Tag Archives: Tahereh Mafi

LA Times Festival of Books!

Photo by Carolyn Kraft

Photo by Carolyn Kraft

It’s April again and that can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. My apologies to anyone looking for a post on whether or not creamed honey will finally be classified as an alternative fuel. (You’ll have to wait for my review later this year of the new Nissan Mecha-Grizzly.)

This post is about the 21st Annual LA Times Festival of Books, held last weekend on the beautiful brick and stone USC campus. Saturday was rainy and Sunday was sunny and both days were very well-attended. Here are some of the intriguing things the authors I saw had to say:

“Magical realism reminds us as human beings that there is hope and beauty out there.”

“If you believe along with the narrator that the [fantastical] things happening are true, it’s not magical realism. If you don’t, then it is.”

“Writers are often reacting to things that frustrate them about their other writing.”

“YA [literature] is so wide open. You can go anywhere you want. There’s no box you have to fit into.”

“When people have complimented me on my writing, they said it’s mysterious and cryptic and things are not explained. When people have criticized my writing, they said it’s mysterious and cryptic and things are not explained.”

“What’s cool about art is the exceptions.”

“I don’t really care what genre means. The work can take care of itself.”

“When you begin a novel you feel like a bit of a fraud. The more you do it the more faith you have in the viability of the world you’re creating.”

“I think about readers after the fact. It’s not what drives me to do the work. I don’t think it’s healthy to think about it.”

“Fiction, art, always has to be life plus.

“Donald Trump is able to go for the jugular. It’s like he stole Jeb Bush’s lunch money, threw his shoes up on top of the school, and Jeb couldn’t handle it.”

“Disney told me, ‘We want a thriller, but nothing bad can happen.’ ”

“What’s special about this story? If I can’t find it, I don’t write it.”

“There’s no ‘Red Weddings’ in Middle Grade.”

“My narrator is the crotchety old man who lives inside of me.”

Photo by Carolyn Kraft

Photo by Carolyn Kraft

“Very rarely will someone buy your intentions. Finish the book.”

“The anxiety of not knowing where I’m going in a story is what drives me.”

“I wrote this [middle grade] book as a YA novel, but it’s not. My editor pointed this out to me.”

“Wonder isn’t about finding answers; it’s about being comfortable with the questions.”

“There are as many ways to be dead as there are to be alive.”

“Teenagers: Maximum personal responsibility with absolutely no personal power.”

“Some 17-year-olds are 13 in their heads and some 17-year-olds are 25 in their heads. And they have to hang out together.”

“The only thing worse than writing is not writing.”

“Every first draft I go through this question: ‘I don’t know how to do this.’ ”

“If you’re a young person and you have the choice between writing and having an experience, have the experience.”

WHO SAID THIS STUFF (in order): Sean McGintyShaun David Hutchinson, Peter Rock, McGinty, Rock, McGinty, Patrick DeWitt, Karl Taro Greenfeld, DeWitt, Greenfeld, Dee Dee MyersRidley Pearson, Soman Chainani, M.A. Larson, Tahereh Mafi, Larson, Chainani, Mafi, Leigh Ann Henion, Claire Bidwell Smith, Jeff Garvin, Jesse Andrews, Garvin, Don Calame, Aaron Hartzler

A Day At YALLWEST

YALLWESTHard to tell from my crappy photo but yes, the first annual YALLWEST festival was held this past weekend in Santa Monica!

An offshoot of YALLFEST, this was a gathering of high-profile YA and Middle Grade authors, agents and editors coming together to connect directly with fans and to celebrate writing and reading teen literature.

I checked out the festivities on Saturday, attended a few panel discussions, and thought I’d share what struck me at what I hope will become an annual event:

“The first time I read you is probably in an email.”

“A writer should be able to capture the essence of her book in a single, elegant sentence.”

“The toughest times I’ve ever had is when I went against my gut.”

“You can publish anything regardless of what’s trending if the book is great and you can convince your team to believe in it.”

“Are we done with gay teen witches?”

“Publishers want to buy stories they can build on.”

“Writers these days need to engage directly with their readers because their readers expect it.”

“Don’t go to law school.”

“It was called the ‘Taco Bell of books’ ”

“So much of creative success is luck and timing.”

“Every ‘failed’ manuscript made me a better writer.”

“Can you imagine if everyone gave you instant feedback on everything you did every day? You’d never leave the house.”

“Writing is like a Roomba.”

“Writing is like a glass of wine: it makes sense when you start but then it all goes downhill and you should probably just sleep it off and hope that when you wake up it makes sense again.”

“Sometimes I’ll just find myself sobbing outside on the porch.”

“Science fiction and fantasy stories are a great way to talk about the present but with a protective gauze.”

“I can’t write with too much ‘genre’ in mind.”

“Writing is inefficient.”

“The inner voice is raw and impolite.”

“The YA authors I know whose work is banned are the nicest white women.”

“I choose to be ignorant of the people who might be vastly misinterpreting my work on Goodreads.”

“The YA writing community is amazingly tight. It’s a small world.”

“Kids are afraid to be their authentic selves. They think they have to be something they’re not.”

“An administrator once told me they only have ‘2% reduced lunch’ at their school and I’ve come to realize that ‘reduced lunch’ means ‘black.’ ”

“The number one thing that kids need to know: ‘You are not alone.’ ”

“We cannot underestimate the emotional intelligence of teenagers.”

“What we’re trying to do is find a voice in order to show as realistic a portrait of young people as we can. We need to be patient to find that voice.”

WHO SAID THIS STUFF: Richard Abate, Jennifer Besser, Sarah Burnes, Barry Goldblatt, Emily Meehan, Julie Scheina, Erin Stein, Jo Volpe, a smirking teen in the crowd, Brendan Reichs, Melissa de la Cruz, Lisi Harrison, Tahereh Mafi, Veronica Roth, Coe Booth, Greg Neri, Lauren Oliver, Rachel Cohn, Ally Condie, Susan Ee, Ellen Hopkins, Ransom Riggs, Carrie Ryan, Alex Morel, Madeleine Roux, John Corey Whaley, Aaron Hartzler