc of the story, and Moskowitz handles this balance beautifully.

She takes what could have been a melodramatic or emotionally difficult story and carries us through the trauma with biting dark comedy. From Naomi, who would "probably shake hands on her deathbed," to Jonah's brother Jesse, who is allergic to everything, the characters come alive through Jonah's sarcastic and intelligent voice. Moskowitz is a careful observer of human nature, and gets so many things excruciatingly right. Jonah describes his parents as having "home-from-the-ER faces," even though his mother "stayed home and bounced the baby." The dialogue leaps off the page, and the parents, although a little thinner and less consistently drawn, have the ring of truth. The whole novel has that ring, and if you're not impressed enough already, just wait until Tuesday when you'll get to hear from Hannah, who, by the way, got the contract for Break when she was just sixteen.

What an amazing gift this young woman has. Get acquainted with her now, and watch her develop. I'm beginning to sense a superstar.

3 Questions with YA Author Tera Lynn Childs

Interested in learning about YA (Young Adult) the hottest "new" genre to hit the proverbial pike? Then you could do a lot worse than listening to talented RITA-winning author, Tera Lynn Childs, who knows more than anyone I know on the subject. We recently tracked her down for three questions.

BtO: I've been enjoying checking out a few great YA (Young Adult) reads in the past two years, and found both your clever debut, OH. MY. GODS! and the follow-up, GODDESS BOOT CAMP, fresh and fun, with their secret island high school for the descendants of the
Greek gods. Which leads me to my first question, why launch a whole new world (and series) with the release of FORGIVE MY FINS?

TLC: Honestly? Well, there are two reasons. Partly, I made the switch because the sales for the OH. MY. GODS. books started out kind of slow and my publisher wanted to start something new while we waited for them to pick up momentum.


But that's not the only reason. I'd started FORGIVE MY FINS way back in 2006, right before I sold OH. MY. GODS. We'd been getting rejection after rejection and my agent suggested I start something new. I was in Florida for the summer, spending lots of time on the beach. Growing up, I'd been a competitive swimmer and I still fantasized about magically turning into a mermaid. One day, I decided it would be cool if a merperson could bestow their magical powers with a kiss. And then, being a writer, I added conflict and wondered what would happen if a mermaid accidentally kiss the wrong boy.


Being a water baby and a wannabe mermaid, this was a book close to my heart, and my critique partner (Sophie Jordan) always thought it was my best. (Plus, we both love, love, love Quince.) So, when my editor asked for something new, I jumped at the chance to finish FORGIVE MY FINS.

BtO: Can you tell us a little about the heroine, Lily Sanderson, and give us a sneak preview of the fix she's gotten herself into?

TLC: Lily is the princess and sole heir to the underwater kingdom of Thalassinia. She's awkward and self-effacing and loyal to the core. Three years ago, she learned that her late mother was a human and decided to go live on land to learn more about that world. She only planned to stay a year, but then she fell head over fins for her crush, swim star Brody. And if she has to put up with her obnoxious biker-boy neighbor, Quince, to stay close to Brody, then that's a price she's willing to pay.


In the mer world, a kiss forms a magical bond between the kissers and grants mer powers if one of them is human. Lily's 18th birthday is only weeks away and, if she isn't bonded to her mermate by then, she'll lose her place in the succession. With Quince's help she's supposed to meet Brody at the school dance, confess her feelings, and hopefully--if he feels the same--be bonded and on her way home in plenty of time. Only the meeting doesn't go as planned (shocking!) and instead she accidentally kisses bane-of-her-existence Quince. Now she needs to get Quince home to Thalassinia asap, get her dad the king to perform a separation, and get back to making Brody see they should be mermates before time runs out. Guess what? Things don't sail quite that smoothly.

BtO: Okay, it's official. I cannot wait to read this book.

Some of your readers might be surprised to learn that I got to know you through a local chapter of the Romance Writers of America. Can you share with us how writing YA is similar to romance, and what are the major differences?

TLC: I can't tell you how many romance authors have asked me about writing YA, insisting they never could. Nonsense! Teens today are not the foreign creatures we melodramatically believe them to be. While their environment might have changed (they text instead of write notes, they face increased security measures, they spend more time on facebook than on the phone) teens today go through the same things teens have always gone through. First loves, first kisses, first betrayals, friendships, enemies, worrying about the future, trying to define themselves, trying to live up to expectations. Tell me you didn't go through that in your teen years.


As for the writing, the only difference between YA and romance is the fact that the main character is a teen. That, of course, leads to teen-specific situations (like high school and summer camp) and teen-like reactions, but otherwise the rules of writing are the same. You needs lots of believable conflict. You need sympathetic characters with adequate motivation. You needs a strong voice--and, no, you don't need to change your voice to sound teen, just stay true to your voice


People have tried to tell me there are "rules" in YA, things you can't write about or certain things you should do. Also not true. In fact, there are fewer rules in YA literature than in romance. We don't necessarily have the happily ever after ending. And there is no such thing as an off-limits topic. There have been YA books that address sex, drugs, alcohol, abuse, rape, suicide, incest ... you name it, the YA genre has it. These may be scary or uncomfortable topics, but the reality is teens out there are facing these issues everyday. Not writing about them doesn't make them any less real. The only rule in YA--and this is a rule that should apply to all fiction, no matter the age group or genre--is "If it serves the story, write it. If it doesn't, leave it."

BtO: Thanks so much for stopping by, Tera, and I hope FORGIVE MY FINS makes a (wait for it...) big splash on the YA scene!