Blogfest 2009 » McMann Lisa http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest Simon & Schuster Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:00:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Lisa McMann on “How do you feel about stuff like sex scenes in books? Inappropriate or okay?” http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/10/01/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-4/ http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/10/01/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-4/#comments Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:00:55 +0000 McMann Lisa http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/?p=442 It all depends on the characters, doesn’t it? If it’s in-character, meaning if having sex is what that character would do, then of course it’s okay. An author is a storyteller, and our job is to tell a story that works. It is not our job to condone or condemn behavior — we trust our readers (because we know you are smart) to come to their own personal conclusions, to discuss things that the characters do, and to determine if it was the right thing or not. Sometimes sex is appropriate for the characters and sometimes it’s not. Authors ask themselves, “knowing everything I know about this character, would he have sex with that character?” If sex is there for gratuitous reasons and it doesn’t fit the character, it’s probably just a crappy book. But I’ve read a ton of YA and I can’t think of any YA book that had sex in it when there shouldn’t have been. Sex happens in real life for teens and it happens in YA lit. Teens know about sex. How can that be inappropriate, to tell a story that includes stuff that happens in real life? I don’t know.

]]> http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/10/01/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-4/feed/ 4 Lisa McMann on “When you’re writing a book and making up characters, do you feel like you become that character, as well as that character becomes a part of you?” http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/29/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-2/ http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/29/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-2/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:30:15 +0000 McMann Lisa http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/?p=434 Absolutely. For me, it’s important to become the character when I’m writing him or her. I need to know how that character will react to things, what he’ll say, what she’d do. It takes me a little bit of time to immerse myself in a character. That’s one reason why when I write, I write for many long hours. Because once I’m in the characters’ brains, I want to stay there for a while and get the writing done.

]]> http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/29/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-2/feed/ 2 Lisa McMann on “Have you ever just wanted to give up?” http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/25/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone/ http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/25/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:30:47 +0000 McMann Lisa http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/?p=432

Not really. Not seriously. I’ve had whiny moments where I’ve gotten bad news and I’ve thought, “I quit.” I give myself a good ten or twenty minutes to sulk, and then I move on. You have to be able to get over things in this biz. I learned something really important from a former boss in the real estate business where, just like in publishing, when things fall apart, it’s a big deal to everyone involved. My broker taught me that you absolutely won’t make it in real estate if you let the failures and rejection affect your mood and motivation. His motto was “What’s next?” I’ve borrowed that from him.

]]> http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/25/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone/feed/ 4 Lisa McMann on “What was the first thing you wrote?” http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/22/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-3/ http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/2009/09/22/lisa-mcmann-author-of-wake-fade-and-gone-3/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:30:01 +0000 McMann Lisa http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/blogfest/?p=439 A picture book in the 4th grade called Baby May’s Birthday. I carry it with me to book signings. I even illustrated it, and if you’ve seen my self-portrait on the S&S website, you’ll know how good that turned out.
http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lisa-McMann/45103601

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