Discovering Young Adult Books,
a Guest Post by Bridie Blake
I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember. Hours of my childhood were spent with a book in hand, devouring stories like The Babysitters Club and The Magic Faraway Tree series. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to be reading all the time. And when I wasn’t reading I wrote my own stories and plays. I was obsessed with the written word.
Reading went to a new level for me when I was
introduced to YA books. My older sister was reading Looking For Alibrandi
by Melina Marchetta and one night she wanted to read it aloud. This was back in
the day when I shared a room with my three sisters so even if I hadn’t wanted
to listen I had nowhere else to go, and looking back now I’m glad I didn’t. I
was in primary school at the time, and felt very grownup reading from a book
aimed at teenagers. I was hooked from the first word and from that point it was
all about YA for me.
One of the key relationships in A Distant Voice
is between sisters, Violet and Rose. There are scenes where I had Violet read
aloud to Rose while they’re just hanging out in their room and I really wanted
to include those as a small tribute to my sister. I doubt she even remembers
reading Looking For Alibrandi to me, but it’s one of those moments from
my childhood that stuck. And Melina Marchetta is now one of my favourite
authors.
Having two older sisters it was easy for me to get my
hands on YA books and I quickly devoured them. I fell in love with stories like
Just As Long As We’re Together by Judy Blume, You Take The High Road
by Mary K. Pershall and Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden.
Reading YA was a different experience. It was the
first time I truly felt drawn to the characters and worlds on the pages. I not
only wanted to read these stories, I wanted to belong to them.
They took me through every emotion possible. I laughed
out loud, and sobbed until I had no tears left. I was on the edge of my seat,
anxious to find out what happened next, but also wanting to savour every word.
I thought I’d move on from YA books when I reached
adulthood, but I didn’t. In fact, I think my obsession only increased.
Especially when I discovered a new genre of YA. Fantasy. I read every book in
Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series, I waited eagerly for each book in Callie
Kanno’s The Threshold Trilogy, and am dying with anticipation for the next book
in Morgan Rhodes‘ Falling Kingdoms series.
It’s safe to say that not only is YA never
disappearing from my reading list, but it’ll forever be on my writing list too.
I love writing the genre. I love trying to create a story that will hopefully
have the same impact on someone out there that other YA books had on me.
My name is Bridie Blake, I’m thirty-two years old and
I love YA.
* * * * *
A Distant
Voice
Bridie Blake
Evernight Teen
Contemporary Young Adult
72,000 words
In
life you don’t find your voice. It finds you.
Violet Hayes knows how to
survive the year living with her grandmother in the small town of Wandorah,
Tennessee.
• Make Rose happy
• Don’t sing or play
guitar
• Avoid Sally Shaw
• Ignore Carter
Jenkins
It seems simple enough,
right? Wrong.
• How do you keep a
depressed sister happy?
• How do you deny yourself
your dream?
• How do you avoid a
friendship?
• And how do you ignore a
boy when he’s everywhere you turn?
Violet’s to-do list just
became a whole lot harder.
14+
due to adult situations
Buy
Links: Evernight Teen Amazon ARe Bookstrand
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A Distant Voice to your Goodreads
page HERE
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book
trailer:
Excerpt:
He smiled and reached out
to pull the guitar toward him. He strummed his fingers over the strings and
played a few chords before glancing over at me proudly.
“Impressive.”
He offered me the guitar.
“Your turn.”
“And what makes you think I
can play?”
“Your bloodlines.”
I snorted out a laugh and
clapped my hand over my mouth in horror.
“Play away,” he said,
ignoring my snort, and pushed the guitar into my hands.
I stared down at it with my
mouth hanging open. The way my heart raced you’d think he’d pulled the pin on a
grenade and handed it to me. Relax Violet. It’s an instrument. It can’t hurt
you. Unless I tripped over it and broke my neck. And that could happen.
Probably not entirely realistic while I’m holding it, but if I dropped it and
then got up and tripped, it … oh dear god, what is wrong with me?
His mom called out his name
and he gave me an apologetic shrug. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the room and I
remained where I was, the guitar still burning my hands. It had been months
since I’d played. Months since I’d felt that wave of joy I got whenever my
fingers ran over the strings.
A yearning, so strong it
sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach, washed over me and my fingers moved.
They ran over the strings, playing whatever came to mind. I closed my eyes and
let myself be swallowed up by it all. I allowed myself to forget and be
something else. Someone else.
I didn’t know how long I
stayed like that but a shuffle behind me forced me back to reality. I opened my
eyes and twisted around. Carter stood in the doorway, a look of wonder on his
face and it made me squirm. I dropped my hands, rested the guitar on his bed,
and scrambled to my feet. “I should go.”
He moved toward me slowly,
as though scared a sudden movement would startle me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I mumbled and
folded my arms across my chest, tucking my hands into my armpits where they’d
be safe and wouldn’t stray towards anymore strings.
His brow creased and I saw
him trying to work out what had happened but I didn’t want to talk about it. I
tried to duck out of his room before he asked me anything. He gripped my arm,
stopping my quick exit. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re allowed to enjoy things.
You’re not betraying your sister by having fun or doing the things you want to
do.” His voice, filled with sincerity and kindness, caused a lump to take up
residence in my throat.
His hand ran along my arm
and towards my hidden hand. He tugged on it until he freed it and he squeezed
my fingers gently. I shook my head because he’s right, but he’s wrong at the
same time. It was guilt over Rose that stopped me doing things but when it came
to music, there was so much more to it.
Music destroyed Gran’s
life. It ruined Mom’s childhood. I couldn’t love something like that because if
I did, I’d open myself up to the same hurt. And I’m not anywhere near as strong
as Gran. It would destroy me. It would be my trigger.
I wanted to tell him that.
I wanted him to understand. But the words wouldn’t come out of me.
Author Bio:
Bridie lives, daydreams and writes in Melbourne, Australia.
She’s happiest at her computer, coffee in hand, Tim Tams on standby and her
furry companion Poppy at her feet. When not writing she’s usually found with a
book in her hand or playing with her tribe of nieces and nephews.
Discover more about her at www.bridieblake.com,
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBridieBlake or @BridieBlake on Twitter!
Giveaway: $25 Amazon GC
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congrats on the release, Bridie! Such a pretty cover, =)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Jay Aheer did such a wonderful job on the cover. I love it!
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