Thursday, July 11, 2013

NA & YA Authors Share How They Break the Rules

In honor of release week for Breaking the Rules, we're back with more authors sharing how they BREAK THE RULES. Today I'm sharing my fave YA & NA authors.



STBende, Author of Elsker
How do I break the rules? I don't. I'm a notorious rule follower. Occasionally I add more than the recommended amount of Mexican Vanilla to my baking, but that's the extent of it. I'm the girl who cried when I got a parking ticket because I was "in trouble". So lame, right?

How has your character broken the rules? Elsker's Kristia inherited that trait from me. She's read Emily Post cover to cover and she follows rules to the letter... until the day she falls in love with the Norse God of Winter. Because while god-mortal relationships are strictly forbidden, there's no denying the force between Asgard's most lethal assassin and the small town girl who captures his heart. After all, sometimes finding your destiny means doing the exact opposite of what The Fates have in store. 



Kara Leigh Miller, Author of The Georgia Corbins
How do you / did you break the rules?
I've never really been much of a rule breaker. All through high school and even now, I've always followed the rules because I was afraid of getting into trouble--not so much with my parents because they rarely punished me, but with the high school principal or teachers....the law! lol. When I used to go to my friend's houses, we'd sneak out and go meet boys. They were usually older boys; boys with cars we knew our parents wouldn't let us see. I think that was the only time I ever really broke the rules.
How has your character broken the rules? 
Ali Philips from The Georgia Corbins is always breaking the rules. When her parents leave her home alone (which happens a lot), she has specific instructions: No boys in the house. Yeah, she doesn't listen. Levi and Tucker are always coming over--sometimes they'll even sneak into her room when her parents are home. She skips classes, gets into fights, sneaks out of her window to go hang out with the Corbin boys; she stole her daddy's pick-up truck once. Oh, and she did the typical teenager, "I'm going to my friend's house to spend the night" when in reality she went camping with a group of people and slept in a tent with a boy!  


Georgann Swiger, Author of Adorned
How have you broken the rules?
I’m usually not a rule breaker. I tried to play by the rules when I was looking to publisher my YA manuscript ADORNED. The first thing I did was query agents. That’s what you’re supposed to do, right? After sending query after query and getting nowhere, I decided to go directly to a publisher by taking a shot at a twitter pitch contest with Entranced Publishing. In one tweet, I had to sell my manuscript to an editor. Somehow, that single sentence did what a query letter couldn’t; it caught someone’s attention. When I got an offer from the publisher at Entranced, I couldn’t believe it.  And I did it without the help of an agent or the query letter I spent months writing. Today, I’m glad I broke the rules that say you need to write a query, get an agent, and then find a publisher. If I hadn’t, I might still be dreaming of having my book published instead of making plans for its November release.

How have your characters broken the rules?
Micah, the love interest of my main character Anya in ADORNED, is an angel who always tries to do what’s right, but ends up teetering on the edge of breaking the rules. The first rule he breaks is when he performs a miracle. Even though that mistake’s forgiven, he’s blindsided by romantic feelings for Anya. While struggling to stay committed to his duty to Heaven, the temptation of forbidden love is overwhelming. But who expects to fall in love? Like Anya says, “You don’t choose these feelings, these feelings choose you.” And one kiss is all it will take for him to break the one rule that can land him in Hell.
ADORNED is scheduled for release in November. Between Heaven and Hell is forbidden love.



Louise D. Gornall, Author of In Stone
How have you broken the rules? 
Okay, so when I was a teen I broke the cardinal rule of dating and hooked up with my best friend. He was so cute & sweet & we got on so well. Obviously we were destined to have the greatest relationship since time began. Suffice it to say that turned sour quicker than milk left under a heat lamp...

How has your character broken the rules? 
Gargoyle Jack breaks every rule. He's like the love child of James Bond & Skatey McSkater Boy. He's cocky & confident and his need to protect the humans overshadows the voice of authority, every-single-time. 

3 comments:

  1. I'm the opposite- I break author rules - hate being stuck in a box - and my hero doesn't even know the definition of rule. But my heroine - she sticks to the rules, like she was taught.

    Books allllll look great.
    tweeted.

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  2. Hahaha! OMG! Are we a bunch of liars or what? ;) I think we've all broken the rules more than we're willing to admit.

    I love you guys so much <3 And thanks so much for having us on your blog and asking these questions, Melinda. It was a lot of fun!

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  3. Haha - you guys aren't rule breakers at all. Don't worry I'm right there with you though. I get upset if I even think I've broken the rules -- like ST, I cried over a ticket once too. My only rule breaking is hiding the brownies so I don't have to share.

    What about Melinda? You didn't tell us about your rule breaking!

    My main character is a major rule breaker and it gets her in a lot of trouble. :)

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