No Place to Fall author Jaye Robin Brown shares her debut experience and lists her fave debuts as well!
Jaye Robin Brown
1. What's the best thing that happened after your book was published?
I had a colleague read an ARC of the book. She came in to my classroom (I teach high school art) and started talking to me about my characters like they were real people. And since they are to me, it was so fun to finally be able to talk to someone else about them!
2. How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?
I took nine of my closest friends out to a fancy dinner in the nearby town of Asheville at a favorite restaurant. It felt pretty cool to say “I’ll take that,” when the check came. Of course, that feeling was short-lived but I loved being able to thank my friends who’d supported me as I tried to get published.
3. When is your best time to write?
I write really early in the mornings. From around 5 am-6:30. This works around my work schedule. Most week nights I’m too tired to write and have other things to do. On the weekends I push my writing time till about noon. Summer, in it’s infinite day quality, is my writer bliss!
4. Do you read reviews of your book?
Hmmm. I’ve read some. And I’m so appreciative of thoughtful, honest reviews whether positive or negative. But as I’ve poked a toe into some other author’s reviews, I’ve seen some ugliness that I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle once it comes to my own books. So for now, yes. For the long run, I doubt it. I may use my partner as a filter to read first and share what she thinks may be helpful to me.
5. What is your best or most unforgettable moment with a fan?
Ha! Well this goes with that review question. The first positive review I got from a total stranger. Not someone I chatted with online, or a fellow author, but a real honest to goodness stranger who loved my book. Who got my book! That will continue to be unforgettable I think.
6. Was there any book/s from other debut author of 2014 that you loved?
Oh gosh, so many! Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley, The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine, The Fire Wish by Amber Lough, Far From You by Tess Sharpe, Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan, Open Road Summer by Emery Lord, Winterkill by Kate Boorman, Tabula Rasa by Kristin Lippert-Martin, The Walled City by Ryan Graudin, Faking Normal by Courtney Stephens, Snow like Ashes by Sara Raasch, and The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes to name a very few! There are some AHMAZING books that came out in 2014 - of all genres! I’m involved with two debut groups - The YA Valentines and The Fall Fourteeners and I’d highly recommend all of their books!
7. Are you interested in writing in a different genre or for a different audience?
I’ve written MG manuscripts in the past and have one that I poke at from time to time. I also have a YA science fiction manuscript I write drips and drabs of here and there. Doubtful that I’ll ever write picture books or adult, but don’t hold me to that!
8. Share us one embarrassing moment you've had.
Oh, how about that time I painted a big hashtag on the front of the school thinking it meant one thing (which it did) but also turned out to have an alternate meaning far more common among my students (errr oh). I claimed ignorance! (We paint the windows for Homecoming week)
9. Favorite color? Used to be purple but now is blue.
Favorite movie? Oh gosh, this is hard. I really love this obscure Dutch film called Antonia’s Line. And in quirk, I’m all about Juno and Napoleon Dynamite.
Favorite ice cream flavor? Salted Caramel or Homemade Peach.
Favorite song? I’ve been stuck on The Avett Brother’s The Weight of Lies for about a year now.
Ultimate celebrity crush (dead or alive)? I think Scottish musician Paolo Nutelli is super cute. And I’m a total Scarlett Johansson fan girl.
10. What's next for you?
I just finished writing a novella from Will’s POV in No Place To Fall that hopefully the world will get to read, and I’m working on another contemporary novel for Harper Teen that’s slated to come out in the spring of 2016. I can’t say much about it at this point.
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About the Author
Jaye Robin Brown, or Jro to her friends, lives and writes in the mountains north of Asheville, North Carolina. She is fond of horses, dogs, the absurd and the ironic. When not writing, you can find her in the art room of the high school where she teaches or roaming the mountains searching for inspiration.
Her debut young adult novel, NO PLACE TO FALL, comes out in the fall of 2014 from Harper Teen. It's about dreams, singing, friendship, love, betrayal, family, and mistakes. It's also a love song to small town girls and mountain music, both of which shape the area that Jaye now calls home.
From Jaye to you!
by Jaye Robin Brown
Published December 9th 2014 by Harper Teen
Blurb (Goodreads):
Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.
When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.
Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.
Yesterday: Kat Spears, author of Sway. Tomorrow: Rebecca Yarros, author of Full Measures. Check out the schedule here.
Blurb (Goodreads):
Amber Vaughn is a good girl. She sings solos at church, babysits her nephew after school, and spends every Friday night hanging out at her best friend Devon’s house. It’s only when Amber goes exploring in the woods near her home, singing camp songs with the hikers she meets on the Appalachian Trail, that she feels free—and when the bigger world feels just a little bit more in reach.
When Amber learns about an audition at the North Carolina School of the Arts, she decides that her dream—to sing on bigger stages—could also be her ticket to a new life. Devon’s older (and unavailable) brother, Will, helps Amber prepare for her one chance to try out for the hypercompetitive arts school. But the more time Will and Amber spend together, the more complicated their relationship becomes . . . and Amber starts to wonder if she’s such a good girl, after all.
Then, in an afternoon, the bottom drops out of her family’s world—and Amber is faced with an impossible choice between her promise as an artist and the people she loves. Amber always thought she knew what a good girl would do. But between “right” and “wrong,” there’s a whole world of possibilities.
Interesting Cover for the book..
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