After reviewing Courtney’s book, we couldn’t wait to talk to her! We learned a lot and hope that you will too!

BTB: What inspired you to write the Sincerely books?

Courtney: The idea came to me when I was at dinner with my dear friend Allyson.   We were talking about New York versus California, and these two girls popped into my head, sixth grade pen pals who corresponded across 3000 miles.  In the beginning, I knew more about Sophie:  that she lived in Manhattan, shared a room with her younger sister, and her parents were going through a divorce.  She was a lot like me.  Allyson is sportier and more outgoing, and she lives in California, so she was the original inspiration for Katie.

BTB: What do you want your audience to learn or get from your books?

Courtney:I don’t ever set out with a lesson for my readers.  My goal is to write well enough so that the story is realistic, and readers can identify with my characters and empathize with their situations.  And I hope, when they finish the books, they feel like the time they spent reading was worthwhile.

BTB:How long have you been writing?

Courtney: I’ve been writing since I was a little girl – I remember when I was about six and my sister was three, we used to staple pages together, curl up on opposite ends of the couch, and write “books.”

BTB:What are some of the things you’ve learned as a writer?

Courtney: In no particular order, I’ve learned that even the things you love to do are hard; that tricks that work for other people won’t necessarily work for me, and vice versa; that I have to make myself write everyday, and just keep going even when it seems like I’m the worst writer in the world; that it’s scary but necessary to share the bad stuff with my friends, my agent, my editor, because they can help me fix it; that revision is the very best part; and that even though I spend most of my days alone in my apartment, being a writer has brought some of the greatest people into my life.

BTB:  Are any of the things that Kate and Sophie experience things that you experienced when you were younger?

Courtney: Like Katie, I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, my favorite aunt was my Aunt Jean, and I organized a fundraiser in my school – though mine was to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.  My family situation was much more like Sophie’s.  Also I was (and am) on the short side, I went to a private all-girls school on the Upper East Side, and I really did get trapped in an apartment building stairwell on Halloween, along with my real-life friend Katie.

*Interview Questions by Meagan Anderson and Etinosa Agbonlahor

Author: Candace Bushnell

Pages: 400

Rating: 4-stars (Loved-It!)

Random Quote: “It’s not something you need to worry about as a child.”

Before Sex and City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small town girl. She knew that she wanted to leave that place someday and knew that she wanted to head to New York. With her dreams of being a writer hidden, she is just trying to get through her senior year of high school so that she can start her real life. Coming from a very intellectual family, where education is important, Carrie faces pressure from her father. With no mother to guide her, she does the best she can for herself and her sisters.

When Sebastian Kydd, the new kid at school, starts paying attention to Carrie, she is thrilled and finds herself spending more time with him then with her friends. She even ditches a potentially great guy for him. When he starts to spend just as much time with her as he is with one of her “best friends”, she starts to wonder who he really is. After her friend betrays her she is more determined then ever to get out of this small town and start a new life in New York, but will her father let her go?

If you are a Sex and the City fan then you will LOVE this book! Taking you back to Carrie’s early days, this book gives readers so great insight into how Carrie became the woman we all have come to love! I really enjoyed this book and I think even those of you who may not have read (or seen) Sex and the City can still appreciate this book!

This book was sent by the publisher for review purposes. By the Book Reviews was in no way compensated for this review. The views expressed here are strictly those of By the Book Reviews and are not influenced by any outside sources.

Author: Susan Wiggs

Pages: 480

Rating: 4-stars (Loved It)

Random Quote: “I can’t even keep the flowers in the window boxes alive.”

Sarah deals with all her problems by writing about them in her comic strip, Just Breathe. Having spent lots of time undergoing fertility treatments that don’t seem to be working, she has wrote about her frustrations and experiences in her comic strip. Unfortunately, her life is only going to get worse. Determined to surprise her husband at his most recent job site, she is the one who is in for a surprise. When she catches her husband with another woman she feels like her world is going to crumble.

