I have read many a book that I wish I had written. Whether
it be because of the amazing way an author has with words (Ally Condie’s
MATCHED), or a particular character I love (Rae Carson’s GIRL OF FIRE AND
THORNS), or because a concept is so far outside my realm of thinking (LANDRY
PARK by Bethany Hagen).
I just love books. I love to read, and I love to imagine
myself someone who can someday write something that another person will fall in
love with.
I’m going to go old school, and choose Scott Westerfeld’s
UGLIES as my feature title for what I wish I’d written. Besides The Giver, UGLIES was the first
dystopian novel I read – and I remember feeling such a sense of wonder about
it. He’s created a new world! A world I
don’t think I’d like to live in. A world where Tally can explore and find out
what she believes too—where I can too.
And I was hooked into dystopian. I’ve read just about
everything in the genre since then, but I always come back to UGLIES – it’s one
of the few series where I’ve read every book – as the type that all other
dystopians must measure up to.
I love the dystopian genre still today. I think it such a
great genre to question ourselves in a very safe way, as the characters on the
page question themselves in a not-so-safe way. That is also why I love reading
and writing YA fiction in general, in all it’s genres.
ELEVATED
by Elana Johnson
The
last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the
elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's
been avoiding for five months.
Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.
But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.
Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.
But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.
"ELEVATED will take you on an emotionally gripping
journey through the highs and lows of first love."
~Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There and Forget
Me Not
"Poignant, raw, and intense, ELEVATED is a novel that
will grip your heart and linger in your mind long after you turn the last
page."
~Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition and The
Sound of Letting Go
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender,
Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster),
is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also
available for free download,
as well as a Possession short
story, Resist. School
teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal
blog or Twitter.
She also co-founded the Query
Tracker blog, and contributes to the League
of Extraordinary Writers.
Social Media Links:
I liked Uglies too, but my son warned me away from the rest of the series, then proceeded to tell me what happened. Oops. I LOVE dystopian stories.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and her friends loved Uglies. I need to read it. And I love dystopian books too. Congrats on your new book! So excited for you.
ReplyDeleteElevated looks terrific. Congratulations. I'm not much of a dystopian fan, so will probably skip Uglies, although the concept is interesting.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Elana!!! I really enjoyed UGLIES--and I read PRETTIES too. Great concept. Agree with you on MATCHED and GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS too! :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, it's definitely time for me to read UGLIES. I was hooked on the Matched trilogy. Congrats on Elevated.
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