Ask the Author: Heather Demetrios
Answered Questions (65)
Heather Demetrios
Hey, Scott! Thank you so much. I was thrilled to have this be in audiobook. Currently, only fantasy series, which begins with Exquisite Captive, is in audiobook. Fingers crossed that we'll be able to turn my other novels into them soon! Thanks for reading!
Heather Demetrios
Hey, Regina! Thanks for reaching out. It wouldn't fit YA if there is an adult narrator or POV character. YA POV and narration is either only teens, or, if you're working in third person, a sort of omniscient neutral narrator (like, "She knew she wanted the throne." as opposed to "I knew I wanted the throne."). I hope that helps! This could totally be in the women's fiction market!
Heather Demetrios
Hey! Thank you so much for your sweet comments - and for reading. I'm working on a YA historical WWII fiction that is going to come out in 2019. But, I've edited and contributed an anthology I'm really excited about called Dear Heartbreak, and that comes out in Dec. 2018. I can't wait to share it with the world. It's real teens' letters that are answered by YA authors including myself, Gayle Forman, Becky Albertalli, Libba Bray, Tim Federle, and more! I'm also working on a new contemporary novel, which might come out in 2019, as well. :)
Heather Demetrios
Hiiiiii! Sorry this took me so long to get back to you. It slipped through the cracks. First, thank you so much for reading! It's not based on a particular town, but sort of a composite of all the town I used to drive past from Central CA to LA. And then made-up stuff, too. It became very real to me as I wrote it, so now I feel like it's really there. :)
Heather Demetrios
Congrats! That's so awesome - well done, you! I wish I had time, but I am super super swamped right now. I'll keep an eye out, though! My TBR pile is taller than me, but i always try to go with whatever strikes me. Although, I have to say, I never rate books. I did for a while, then felt weird because I now have a lot of author friends and I couldn't bring myself to rate. So I just mark them as to read or whatever. Best of luck and keep rocking it!
Heather Demetrios
Hey! Oh, good, thank you so much for reading! I don't know if you've read Stefanie Perkins, but the second book in her trilogy, LOLA, has some pretty complicated relationships and I loved it so much. I also think Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere has some of those same elements of really human people trying to figure out some hard stuff. I like books where people don't do the right things. The second book in Sarah J. Maas's ACOTAR series also has some really well done bad romance elements - also, I just love that book/series!
Heather Demetrios
Hi! I get this question a ton and I know my answer is always disappointing because...probably not! I just feel like IMYT is exactly what it needed to be and I'm honestly worried about screwing that up! But, I AM interested in writing older characters and to see how Sky and Josh will navigate life outside of Creek View together. So for now, no, but if I truly feel like it's time, then I'll do it. :)
Heather Demetrios
Hey! Worrying what other people will think of the book - like, will people love it and ship it or will it just be a drop in the YA bucket? That can so easily get in the way of creative flow. As soon as you let other people into that creative space, you're screwed. I really want to only write books I HAVE to write because I can't bear not to. I really hate it when my mind starts thinking about the market.
Heather Demetrios
Hiiiii! There's definitely a part of me in all of my books and sometimes they deal with experiences I've had (like in BAD ROMANCE with my abusive relationship in high school), though I don't think I've ever taken anyone else's experiences. Although, my friends might disagree! Usually the story is sparked by a random idea or image or thought and then I work from there. My fantasy books were started by a prompt and the first thing that came into my head was a jinni who couldn't get out of her bottle, so I ran with it. :)
Heather Demetrios
Hey! Bad Romance is now out, so you can get it at any bookstore or online! Or at your library. :)
Heather Demetrios
Too many to count! I'm reading the sequel to Kim Liggett's BLOOD AND SALT right now (early copy - woot!). AMERICAN STREET by my dear friend Ibi Zoboi. MILK AND HONEY. THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED and WE ARE OKAY. Oh, and my dad sent me a huge copy of FALL OF GIANTS. And I'll be doing into THE POWER OF NOW and POEMCRAZY and all kinds of books on creativity and meditation. I doubt I'll get through half of this, but a girl can dream!
Heather Demetrios
Oh, I love this question! I've been writing since I was in Kindergarten - diaries, poetry, short stories, plays...you name it! For me, writing has always been an escape, a refuge. Growing up, I had a difficult home life and words were always a safe place to be - whether I was writing them or reading them. I think books are, other than music, the best thing in the world, and I can't imagine my life without them. They have so much potential to open our eyes and our imaginations. They change us and heal us and save us. For me, there wasn't anything else that made as much sense for me to do. I was always an artist - I did theatre for a long time, which is another kind of storytelling - but I always kept coming back to words.
Heather Demetrios
Something Real was really, really fun. It was my first book and the only time I was able to write a whole book in 6 weeks. Everything just came to me really easily for some reason. The story's about a girl stuck on a reality TV show with her family, and there was just so much plot that came out of it. I had a lot of fun writing tweets and magazine articles that went into the book, and the romance always made me happy. I also really loved writing about siblings. It was crazy and had lots of things that made me laugh, but I also really cared about my characters and the subject matter, so it was a really cool balance. :)
Heather Demetrios
Hello! You can read any of my books by either going to your local library or buying them from anywhere that sells books. You can also read an excerpt of BAD ROMANCE and see links to buy it here: http://fiercereads.com/books/bad-roma...
Heather Demetrios
I'm sorry, I don't know about that! My books are with a traditional publisher, so I just add them and Goodreads does the rest! Best of luck to you!
Heather Demetrios
Hey, you! Fun to see someone I know on here! Those are all sooooo good. I know it's not anywhere near YA, but I really loved Gone With The Wind. The characters are older, but because of the society they lived in, they had limited independence in the way that teens do now, at least at the beginning of the story. I also loved The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. I was OBSESSED with Romeo and Juliet, The Diary of Anne Frank, Little Women, and pretty much everything by L.M. Montgomery. And, of course, Jane Eyre was a favorite, too. I was really into WWII fiction - lots of memoirs and such about people who were teens during that time. I have to check out Cat's Eye!
Heather Demetrios
One really good way is to journal as your character. So, pretend like you are them, writing a diary entry. This isn't something that will likely end up in the book - it's a way to get to know your character better. You have to really let them speak through you. I have a very mystical notion about writing and stories: I really feel like, on some plane, these characters are real. It's crazy, the thoughts or lines that will come to me out of nowhere. I also do things like make playlists or collage. It also helps to read and watch a lot of movies, just to have all these different ways of talking and looking about the world inside you.
Heather Demetrios
Hey! Thanks so much for reading - I'm so glad it meant so much to you. I think the biggest challenge was getting Josh's sections right. Eventually, I had to start seeing his parts as poetry. I spent so many hours going over every single word, making each one earn its place. Plus, of course, doing a ton of research to get there. In terms of other soldier books, there aren't a ton of novels, but I really liked Something Like Normal by Trish Dollar, Personal Effects by E.M. Kokie, and The Lucky One and Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.
Heather Demetrios
Thank you so much for reading! It's a weird mix of stuff that got me writing about them. I first thought of the Paradise motel and Creek View. I knew I had to write a book set in this place (sometimes, setting is a major story-starter for me). The first scene I wrote was Sky behind the counter at the Paradise, bored and dying of heat. Then I wrote the party scene. Josh was in it, but just a small character. With the help of my early readers, I began to see that the story was about Sky and Josh, not just Sky. And I fell in love with them and just wouldn't give up on the book, even though it was SO HARD to get it right. I think the key was that they had to be real - totally flesh and blood - for me. I collaged to understand Sky more, I watched all the military movies Josh did, while drinking beer, and had my dad teach me the cadences he learned in boot camp. And there you have it!
Heather Demetrios
I was able to quit my day job four years ago. It was one of the most amazing moments in my life! I did it after my second book deal (which means I had five books coming out in the next three 1/2 years). So I didn't do it immediately. I don't think quitting your day job is for everyone, even if you can afford it. I have to say, being home all day drove me batty. Getting a dog helped, but I also found myself doing some teaching and now I'm a creativity coach, so that's kind of my day job, even though it's creative and I love it. I will say, though, that I only worked part time for six years while working hard every day to write and get better and get published. So, my husband and I were always pretty broke, but it paid off! You can totally still be a published writer and have a day job, but if you're day job's really killing your soul, that's a good time to think about maybe switching things up.
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