Crossover authors
Authors who established careers in one genre before crossing into Young Adult fiction.› David Baldacci› John Grisham› Carl Hiaasen› Joyce Carol Oates› James Patterson› Salmon Rushdie
Jacquelyn Mitchard’s advice on writing
› Ask yourself: If someone forbid me to write, would I be depressed for awhile or heartbroken? How much does it mean to me?› Have the reputation for being a person who finishes what you start.› Give your story a title. Never turn a story in with a number or “untitled” in the title.› Make friends. You may be talented, but don’t be conceited. Don’t perceive anyone as less than you.› Have patience with yourself. This is a time when you should have mostly questions and fewer answers.› If you have nothing to write about, don’t blame writing, blame yourself. You’re not looking at the world hard enough.› Copy the people (writers) you admire. Copy their voices, but not their ideas or words.› Let life surprise you.
What would you do if a woman claiming to be Oprah Winfrey left a phone message stating she wanted to “start the largest book club in the world” with your debut novel?
Author Jacquelyn Mitchard erased the tape. Twice – because Winfrey called back the next day.
“I thought it was a friend playing a prank,” Mitchard explains. “On the third day, my intern said, ‘I think it’s really Oprah because listen how mad she is!'”