Take a look at the bestselling books of the last few years and which ones have been turned into blockbuster movies and it’s easy to see why so many people are writing young adult novels. Film franchises such as The Hunger Games, Divergent and the Twilight saga, not to mention Harry Potter, have made authors and film producers wealthy. Writers wanting to climb aboard the YA bandwagon can have their questions answer by two successful YA authors at this month’s meeting of the FWA Ponte Vedra Writers, Sat., Jan. 23 at 10:30 a.m. at the Ponte Vedra Library.
S. E. Green (aka Shannon Greenland) and Lynne Matson are successful YA writers, and they’ll jointly present a workshop titled, “So … Why YA,” in which they’ll answer questions like Do I have to love teens to write for them? What are the boundaries with sex and language? Can I use “big” words in a teen novel? They’ll also talk about style, marketing and publicity, writing for multiple markets and the struggles of writing for teens.
S. E. Green is the award winning author of the teen thriller, Killer Instinct, a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers; the teen spy series, The Specialists, an ALA Popular Paperback and a National Reader’s Choice recipient; and the YA romance, The Summer My Life Began, winner of the Beverly Hills Book Award. Her books have been translated into several languages and are currently on numerous state reading lists.
Lynne is a former lawyer who thinks writing books for teens is much more fun. She’s the author of NIL and NIL Unlocked, the first two books in a trilogy about a mysterious island where teens have one year to escape, or die. NIL On Fire, the final book, releases May 31, 2016. NIL was awarded a “Perfect 10” starred review from VOYA, and is currently a 2015-16 Florida Teens Read Award Finalist.
The Ponte Vedra Writers group is part of the Florida Writers Association, a statewide, non-profit organization with nearly 1,500 members dedicated to the support of both aspiring and published writers in any genre. All meetings are open to members and non-members alike.
For more information on FWA please visit www.floridawriters.net. For more meeting information, email FWA Regional Director Vic DiGenti, at vicdig@mac.com.
