USA Today tells readers that Allegiant will hit shelves October 22, 2013. In Allegiant, Tris will have to face impossible decisions about where her loyalties lie, and how she will live in a world beyond the walls of her dystopian Chicago. The conclusion to the trilogy still does not have a cover, but the cover will be revealed in May!

In other related Divergent news, the Divergent film has started filming this month in Chicago! The movie stars Shailene Woodly (Tris), Theo James (Four), and Kate Winslet. The film will be released some time in 2014.

So, Divergent fans, what do you think of the title? What do you think of the cast for the Divergent film? How excited are you to read Allegiant!?

Jessica Verdi adresses a very serious topic in her debut “My Life After Now” and she answers some of our questions about her journey writing and publishing her novel.

Tell us something about yourself you haven’t told anyone yet.

Hmm… let’s see. I can’t whistle or do a cartwheel. But I can do a heck of a somersault.

How much research went into writing MY LIFE AFTER NOW?

Quite a bit, actually. Lots of reading, documentary-watching, and interviews. I even went to New York City’s free clinics and went through the STI testing process, so my character’s experience would be as authentic as possible. One thing that really surprised me was that there were so few books written about the topic of HIV/AIDS as it pertains to children and teenagers. Even though My Life After Now is fiction, I hope it will help fill that void, at least a little bit!

MY LIFE AFTER NOW talks about a serious topic. What message do you hope your readers take away from your debut?

I hope My Life After Now will encourage readers to start thinking and talking more about HIV/AIDS. It seems people aren’t talking about this issue as much as they used to (probably partially due to the fact that people aren’t dying of AIDS as rapidly as before, thanks to medications), and therefore it’s become almost a “forgotten” problem. But young people are still contracting HIV at an alarming rate, so hopefully this book will do its small part to remind teenagers that HIV/AIDS is still a very real problem, that it can happen to anyone, and that they should always be careful to protect themselves.

How has your experience in musicals made its way into your writing?

I was an actor in New York City for ten years after high school, and have loved theater, music, and musicals my entire life. When I was first writing the book, I knew I wanted my main character, Lucy, to be your typical teenager, a girl who is passionate about something and has big plans for her future. I figured, what could be more perfect than incorporating my own experiences with theater into Lucy’s life? I know that world so well that it just made sense. Theater plays a huge role in the book – even the chapter titles are the titles of songs from musicals.

How do you deal with writers block?

When I have writers block, it’s usually because I’m exhausted or feeling so overwhelmed with “real” work that my “creative” work suffers. When that happens, I curl up on my couch and lose myself in a TV show marathon. Usually The Vampire Diaries or Gilmore Girls or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These shows are so well written and their characters are so multi-dimensional that it’s a perfect reminder of the magic of storytelling. Then I get all inspired to tell my own stories, and sit back down in front of the computer.

We can imagine how writing MY LIFE AFTER NOW could have been very emotional. What was the hardest scene to write and why?

That’s a great question. The hardest scene to write was probably the scene where Lucy finds out she has HIV. I had to put myself in her shoes and really feel what she was feeling. She goes through a million different emotions, but one of them is a sense of extreme bleakness. And I had to figure out a way to get that emotion onto the page in a ways that wasn’t flat – even though the character is feeling flat in that moment. It was incredibly tricky to pull off – I hope readers’ think it worked!

Some authors collect personalities, some collect sentences people say and some collect characteristics. During your writing journey did you find yourself collecting/compiling anything that helped your writing?

I knew I wanted the chapter titles to be song titles, but I also knew I didn’t want to use more than one song from any particular musical. So as I wrote I found myself listening to a LOT of musicals and compiling massive lists of song titles. Then after I wrote the first draft, I went back and filled in the chapter titles, pulling the best-fitting songs from my giant list. This process also helped me submerge myself deeper into Lucy’s world. She’s surrounded by theater all the time, and so was I as I wrote.

If you could choose 4 songs to soundtrack your book what would they be?

Ooh, there are so many. Let’s see.
- “Will I?” from Rent
- “Fifteen” by Taylor Swift
- “Being Alive” from Company
- “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley

We know you’ve written a previous novel that might not surface anytime soon. How hard was it getting your book published, and do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

I actually wrote a couple of complete novels before getting this one published. My advice to aspiring authors is to keep at it, and don’t rush yourself. I know how exciting it is to type “The End” on a manuscript and immediately want to start querying agents. I would say, wait. Congratulate yourself on finishing your draft, and celebrate with a glass of wine or a donut or whatever, and then work to make the draft even better.

