Featured Author: Darlene Ryan
 
Bibliography at Orca
Responsible: When Kevin moves to a new high school, he doesn't want to make any waves. But when he falls in with a group of bullies, the harassment escalates until he is forced to make a difficult decision...
Saving Grace: Evie was forced to give her baby up for adoption, but when she thinks the child is being neglected, she can't leave her with strangers. Evie snatches the baby and plans to start a new life in Montreal, but when the baby gets sick, she must decide whether to keep running or to turn herself in. There is a trailer on YouTube.
Rules for Life: After her mother's death, Izzie uses her strict rules to keep her family's lives on track. But when her father decides to marry again, the rules don't apply anymore. Izzie must learn that family involves more than blood ties.
Interview
Why do you write, and why young adult books? I write because I like it and because I think I'm good at it and because I'm a miserable grouch when I don't. There are lots of days when I'm not inspired, when I hate my hair, when I have a cold and piles of laundry and no clue what's for supper. It would be easy not to write on those days but I do. It's the best job I've ever had, but it is a job, so I show up and give it my best—even when my best is pretty crappy.
I write young adult novels because I liked to read them when I was a teenager and I still like to read them. And there are so many things to write about—just getting through life when you're a teenager is complicated.
What kind of research do you do before you write? That depends on the book. For instance with Rules for Life I needed to do some research on emergency room procedures and on miscarriages. There was very little research needed for Saving Grace because I have lots of experience with adoption. With Responsible I had to research guitars. It helped that I know someone who is a musician. I asked him what his dream guitar was and that became Kevin's dad's beloved Les Paul.
Was English your favorite subject in school? People always seemed surprised when I say no. My subject in school was math.
What was your favorite book as a child? I can't choose just one book. Among my s are the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond, Dr. Doolittle, Robin Hood, Pippi Longstocking, and Trixie Belden.
As a teenager I loved anything by Paul Zindel, Kurt Vonnegut, and Ray Bradbury.
What are you working on now? I'm working on another young adult novel, called Waiting for Normal. I also have an adult novel outlined, and I've been playing around with writing a screenplay on and off for a while.
How do you handle rejection? It helped that I spent years writing radio commercials. I once wrote and voiced a commercial for a new client and when I played it to him he hated it. He asked who wrote the script and I said, “That would be me.” He backpedaled a bit and said that it wasn't so much the words as it was the voice of the announcer he couldn't stand. Then he asked who that was. “Me again.” I told him.
I give myself a day to sulk after a rejection. Mostly that means I stomp around grumbling that the person who rejected me is a moron who wouldn't know talent if it bit him (or her.)
It helps to remember that when someone doesn't like something I've written it doesn't mean the person doesn't like me. Most of the time the person I submitted the work to doesn't even know me. My family doesn't always like what I cook and I don't take that personally—although I do make them eat it!
Biography
I've been writing since I figured out that letters made words and words made stories. So of course my first degree was in... Biology. After working for a year (and not as a biologist, by the way) I went back to university for a degree in... Education. Although I'm endlessly fascinated by theories on the origin of the universe, and kids are my favorite audience to read to, I wasn't cut out to be a scientist or a teacher.
I spent a lot of years working in radio, something I loved. I've been a late-night disk jockey, a producer, an entertainment columnist, a consumer reporter, a news reader and a copywriter. One way or another I was always writing. I actually learned a lot from writing commercials—which some people say isn't very different from writing fiction. I learned how to write when I was bored, when I was tired, and when I had nothing to say. I learned how to write fast. My spelling got a little better. My handwriting got worse.
I wrote the first chapter of Rules for Life, my first teen novel, as a writing sample for a workshop with young adult author, Kevin Major. It began from a very simple premise: What if you had an evil stepmother, except she was nice? In our one on one meeting Kevin said, "This is good." He said a lot of other things, at least I think he did because I saw his lips moving, but I didn't hear anything after "this is good." Because of Kevin's encouragement I began to believe I could have a career as a writer.
I've done everything from writing commercials to cleaning motel rooms to teaching the absolutely terrified how to swim and being a writer is harder than all of them and a lot more fun. I think I have more ideas for books than I'll ever have time to write them.
Please drop by my website, www.darleneryan.com, for a look around. If you have questions or comments, please send me an email: darlene@darleneryan.com.
|
