Today I have Jessica Sankiewicz to talk about why she writes YA and her upcoming book, If Only We. At the end, there is a giveaway for gift cards, swag and copies of If Only We. Take it away, Jessica!
Why I write YA
by Jessica Sankiewicz
Back when I started reading books again, it began with various picks from the Young Adult shelves at the library. This wasn't even when I was still in high school—this was when I was about 20 years old. I didn't read too much while I was in school, at least, not in high school. I remember reading a lot more when I was a preteen, and that was mostly Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley books. So, YA was brand new to me, and I was loving it. Flash forward several years later and I'm still reading it. I'm not exactly sure why, but my guess is that it's because I'm young at heart.
Since I enjoyed reading YA so much that writing it seemed like the next step. I loved to write, but for years I never imagined actually being able to sit down and write a whole novel. But I had ideas, oh boy did I have ideas! I got myself one of those Composition notebooks and started writing out all of those inspirations. As of right now, I have 3 full notebooks plus another that's about half written in. Whenever I came up with an idea, I would get out the notebook and write it out. There are full scenes, name possibilities, and one plot synopsis after another.
Of course, like I said, I didn't think I'd ever follow through on it. Yet the dream never faded, and the more stories I came up with, the more I wanted to share them. It wasn't until I began book blogging that I realized it was possible for me to write a whole story. The more I read YA, the more I wanted to write YA. So I started writing and here I am today with my first full-length Young Adult novel. It feels nice that it's in a category I love to read. I think that's most of the reason why I write YA to begin with: because I love to read YA. I probably will write in other categories and other genres, but YA will always hold a special place for me and I know I'll always return to it.
by Jessica Sankiewicz
Back when I started reading books again, it began with various picks from the Young Adult shelves at the library. This wasn't even when I was still in high school—this was when I was about 20 years old. I didn't read too much while I was in school, at least, not in high school. I remember reading a lot more when I was a preteen, and that was mostly Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley books. So, YA was brand new to me, and I was loving it. Flash forward several years later and I'm still reading it. I'm not exactly sure why, but my guess is that it's because I'm young at heart.
Since I enjoyed reading YA so much that writing it seemed like the next step. I loved to write, but for years I never imagined actually being able to sit down and write a whole novel. But I had ideas, oh boy did I have ideas! I got myself one of those Composition notebooks and started writing out all of those inspirations. As of right now, I have 3 full notebooks plus another that's about half written in. Whenever I came up with an idea, I would get out the notebook and write it out. There are full scenes, name possibilities, and one plot synopsis after another.
Of course, like I said, I didn't think I'd ever follow through on it. Yet the dream never faded, and the more stories I came up with, the more I wanted to share them. It wasn't until I began book blogging that I realized it was possible for me to write a whole story. The more I read YA, the more I wanted to write YA. So I started writing and here I am today with my first full-length Young Adult novel. It feels nice that it's in a category I love to read. I think that's most of the reason why I write YA to begin with: because I love to read YA. I probably will write in other categories and other genres, but YA will always hold a special place for me and I know I'll always return to it.
Book Description:
They say all it takes is one wrong move and you lose the game. One false step and you’re trapped. One slip-up in your choice of words and you ruin a friendship forever. That is what they say. They say I lost.
I do not believe them.
At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, to top it off, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart.
Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. As the same days and weeks go by, she starts to see how simple decisions can make a huge impact on the world around her. Despite knowing some of what lies ahead, there are some things she didn’t anticipate. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong.
And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake.
If Only We on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18214868-if-only-we
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/368168
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/If-Only-We-Jessica-Sankiewicz-ebook/dp/B00G0ZQPV2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382298180&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-only-we-jessica-sankiewicz/1117193443?ean=2940045333689
They say all it takes is one wrong move and you lose the game. One false step and you’re trapped. One slip-up in your choice of words and you ruin a friendship forever. That is what they say. They say I lost.
I do not believe them.
At the end of the summer after graduation, Adrienne wonders what happened to cause her life to be in ruins. She isn’t getting along with her mom, her stepsister isn’t talking to her, and, to top it off, the boy she’s been in love with doesn’t want anything to do with her. She believes the turning point was a choice she made at graduation. When she wakes up the next day, she has been transported back three months to that moment, the one where everything started to fall apart.
Adrienne realizes she has been given a second chance—and this time she doesn’t want to mess anything up. Reliving the entire summer, though, turns out to be a lot harder than she thought. As the same days and weeks go by, she starts to see how simple decisions can make a huge impact on the world around her. Despite knowing some of what lies ahead, there are some things she didn’t anticipate. She thought she knew what mistake led her to where she ended up the first time. She was wrong.
And by the time summer is over, she discovers what was really at stake.
If Only We on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18214868-if-only-we
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/368168
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/If-Only-We-Jessica-Sankiewicz-ebook/dp/B00G0ZQPV2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382298180&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-only-we-jessica-sankiewicz/1117193443?ean=2940045333689
Author Bio:
Jessica is the 28 year old author of IF ONLY WE, a YA contemporary coming out in October 2013. You can often find her either reading or marathon watching TV on DVD, her favorites being Castle and Veronica Mars. She frequently mismatches her clothes and giggles uncontrollably. She knows almost every Billy Joel song by heart. She collects books and toys, and she has an intense love of cats and lemurs. Currently in the midst of her quarter-life-crisis, she is still takin' names and getting very close to reaching an epiphany.
Author Goodread's page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7179633.Jessica_Sankiewicz
Author blog: http://jessicasankiewicz.blogspot.com/
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaSankiewicz
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/Jess_Sankiewicz
Jessica is the 28 year old author of IF ONLY WE, a YA contemporary coming out in October 2013. You can often find her either reading or marathon watching TV on DVD, her favorites being Castle and Veronica Mars. She frequently mismatches her clothes and giggles uncontrollably. She knows almost every Billy Joel song by heart. She collects books and toys, and she has an intense love of cats and lemurs. Currently in the midst of her quarter-life-crisis, she is still takin' names and getting very close to reaching an epiphany.
Author Goodread's page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7179633.Jessica_Sankiewicz
Author blog: http://jessicasankiewicz.blogspot.com/
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaSankiewicz
Twitter page: https://twitter.com/Jess_Sankiewicz