We all become better writers the more we write. Join a critique group, give the manuscript to a trusted friend, get feedback any way that you can. Get it professionally copyedited if you know that grammar isn’t one of your strong points. Outside observers will always find things about your book that can help improve it. Getting that second, third, fourth opinion is crucial. Revise, edit, and after you’ve gotten to the point where you truly believe you can’t make it any better, then start querying.

For me, getting my MFA in Creative Writing (concentration in Writing for Children) was a major step in the road to publication. Before I started that program, I really had no idea how the publishing business worked. But I met people, made connections, learned a ton, immersed myself in the genre, and by the time I was ready to start querying agents, I felt like I knew what I was getting into. I was lucky enough to land an amazing agent, and we worked together to revise the manuscript before sending it out to editors.

Finally, what would you like to say to your readers before diving into MY LIFE AFTER NOW?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this interview and for your interest in my book. I hope you enjoy reading Lucy’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Jessica Verdi’s Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
My Life After Now on Amazon | B&N

Jessica Verdi lives in Brooklyn, NY and received her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. Her favorite pastimes include singing showtunes at the top of her lungs (much to her husband’s chagrin), watching cheesy TV, and scoring awesome non-leather shoes in a size 5. She’s still trying to figure out a way to put her uncanny ability to remember both song lyrics and the intricacies of vampire lore to good use.

Lindsay Ribar talks to us about her debut and how her experience working in the publishing industry has affected her writing.
Tell us something about yourself you haven’t told anyone yet.

What sort of something?  Oh, I know!  Here is a reverse-chronological history of songs that I once called My Favorite Song Ever.  (In all cases, it was true at the time.)

- “Lake of Silver Bells” by Carbon Leaf (current)

- “Touch Me Fall” by the Indigo Girls

- “Loin de chez moi” by Bruno Pelletier

- “She Was There” from The Scarlet Pimpernel

- “I’ll Love You Back to Life” by Davis Gaines

- “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera

- “You There in the Back Row” by Liz Callaway

- “Memory” from Cats

- “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson

- [the musical wasteland that was elementary school]

- “Baby Beluga” by Raffi

Inspiration can hit at any moment, where were you when the idea for THE ART OF WISHING came to you?

I don’t actually remember when the initial idea came to me, though it must have started at some point.  I should make up a good story for that, shouldn’t I?  Anyway, what I do remember is the moment I decided to stop thinking about it and start writing it.  That happened on a plane, when my friend Andrea and I were flying to Beijing.  (Helpful tip: Xi’an is way more awesome than Beijing.  If you ever go to China for fun, go to Xi’an.)

Why did you choose to write about a genie and kissing? Do you have a favorite fictional genie?

Why genies? Mostly because of the weird power dynamic that you find in most genie mythology.  Genies have all this magical power, but they’re often bound to human masters.  In the end, who is more powerful, the magical being or the person in charge of the magical being?

Why kissing? Because power play + romance = fun times for everyone!

My favorite fictional genie is, hands down, the big blue guy from Aladdin. But a special award for Best Sexy Fictional Genie goes to Amir from Alaya Johnson’s Moonshine. (Oliver, my own sexy genie, would probably agree with me.)

Has your experience working in publishing affected your writing?

Absolutely.  At my agency, I work editorially with a lot of authors (my own clients and some of my boss’s clients), so I’m used to the many different forms that the editorial process can take, at least at the agency level.  I like to think that’s made me a better collaborator; I hope my editor and my agent think so, too!

Working in publishing also meant that when I was ready to start The Process (by submitting to agents), I knew what I was in for.  I knew how the system worked, and what the rules were, and I knew how to play my part.  It’s something every author (hopefully) learns eventually, but I was spared a lot of pre-query research because of my experience in the industry.

How do you deal with writers block?

Usually I pretend it’s not there, and I damn well write anyway.  (Unless I’m having a horrible day, in which case I close my laptop and whine at my friends.  I have excellent friends, so this usually helps quite a lot.)

We know how much you love musicals. Did any of them inspire your writing of THE ART OF WISHING?

Not particularly; although Sweeney Todd plays rather a large role in the story (it’s the musical that Margo and her friends are rehearsing for throughout the book), it wasn’t so much a source of inspiration as a carefully chosen plot point.  I wanted certain characters to wind up in certain kinds of roles, and Sweeney was the show that best fit what I was looking for.  Plus it’s a really kickass musical!

Some authors collect personalities, some collect sentences people say and some collect characteristics. During your writing journey did you find yourself collecting/compiling anything that helped your writing?

