Ask the Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Answered Questions (11)
Brenna Yovanoff
I'm frantically working on something RIGHT NOW which is why I'm sitting in a coffee shop at 8am on a Saturday and actually answering my social media instead of completely forgetting it exists! No release date or official title yet, but I'm really excited and will announce things all over the place the minute I actually have something to show for it!
Brenna Yovanoff
Oh, thank you so much—I'm glad you enjoyed it! Secretly (or not so secretly, I guess …) Places is actually my favorite thing I've written.
It was very much a book I wrote specifically for my 16-year-old self (I was a very thinky, prickly teenager) and I think earlier-me would have liked how it turned out.
HOWEVER. Depending on what you liked about it, I've got a couple other books that might at least partially fit the bill. For social hierarchies and girl-friendships, I'd definitely recommend Paper Valentine, and if you're looking for more girls with remote and curious ways of looking at the world, The Space Between might fit the bill?
It was very much a book I wrote specifically for my 16-year-old self (I was a very thinky, prickly teenager) and I think earlier-me would have liked how it turned out.
HOWEVER. Depending on what you liked about it, I've got a couple other books that might at least partially fit the bill. For social hierarchies and girl-friendships, I'd definitely recommend Paper Valentine, and if you're looking for more girls with remote and curious ways of looking at the world, The Space Between might fit the bill?
Brenna Yovanoff
Ooh, interesting! As with so many things in my life, the answer is … complicated.
I've never tended to be a very phobic person, with one exception. I happen to think that water is just very, very creepy. But since I can't write every new book about exactly how scary I find water, I've mostly been finding ways to work it in on the side.
Each of my books has some thematic water going on, even if it's just geographical, like the river that cuts through the middle of Hannah's town in Paper Valentine, or something soft and sad, like the recurring water motif surrounding Daphne and Truman in The Space Between. (More overtly, The Replacement is filled with rain, because I think rain is some of the creepiest water there is, and Fiendish has all the water ever in the whole world, because it takes place in a region full of creeks.)
I would write more about water if I could do it without repeating myself, but I have a feeling it would start to sound like "Water is so creepy, it's really really still just so creepy. Again."
So instead, I also spend a lot of time with my second major fear, which is dogged, inflexible, absolutist thinking. (Hello, Azrael.)
I've never tended to be a very phobic person, with one exception. I happen to think that water is just very, very creepy. But since I can't write every new book about exactly how scary I find water, I've mostly been finding ways to work it in on the side.
Each of my books has some thematic water going on, even if it's just geographical, like the river that cuts through the middle of Hannah's town in Paper Valentine, or something soft and sad, like the recurring water motif surrounding Daphne and Truman in The Space Between. (More overtly, The Replacement is filled with rain, because I think rain is some of the creepiest water there is, and Fiendish has all the water ever in the whole world, because it takes place in a region full of creeks.)
I would write more about water if I could do it without repeating myself, but I have a feeling it would start to sound like "Water is so creepy, it's really really still just so creepy. Again."
So instead, I also spend a lot of time with my second major fear, which is dogged, inflexible, absolutist thinking. (Hello, Azrael.)
Brenna Yovanoff
Why, yes—yes indeed! The Anatomy of Curiosity (my latest group project with my critique partners Tessa Gratton and Maggie Stiefvater) recently came out on October 1st, and my next solo novel, PLACES NO ONE KNOWS will be out from Delacorte next May!
Brenna Yovanoff
Glad to hear that you're enjoying it! Alas, there are currently no movie plans for Paper Valentine, but if someone came along and wanted to make one … I would totally watch that.
Brenna Yovanoff
Sadly … no plans on the horizon for more Pandemonium. I'm at a point where I basically think kind of constantly about writing a series, but when I finally get around to it, it's almost certainly going to be about brand new characters in a brand new (big!) (magical!) world!
