I’m thrilled to be Featured Follower for the month of September on author C. Lee McKenzie’s blog, TheWriteGame! Lee, whom I met through Uncommon YA, is a widely-published author of young adult and middle grade novels. She’s also a wonderfully gracious supporter of fellow authors. Visit her site this month to learn more about me […]
Book Two
June 21, 2016 by
Book Two For all intents, I’ve finished writing my second book. Let’s allow that to sink in for a moment. I, Steven Parlato, an unassuming college professor, from an average family, in a working class Connecticut town, am on my way (hopefully) to publishing Book Two. While this hardly makes me prolific as Patterson, I’m […]
Look Who’s Talking
August 24, 2014 by
First appeared on UncommonYA on August 20, 2014 Plot’s self-explanatory; setting and even symbolism can be straightforward too. An element that typically stumps my literature students—and many authors—is point of view. I stress to my students that P-O-V involves who’s telling the story. We go over different types, notably first-person, and the variations of third-person, […]
Dream Big Visit
August 17, 2014 by
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
August 2, 2014 by
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?
April 13, 2014 by
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!
March 31, 2014 by
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…
February 22, 2014 by
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, […]
Uncommon YA Writer Wednesday Guest Blog
December 21, 2013 by
YA Writer Wednesday I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Uncommon YA founder, author Beth Fehlbaum, on her YA Writer Wednesday feature. Check it out! What’s your book about? The Namesake is about a lot of things: faith, friendship, betrayal, forgiveness. The story centers on Evan Galloway, a fifteen-year-old grappling in the aftermath […]