Oh, hell yes.  I collected songs.  As I was writing the first draft, I started a playlist of songs that reminded me, in any possible way, of my characters, themes, plot, etc.  Anything from “This entire song perfectly illustrates how Character X feels about Character Y” down to “This one little guitar riff reminds me of that weird thing Character Z said to Character A” was eligible.  It ended up being a pretty big playlist – but as I edited the book, I whittled it down into something more manageable, which was a fun reflection of how the story changed over time.

If Oliver were real whom would he look like?

I’m sort of terrible at dream-casting, and I haven’t been able to find someone who fits my exact idea of how Oliver should look… but I will admit, with no shame at all, that I’ve always pictured him a little bit like a teenaged Zac Efron.  Like, if you darkened Zac’s hair and maybe reduced his Movie Actor Pizzazz Level from a 9 to about a 6 (and then put him in a gray hoodie), you’d get something very close to Oliver.  See how cute?  So cute!

What book being released in 2013 are you looking forward reading most? Why?

I don’t yet know the name of Veronica Roth’s third Divergent book, but: that one!  Because have you read the first two?  Also, David Levithan’s Two Boys Kissing, because obviously.

2013 books that I’ve already read, and that you (yes, you) should also read, include (but are not limited to!): Red by Alison Cherry, OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu, The Path of Names by Ari Goelman, The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher, The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding, Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson, and Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood.

Finally, what would you like to say to your readers before diving into THE ART OF WISHING?

Absolutely nothing, because I’ll be too busy pinching myself to see if this whole strangers-reading-something-I-wrote phenomenon is actually real.

Lindsay Riber’s Website | Twitter | Goodreads
The Art Of Wishing on Amazon | B&N 

Lindsay Ribar grew up in New Jersey, where the only logical thing to do after high school was to move to New York. She majored in drama and English literature at NYU, and now works in book publishing, where she reads other people’s novels by day and writes her own by night. She owns approximately twelve bazillion CD’s, attends far too many concerts, and mainlines nerdy television shows like it’s going out of style. She is fond of wine, Ireland, musicals, long walks around Manhattan, and the color blue.

Goddess by Josephine Angelini

Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: May.28.2013
Pages: 432
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

After accidentally unleashing the gods from their captivity on Olympus, Helen must find a way to re-imprison them without starting a devastating war. But the gods are angry, and their thirst for blood already has a body count.

To make matters worse, the Oracle reveals that a diabolical Tyrant is lurking among them, which drives a wedge between the once-solid group of friends. As the gods use the Scions against one another, Lucas’s life hangs in the balance. Still unsure whether she loves him or Orion, Helen is forced to make a terrifying decision, for war is coming to her shores.

In Josephine Angelini’s compelling conclusion to the masterfully woven Starcrossed trilogy, a goddess must rise above it all to change a destiny that’s been written in the stars. With worlds built just as fast as they crumble, love and war collide in an all-out battle that will leave no question unanswered and no heart untouched.

Review:

Alas, the Starcrossed Trilogy is coming to an end. Starcrossed and Dreamless took readers through a whirlwind of emotions and gave readers insight into the alluring world of Greek Mythology. If you enjoyed the insanity of the first two books, then be prepared to be blown away when you get your hands on Goddess.

Goddess takes us deep into the heart of the mythological world. Angelini is able to capture the essence of the story of Troy from all aspects. In Goddess, Helen has flashbacks from the real Helen of Troy’s eyes. Readers are able to understand the choices Helen must make – no matter how much we don’t like them. Our eyes open to all of the people of Troy – Lucas, Cassandra, Orion, Achilles, Aphrodite, Ariadne, Hector…oh, Hector. Goddess will take you through a storm of emotions. Helen has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and the only way to win is to defeat the gods. The war is starting, but can she defeat the gods or is history deemed to repeat itself?

Over the course of the Starcrossed Trilogy, Helen has gone through hell and back. Literally. She has found out that she is a demigod, she found her true love, only to have him ripped away from her, she has been dragged to and from the underworld repeatedly. There’s no end to what Helen has gone through. She must make the toughest decision of all in Goddess, or risk shattering everything – including her heart.

In Goddess, Helen makes a huge transformation and readers get to see who she was always meant to be. She becomes stronger, smarter, and more defiant than ever. And she has to, because she’s the key to changing everything. As the cover says, “She must fight, or they will fall.”

Josephine Angelini did an outstanding job in the end to this electrifying trilogy. As always, her writing was magical. Readers can easily escape in her books for hours and not realize the time going by. It is often difficult to end a series, but the way Angelini ended it was like a new beginning. So, WovenMyst would like to thank Josephine Angelini for this compelling mythological series that has stolen hearts around the world. Goddess will hit shelves May 28, so don’t forget to grab your copy!

We would like to thank HarperTeen for providing us with an ARC of Goddess for review. 

Tell us something about yourself you haven’t told anyone yet.

When I was twenty-two, I earned a credential to teach high school English in California, but I learned during my months in training as a student teacher that I was terrible at it. I was unprepared and overwhelmed and still looked like a high school student myself.  During the chaos, I kept having dreams involving my childhood love of writing, so I came out of that difficult teaching experience admitting that writing, which I always considered just a hobby, was the career I wanted to pursue with all my heart.

Inspiration can hit at any moment, where were you when the idea for IN THE SHADOWS OF BLACKBIRDS came to you?

This isn’t a book that can be traced to one single moment of inspiration. Various influences—an old TV show about phony fairy photographs in the WWI era, a magazine article about spirit communication in the early 1900s, a phone call with my agent—contributed to the creation of IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS.

Why did you choose to write a historical fiction? What is it about that era that’s so alluring?

I’ve been drawn to historical novels ever since I was a child and fell in love with Alice in Wonderland and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s books. The past has always intrigued me with its beauty and its wealth of quirky stories and characters. I’m also a huge fan of ghost stories and really wanted to write about the early-twentieth-century obsession with séances and spirit photography. October 1918, a moment in time when both WWI and the deadly Spanish influenza collided, seemed like the best choice for demonstrating how far people can be driven to find proof of the afterlife.

Has your experience working in publishing affected your writing?

I worked as a proofreader, copy editor, and production editor for Academic Press in San Diego. Fussing over other writers’ grammar and sentence structure definitely helped me polish my own writing. I feel my editing background more than likely gave my work a little extra boost with agents and editors.

How has your intellectual experience in drama made its way into your novel?

You often hear about acting students asking the stereotypical question, “What’s my motivation?” When I was majoring in drama at the University of California, Irvine, we really did need to question our characters’ motivations and figure out what he or she wanted in a scene. The same is true of book characters. In each chapter, every character should want or need something in order to create conflict and keep the plot moving.

My drama training also helped me choreograph my book characters’ movements during dialogue. In real life, people are always fidgeting, crossing their legs, and getting distracted by something across the room when they’re in conversation, not sitting completely still. The same should hold true for characters on the stage and the page.

Some authors collect personalities, some collect sentences people say and some collect characteristics. During your writing journey did you find yourself collecting/compiling anything that helped your writing?

I’m a collector of odd historical facts. I love coming across bizarre fashions, customs, and beliefs from the past and storing them either in the back of my head or on paper. My research books are filled with colorful Post-it notes that bookmark my favorite historical tidbits and images.

What is it about ghost and haunted houses you find so intriguing?

I grew up in Orange County, California, and frequently visited Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride, which I think ignited my attraction to and fear of ghosts. I love being scared. Not urgent, life-threatening scared, but I’ve always enjoyed reading ghost stories and watching eerie movies and then wondering if something’s in my room late at night. Maybe it’s because I grew up in that Orange County setting, where everything was modern and new and sometimes a little bland. Ghosts give a place character.

What book being released in 2013 are you looking forward reading most? Why?

Ooh, this is a hard one to answer. I belong to The Lucky 13s, a group of YA and middle-grade authors debuting in 2013, and we have over one-hundred members. If I’m not counting all those debut novels I can’t wait to get my hands on, then I’d go with Ruta Sepetys’s Out of the Easy, which is already sitting on my bookshelf, waiting for me. I loved her first novel, Between Shades of Gray.

Can you share a sentence or two from your current work with us?

“I need to know if something went wrong with our session. Tell me what you see.”

Finally, what would you like to say to your readers before diving into IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS?

I think it’s best not knowing too much about this novel before diving into it. All I’ll say is that early readers who were expecting a typical teen paranormal romance were surprised to find all the other involved layers. This is not a typical ghost story.

 Cat Winters Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
In the Shadow of Blackbirds on Amazon | B&N

Cat Winters was born and raised in Southern California, near Disneyland, which may explain her love of haunted mansions, bygone eras, and fantasylands. She received degrees in drama and English from the University of California, Irvine, and formerly worked in publishing.

Her debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds—a YA ghost tale set during the World War I era—is now available from Amulet Books/ABRAMS. She currently lives outside of Portland, Oregon.