Brenna Yovanoff
Oh, friend, I think about writing a series almost every DAY. Which probably means I'm getting a point where I'll pretty much *have* to write one. Once I figure out in my brain how all the pieces fit together?
If/when a series happens, it will definitely be an all-new story with all-characters, but man, I would love to sprawl around in a bigger world for awhile!
If/when a series happens, it will definitely be an all-new story with all-characters, but man, I would love to sprawl around in a bigger world for awhile!
Brenna Yovanoff
Hi Desteny,
Because of how the question form works, I actually don't know which of my books you're asking about! So what I'm going to do first is give you a really unhelpful blanket answer: it *depends.* I think there are probably a lot of different kinds of 11-year-old readers out there (when I was 11, a lot of the books I dearly loved were things my friends weren't even allowed to read yet) (that said, I definitely also read some stuff that looking back, I probably should NOT have). You are the number-one best judge of what you're ready for, along with any rules your parents have, so a lot of reading preference comes down to what you're comfortable with. Any time a book is getting uncomfortable or embarrassing or scary, it's totally fine to close it.
Now, an ACTUAL answer to your question: when people ask if they're ready for my books, I pretty much always tell them to start with Paper Valentine or Fiendish. I know that sounds weird, recommending books with murder and monsters, but both of these books are specifically about good, brave girls who just want the world to be a better place. They have a little bit of cursing, but not very much, and also a little bit of kissing—but not very much. The Replacement and The Space Between are both darker and more complicated, so unless you're already happily reading dark and complicated books, those ones might be good to wait on until you're a little older. Hope that helps!
B
Because of how the question form works, I actually don't know which of my books you're asking about! So what I'm going to do first is give you a really unhelpful blanket answer: it *depends.* I think there are probably a lot of different kinds of 11-year-old readers out there (when I was 11, a lot of the books I dearly loved were things my friends weren't even allowed to read yet) (that said, I definitely also read some stuff that looking back, I probably should NOT have). You are the number-one best judge of what you're ready for, along with any rules your parents have, so a lot of reading preference comes down to what you're comfortable with. Any time a book is getting uncomfortable or embarrassing or scary, it's totally fine to close it.
Now, an ACTUAL answer to your question: when people ask if they're ready for my books, I pretty much always tell them to start with Paper Valentine or Fiendish. I know that sounds weird, recommending books with murder and monsters, but both of these books are specifically about good, brave girls who just want the world to be a better place. They have a little bit of cursing, but not very much, and also a little bit of kissing—but not very much. The Replacement and The Space Between are both darker and more complicated, so unless you're already happily reading dark and complicated books, those ones might be good to wait on until you're a little older. Hope that helps!
B
Brenna Yovanoff
I'm really glad to hear you liked Mackie! My coy answer to your question is yes—yes, I am ;) I'm highly interested in alternating points of view right now (think the dual narrative in The Space Between), so it might still be a little while before I have another *exclusively* male narrator, but it's bound to happen again eventually! Until then: keep your eye out for shared points of view?
Brenna Yovanoff
The answer to this is yesyesyes! In fact, we just handed a full manuscript to our editor on Friday, after a week of sleep deprivation and hilarity as we assembled all the pieces. We don't have an official release date yet, but it's slated for Some Time in 2015.
(Also, thank you for liking The Curiosities.)
(That makes me happy.)
(Also, thank you for liking The Curiosities.)
(That makes me happy.)
Brenna Yovanoff
Okay, so. There is a chance that I'm about to be slightly disappointing, but … The Replacement does NOT have a sequel.
Also, here is a fact: I have actually never written a book that wasn't a standalone (!) I'd like to write a series, or at least some companion novels at some point, but so far it has been all standalones, all the time.
Also, here is a fact: I have actually never written a book that wasn't a standalone (!) I'd like to write a series, or at least some companion novels at some point, but so far it has been all standalones, all the time.
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Dec 02, 2017 08:10AM · flag
Dec 02, 2017 10:13AM · flag