Fleeing to her hometown in California, she is all anyone can talk about. As she tries to build a relationship with the father who was so distant as a child and continues to deal with the loss of her mother, she is shocked to find out that she is pregnant, with twins. As she deals with this new discovery, she also finds herself connecting with Will, the high school heartthrob who she used to mock in her comics. Will she be able to start a new life in her old home?

I really enjoyed this book, from beginning to end. I hated Sarah’s husband, Jack and honestly, didn’t like Will’s daughter that much, at least not at first. I felt myself feeling every emotion that Sarah experienced, which is a real sign of great writing (at least in my opinion!) I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!

*This book was received in a book swap. By the Book Reviews was in no way compensated for this review. The views expressed here are strictly those of By the Book Reviews and are not influenced by outside sources.

The other author of the Miracle Girls series, May Vanderbilt had just as much to say as Anne! May graduated from Baylor University and has an MA in Fiction from Johns Hopkins. Here is what she had to

BTB: Has writing always been a passion of yours?

May:Always. Some of my earliest memories involve writing little stories by the closet light when I was supposed to be asleep in bed.

BTB: If you weren’t writing, what do you think you would be doing?

May: Like Anne, I have a day job and I love it. I help my company give back to the local community and take good care of the earth. Truthfully, writing is the only thing I ever dreamed of doing—but being a professional do-gooder is a dream come true for me.

BTB: Where/How did the Miracle Girls series begin?

May: I’m giving Anne all the credit for this one. She read a magazine called Sweet Sixteen, and they often featured incredible stories of teens who miraculously survived near-death experiences. From that small idea, our four main characters began to take shape and soon the series seemed to be writing itself.

BTB: Which of the girls most resembles what you were like in high school?

May: Riley, no doubt about it. I am blonde and was a cheerleader for six years, but like Riley, I wasn’t that caught up in it. I was in the “nerd program” at my high school, I was a total goody two shoes, and spent my days dreaming of when I would graduate and leave my small town far behind. Now I wish I could go back and tell my younger self, Enjoy today! Tomorrow will come soon enough.

BTB: Did you ever find yourself in detention as a teen?

May:My parents were way stricter than my school so detention was never really a concern. However, I was once grounded for NINE WEEKS for getting a B on my report card. And during junior year I got in a fender bender in the Subway parking lot and had to spend the whole summer working at my dad’s company to pay him back for the repairs. Whoops!

BTB: What messages and life lessons do you hope your readers will walk away with after reading this series?

May: There are so many lessons I hope they learn. We tried to make each Miracle Girl very different and show her dealing with her own set of pressures. From Ana, you can learn how to be a strong leader and that bending the truth can catch up with you. From Christine, you can learn that someday, somehow healing will come. From Zoe, you’ll see that being an adult is harder than it looks. And from Riley, you’ll come to understand that sometimes finding your way in the world is a rocky path.

BTB: What has it been like working with Anne- how is it working as a team as opposed to working solo?

May: Working with Anne is amazing. I have always felt she makes me a stronger writer and that the writing process goes faster when you have someone to bounce ideas off of. Writing solo is like fumbling in the dark much of the time. When you’re working together, you light the way forward for each other.

BTB: What are you currently working on? Any new books in 2010?

May: Love Will Keep Us Together publishes in April 2010 and I can’t wait. It’s finally Riley’s turn to tell the story.

And beyond that, I’m working on relaxing and seeing a bit of the world. At the end of last year, I took a volunteer vacation to Peru. We lived with poor children from the surrounding villages and it changed my life. I’m hoping to take another volunteer vacation this year, but first, I have to decide what corner of the world I want to give back in. There’s so much need.

To learn more about May Vanderbilt and Anne Dayton, be sure to check out their website!

*Interview questions by Jessica Fisher and Meagan Anderson

By the Book Reviews was lucky enough to have a chance to talk with author L.J. Smith. L.J. Smith’s books fit perfectly into the current vampire craze but they have been around for a while! Her series, Vampire Diaries, has been made into a show on the CW network and new books are still to come! Here is what L.J.Smith had to say about her series, the show, and her writing!

BTB: Why do you think readers are so drawn to the ideas of vampires?

Smith: I have many theories about this. One is that reading a vampire book—at least a book in which you have a romantic vampire—is like taking a rollercoaster ride. You may be scared as you climb up to the top of the ride; you may scream as you plunge downward, twisting and whirling unexpectedly, but all the time you know deep down that it won’t kill you.

Vampires also have a strange glamour about them. They often are portrayed as being inhumanly beautiful. Since some of them are very old, they have had time to settle into their bodies, and never make a movement that is not graceful or precise. And since the entire purpose of these vampires’ existence is to get their hands on you, they may have learned to be as appealing to humans as possible.

Too, I believe in the theory of redemption. I think a lot of us want to believe that all any of these gloriously-beautiful, inherently-chilling creatures of the darkness can get a little closer to the light through the love of a nice human girl.

BTB: What inspired you to first start writing about vampires?

Smith: I wasn’t inspired; I was hired! A publishing company asked me to do a trilogy of vampire books. That’s when the inspiration came! I quickly read up on classical vampires, and soon realized that I wanted The Vampire Diaries to be unlike any book that had been written before it—to have a reluctant vampire—one who didn’t want to be a creature of darkness, but couldn’t help his nature. So Stefan was born. When I added Elena and Damon to the mix I found I’d fallen in love with all three characters.

BTB: Are your characters inspired by people you know?

Smith: Some are; some aren’t. I like to watch people’s mannerisms and use them for my characters—like Matt Honeycutt jingling change when he wanted to say something important. That came from a true life guy I knew—but although he read the book he never made the connection! Most of my vampires, witches, and other supernatural characters, of course, are not based on humans. They usually come to me as I’m writing, and I can see them more and more clearly the more I write and think about them.

BTB: What was your reaction when first approached to make Vampire Diaries into a TV Show?

Smith: To be honest, at first I was very cautious about getting my hopes up. I’ve been through this kind of thing before and it has never resulted in a TV show or movie. But it quickly became clear that this was different—and then I still tried to keep my hopes in check. I wasn’t sure how America would like The Vampire Diaries. But gradually I became elated—and thank heavens nothing went wrong.

BTB: What do you think of the changes the TV show has made to the book?

Smith: I love everything the producers of the show have done, and think the show is wonderful. I’ve gotten over the Elena blonde or brunette question—after all, Elena is just Elena. Just as Kevin Williamson has said, there is a big difference between five books and a full season TV show, and the spirit of the book is honored throughout. The books and the TV show are just two different ways to tell a tale.

BTB: What is the most valuable piece of advice you would give to aspiring authors?

Smith: I know that you’ve heard it before, but writing something every single day truly is the way to expand your ability and to inspire you. You don’t have to have a subject in mind when you put your pen to the paper. All you need to do is to force yourself to write some words—about what happened to you that day, about how you’re feeling . . . anything. If you keep writing you may suddenly find yourself telling a funny story or remembering an idea you had earlier in the day. Scribble down your ideas for a novel or a description of how much you enjoyed your Saturday. Try it—it works!

BTB: What authors have inspired you?

Smith: Too many to name! These days I read mostly classics and a lot of nonfiction (sometimes for research, sometimes for pleasure). Until I began to write Vampire Diaries I had never read a book about vampires. But when I was hired to do the trilogy, of course, I read Dracula, and anything I could find on the Internet about “real” vampires. But I can tell you about a modern author who has inspired me: Terry Pratchett. I love his books! Each one of them stretches my imagination further and further. To me, he is the funniest and most gifted author of our time.

BTB: Are you currently working on any new projects?

Smith: Oh, yes! I’ve just begun the third book in the new Vampire Diaries Trilogy, titled Midnight. The second book in this trilogy, Shadow Souls, will be out in March, 2010. And then I am working on the last book in the Night World series, titled Strange Fate, which doesn’t have a firm publication date yet. In addition I have on the back burner a book called Brionwy’s Lullabies, which is set in a world that is ruled by dragons. And of course I hope to write some more Vampire Diaries books as well!

*Interview Questions written by Meagan Anderson

We recently had the pleasure to interview Ellen Hopkins, whose newest book “Tricks” just released! Here is what she shared with us!

1. How long have you been writing and what made you want to start?

I’ve been writing since I knew what that was. Published my first poem at nine years old, and wrote poetry, short stories, etc. all through high school. Studied journalism in college, then dropped out to get married and start a family. When that marriage dissolved and I married my current husband, I decided to become a writer for real. That was in 1992 or so. I freelanced, wrote children’s nonfiction, and then moved into young adult fiction in 2002, when I decided to write about my daughter’s addiction to crystal meth, in CRANK.

2. If you weren’t a writer, what do you think you would be doing?

Knowing what I know now, I’d probably be a pilot. I love flying and think it would be an amazing career. Or I might be a teacher. Teachers, good ones anyway, make a positive difference every day. That rocks.

3. You write in a very poetic-type form. Many readers say that they like your style because it is easier for them to read. Why did you decide to write this way?

I started CRANK in prose, but the voice was too angry. It was my voice, not “Kristina’s” voice. I’ve always written poetry and when I saw another verse novelist, Sonya Sones, speak at a conference, I knew it was the right way to tell the story. Verse is about how the poet views his or her world, and I wanted to view Kristina’s world. Verse allowed me inside her. Then I discovered a talent for it, and that many readers do like it.

4. Have any of the issues mentioned in your books been inspired by personal experiences?

As I mentioned, CRANK and its sequel, GLASS, are loosely based on my daughter’s story. But there are threads of real people/situations in all my books. Not all my own personal experiences, but those of family, friends, and even readers who have shared their stories with me. I don’t want to write someone else’s story, but often am inspired by what I hear.

5. Is it important for you to not always have a “happy ending” in your books?

It’s not important that they don’t have happy endings, but rather that they have realistic endings. I refuse to sugarcoat or create artificial endings that don’t work for the storylines.

6. Both Crank and Glass feature the character Kristina. Do you plan on writing any more books with her as your main character?

There will be one more Kristina book, FALLOUT. However, because I don’t want to keep writing the same book, I’ve chosen to write FALLOUT from the POVs of three of her children, now teens and dealing with the fallout of her choices. So you’ll get the rest of her story, only through their eyes.

7.Can you describe your newest release, Tricks, to our readers?

TRICKS is about five teens (three girls, two guys–one gay, one straight) from all different parts of the country and completely different kinds of lives who fall into prostitution. The five stories are very separate at first, but eventually overlap toward the end of the book. All five end up in Las Vegas, where they either do or don’t get out of the lifestyle.

8. Are you currently working on any new books?

I’m currently writing FALLOUT, which will release next summer. After that will be PERFECT, about the drive to be perfect through surgery, self-regulated eating, steroids, extreme exercise, etc.

9. If you had to pick a favorite out of all your books, which would it be and why?

My favorite has to be the book I’m writing, whatever that book is at the time. If that wasn’t the case, I would be writing something I felt was not as good as my previous books. If that ever happens, I’ll have to stop writing because for me it’s all about giving my readers the very best book I can. I’m growing as a writer, and it’s important that my stories keep growing, too.

*Questions by Meagan Anderson and Dana Garth

Author: Sarah StrohmeyerPages: 328 pages

Nola Devlin and her friends have been trying to lose weight using every diet known to man, yet each of them still keep slide back into their same patterns. When Nola gets rejected from her dream job because she is too overweight, she decides to get thin the only way she can think of..to pretend to be. Nola creates a thin, trendy, British alter ego, known as Belinda and lands Nola’s dream job effortlessly.

Unfortunately, when “Belinda” writes a column about how easy it is to lose weight, Nola’s friends read it and decide that they are ready to try something new. Nola is then forced to join the “Cinderella Pact” so that she can lose weight along with her friends. But as time goes on, Nola’s weight drops and her problems seem to just increase. Will she be able to leave her weight and her problems behind?