Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I am filling a HUGE, gaping hole in my literary life. I'm reading Jane Austen for the first time. Yep. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is calling to me from my Kindle right now.

Jen P wrote:Before I Die - Jenny Downham

Oh! Heck yes. I can't believe I forgot that one in my original list. My tissue box sure didn't forget about it.

My favorite genre! Here are my recommendations for you: How To Say Goodbye In Robot - Natalie Standiford (My fave book this year so far! I've read it three times in the last few months. I am obsessed with it.) Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You - Peter Cameron (Another favorite. Great character...

I've looked into this too, as I'm not legally "Harper Karcz." It popped into my head as a workable pen name several years ago, and I've actually started thinking of myself as "Harper" rather than [Given Name Which Everyone Writing / Publishing YA Seems To Share] whenever I sit do...

I'm excited for this, too. My friend is scheduling her birthday party to coincide with the PBS broadcast. She said something about Hamlet-themed food and drink. I'm... curious?

For those interested, the USA DVD is being released about a week after the broadcast. May 5 or 6, I think?

(But when I was 12, we were reading some fairly grown-up books as assigned reading in school. We read To Kill a Mockingbird in 7th grade, as well as Watership Down and Lord of the Flies. The latter two books disturbed me more than anything I've read from the YA section.) Watership Downs disturbed y...

More on this when I've had some sleep, but: what really bothers me about YA today is that a lot of 12 and 13 year old kids are reading it. 15, 16, fine. 12?!?!? No. Ishta, which YA books have you read recently? And what content, specifically, are you talking about? Just so I know where you're comin...

Harper Karcz wrote:I love reading YA, and I'm so glad that it's come of age, so to speak, over the last ten years.

Sommer Leigh wrote:I love the fact that YA is growing up, so to speak.

Sommer Leigh, I think we wrote those very similar sentences within just a few minutes of each other! Same wavelength!

I think mine may be more of an overarching disorder rather than just a pet peeve, but I'll bite anyway. My prose always sounds nice, but it's attached to scenes -- and sometimes whole novels -- that don't go anywhere. No conflict, no goals, no wants, nothing. I've honed my writing skills without hon...

I love reading YA, and I'm so glad that it's come of age, so to speak, over the last ten years. I was strictly a lit fic reader for a long time, but about 5 - 6 years ago I discovered the current crop of YA fiction, with its thematic complexity and its economy of language, and I've been hooked ever ...

I'm 29. Turning 30 in less than a month! If anyone's around Atlanta during the second week of May, I cordially invite you to my celebratory karaoke extravaganza.

Wow, I love reading these! I'm a real junkie for author readings / signings, so I've had brief meetings with a lot of my favorite authors. I got to have a chat with Kurt Vonnegut during my freshman year of college, was completely dumbstruck by John Updike a few years later (I was fully obsessed with...

A short story of 100 words or less, which must incorporate 5 wacky keywords of your choosing.

Okay I have a question that relates to this thread- (thinking of posting it on ask nathan) I have written a manuscript, (and revised it, numerous times) and I am pretty happy with the overall story, pacing, plot etc. But, here's my dilemna: it's a YA fantasy novel with a protagonist who is 18 years...

I read tons of blogs, and I'll keep reading them for however long they're around! My commenting habits are spotty, though. Since I don't have a blog myself right now (more on that in a minute), I don't have as much incentive to comment as people who are actively trying to get their blog name out the...