Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: The Young Adult Writer's Journey by Janet Schrader-Post and Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for the non-fiction novel The Young Adult Writer's Journey by Janet Schrader-Post and Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I've got an excerpt for you as well as a guest post about Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds' favorite YA novels. There's also a tour wide giveaway at the bottom of this post. Be sure to visit the other blogs on this tour for more exclusive content. You can find a list of participating blogs here. Enjoy!

Finally, an all-inclusive book on young adult fiction must-do, don’t do and how-to. If you want to write a young adult novel, you need to read this book first. Coauthored by an award-winning YA author and an acquisitions editor, both experts on kids and what they like to read, this encyclopedia contains all you need to start or improve a career as a YA fiction author.

From an examination of the market, genre and its sub-genres, to mechanics and the business, everything is at your fingertips. This amazing writer’s resource is written in a relaxed and interesting style, with plenty of contemporary references and examples for clear understanding and easier application.

**The Young Adult Writer's Journey will be 99 cents during the tour**

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

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Book Trailer:

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Excerpt:

Joseph Campbell was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College, where he worked in comparative mythology and religious studies. He was strongly influenced by Carl Jung's view of myth. In his 1949 work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell described the basic mythic structure as follows:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered, and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. (Campbell, Joseph (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 23.)

His iconic classic deconstructs universal story patterns. In his study of the myth of the hero, Campbell posits the existence of a Monomyth (a word he borrowed from James Joyce), a universal pattern, structure, found in heroic tales in every culture. While outlining the basic stages of this mythic cycle, he also explores common variations in the hero’s journey, which, he argues, is an operative metaphor, not only for an individual, but for a culture as well. Although the stories may vary to suit the needs and beliefs of a specific culture, the underlying universal archetypes remain.

Christopher Vogler used this hero’s journey to write, The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. He simplified Campbell’s 17 steps into 12, handy in today’s 12-step minded society. What he did that was fantastic is make it more accessible for modern writers, who are not always scholars. There are several similar editions, including one for screenwriters. Women like Maureen Murdock have written books specifically about The Heroine’s Journey. Although the steps may vary, the universal pattern, used in a novel or screenplay, creates a story with themes that resonate across cultures. It is so powerful, creating hit after hit, that it was required reading for Disney executives, a company that knows the importance of creating a hero’s journey to appeal to mass audiences. Using this pattern to construct books in Young Adult novels provides the reader with a satisfying experience.

To illustrate the hero’s journey, it’s easier to understand in the context of a classic young adult book/movie, such as Harry Potter, already used to illustrate points throughout this book. It will be broken down for you according to the different stages in The Hero’s Journey, with particular attention to how the journey relates to a YA hero/heroine, the focus of this entire book.

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About the Authors:

Daughter of a Colonel, Janet Schrader-Post lived the military life until she got out of high school. She lived in Hawaii and worked as a polo groom for fifteen years, then moved to Florida where she became a reporter. For ten years she covered kids in high school and middle school. Kids as athletes, kids doing amazing things no matter how hard their circumstances. It impressed her, and it awed her. “How wonderful teens are. They have spirit and courage in the face of the roughest time of their lives. High school is a war zone. Between dodging bullies, school work and after school activities, teens nowadays have a lot on their plate. I wrote stories about them and I photographed them. My goal was to see every kid in their local newspaper before they graduated.”

Janet love kids and horses, and she paints and writes. Now she lives in the swampland of Florida with too many dogs and her fifteen-year-old granddaughter. She started to write young adult fiction with the help of her son, Gabe Thompson, who teaches middle school. Together they have written a number of award-winning YA novels in both science fiction and fantasy.

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Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds knows kids well. She spent decades teaching teens and adults to write and improve their reading skills. As a literacy expert and certified coach, she helped both teachers from elementary to secondary and preservice graduate students learn to improve reading and writing instruction. She has taught at both the secondary and graduate level, everything from rhetoric, essays, and thesis statements, to poetry, short stories, and how to write a novel. She has learned to use both sides of her brain simultaneously, but enjoys the creative side the most, learning to play piano, draw and paint, and find time for her own writing since retiring from her “day” jobs.

A “true believer” in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, mythic structures, she uses that lens when considering manuscripts for Tell-Tale Publishing Group, a company she founded with some friends from her critique group a decade ago.

Wise Word Publishing * Tell-Tale Publishing Group
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Guest Post:
Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds' Top 5 YA Novels

There are honestly so many YA novels I love that this is a tough question. Off the top of my head, here are 5 that I enjoyed.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry: This is one of the very best YA novels for making kids (and adults) think about the ramifications of political agendas and sociological issues. Compelling and thought-provoking, it raises moral issues and presents the complex consequences of choices made for the “common” good and betterment of mankind that have serious consequences. This novel is usually presented in middle school, when kids are just beginning to struggle with social conformity and moral issues.

2. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl: Okay, so you have star-crossed lovers and magic. What’s not to love? Add a quirky family and funny if somewhat stereotypical townsfolks who are both busy bodies and would-be bullies and you have all the makings for a fun romp.

3. Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling: Who doesn’t love Harry Potter? My daughter ‘grew up’ with Harry Potter and was one of the first visitors at Hogwarts in Universal Studios, and when it first came out, I was using classroom sets amidst parent concerns that we were teaching kids to use witchcraft. Kids who didn’t like to read were actually reading, even middle grade boys! Always a winner in a YA book, as far as I’m concerned. It’s some of the best world building ever!

4. A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: A wonderful spinoff of Beauty and the Beast. So many wonderful high fae and fairies and various other creatures. Another example of interesting world building. I suppose being an artist made me love that the main character was a painter, too. She viewed things like an artist, thinking of how she might paint it, and I related to that. The characterization was well done, making me relate to the heroine, and through her eyes, the hero. I’m not usually a fan of first person, but when done right it’s very powerful.

5. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard: It’s been a while since I read this one, but I appreciated the vague take on Cinderella. The heroine was relatable, feisty and brave. She didn’t let fear stop her from helping her family and trying to overcome a dystopian world.

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Giveaway:

The authors will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter after the tour. Be sure to leave a comment at a different blog on the tour each day to increase your chance of winning. You can find a list of participating blogs here. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway