The Great Divide

First appeared on Uncommon YA on October 17, 2014 Think of the last book that grabbed you, kept you up all night, vowing to quit after just one more chapter. Remember finishing that chapter and, despite your best efforts, being unable to close the cover? That’s the feeling I strive to create in readers, that […]

Dream Big Visit

I had the pleasure of guesting on fellow Uncommon YA author, Melissa Wray’s blog on Tuesday, August 12, 2014. Here’s the interview. And thanks for having me, Melissa! AUTHOR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Tell us a little about your writing journey. Though I always loved reading and suspected I’d write one day, I didn’t get serious until […]

An Uncommon Feature

Thank God for UNCOMMON YA! If not for my blog assignments there, I might never post an update here. I was featured on the site on Wednesday, July 31, 2014. If you missed me there, here’s the interview. Today I (Beth Fehlbaum, UncommonYA moderator) am interviewing Steven Parlato, author of the highly acclaimed THE NAMESAKE, […]

Lions, Tigers, and Bears?

NOPE! More like bullies, giraffes and cats. Oh my! Post first appeared on Uncommon YA, Friday, 4/11/14. A neighborhood stray dies in the street near our house. A giraffe graces the blacktop of our local mall. John R * * * * * * * repeatedly punches my arm in Mr. Whealon’s 11th grade history […]

Well, I’m hopping! Yes, indeed!

How lucky am I? Lucky enough to have known author Kim Stokely since college. I was studying graphic design; Kim was a theater major, and we bonded as members of a guerilla production of the musical, Godspell. Who’d have predicted we’d still be pals—and published authors—all these years later? Well, the friend part was a […]

Oh, to have known…

First appeared 2/20/14 on Uncommon YA Sensitive is not a dirty word. Artistic is not an insult. Creative should be considered a compliment. And just because someone doesn’t spend his every waking hour “working,” that doesn’t mean he’s lazy. So yeah, clearly, I’m still chipping away at the old adolescent angst all these years later, […]

Some Thoughts on My Year in Print

Post first appeared on Uncommon YA, 1/15/14. Hollywood has not come calling. I have not been mobbed on the street by eager readers. I have yet to churn out—in the words of Publishers Weekly—my next “solidly woven … well-executed plot.” Hopefully, this doesn’t mean I’m no longer a “name to watch” (Thanks, PW!); just that […]

Tough Love

At a recent bookstore event, I experienced a cringe-worthy moment. Oddly, my distress involved a pair of shoppers interested in buying my novel, THE NAMESAKE. It’s not that these patrons were creepy or threatening. In fact, they were friendly, talkative. Heck, they looked like they’d walked straight out of a breakfast cereal commercial. The thing […]

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