BLUE has been named a 2022 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite in Teen Fiction. Check out all the honorees here. Many thanks to the judges and to IPA for this honor – and for giving me the terrific first-world problem (and total humblebrag) of running out of room on my book cover. I am blessed.
My pick for the letter C in my A to Z Book Read was Copper Sun by Sharon Draper. Copper Sun gives us a story from two points of view: first, we meet Amari, a West African girl of fifteen, living an idyllic life with her tribe. She’s being happily courted by the man she will be married to in a year’s time, she hates chores like any teenager, loves her mother’s cooking, and dotes on her younger brother, a child of ten. All of this changes in every terrible… Read more A To Z Book Review: Copper Sun by Sharon Draper →
I am over-the-moon thrilled to announce that Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) has named BLUE as their 2021 SPARK Award Winner in YA! This is an enormous honor, and I am beyond thrilled that they chose my my multi-layered, sad, happy, complicated, sappy, hard-to-explain book. BLUE was a real labor of love, and I couldn’t be more proud.
Now that the whirlwind of 2021 is behind us, it’s time to regroup and set the stage for next year. My writing plan is severely ambitious. That’s a nice way of saying I’m out of my freaking mind and I may well be updating this blog from a tiny, padded room this time next year. Here’s the rough outline: Publish one YA novel – this one a holiday romance! Look for an announcement in early fall. Finish drafting and query one new manuscript (an extension of my NaNoWriMo project, a… Read more What’s On Tap For 2022? →
If you’re reading BLUE (or getting ready to), here’s a list of songs that inspired me during the journey as I put BLUE together: Another Way Out by Hollywood Undead – BLUE first chapter. Blue begins her story feeling like she’s got nowhere to run from Maya, and from everyone who’s determined warn her about Maya’s return to school. You Need to Calm Down – Taylor Swift. This one I picked for Jules. Blue’s best friend isn’t doing much to help the situation, as she seems determined to stir up… Read more The BLUE Playlist – An Odd Mix →
BLUE is finally out – all except the audiobook, unfortunately. We had a delay in production (thanks COVID!) and hope to have it out within the next few weeks. I’ll make an announcement when it’s available. In the meantime, you can snatch it up in paperback or eBook. Buy Links Here. I’m so glad to share my angry, miserable, hopeful and hilarious story with the world. Be sure and let me know if you guess the twist at the end!
It’s Pub Day Eve for BLUE! I’ve been here twice before in YA (and quite a few more times in other genres), but this one means a hell of a lot to me. You see, BLUE almost never was because I quite nearly ceased to be. Five weeks before DREAMER released in 2018, I was battling for my life against a devastating brain bleed in a hospital room far from home. I survived obviously, but lost the use of the left side of my body. As a single mom with… Read more Dream A Little Dream, Or Battling For BLUE →
In this excerpt, Blue and Maya are in their first afterschool detention with the school counselor, Mrs. Ramsey, and it’s not going smoothly. Blue is determined to get through this and avoid confrontation, but she has no idea what kind of pressure Maya has being a scholarship student at a wealthy, white private school. “Nobody ever treats her or her family like they don’t belong.” Maya grumbles. “So give her an example,” Mrs. Ramsey encourages. “When did you have to deal with someone treating you badly?” “I’ve been called names.… Read more Blue Excerpt: Blue And Maya →
LE DeLano Author 