The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit presents Elana Johnson!
The Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit is a web ring of YA authors. Check these posts for the latest releases!
POSSESSION
Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.
But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them….starting by brainwashed Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.
This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.
Jenn: My July release, Love Story, is set in a creative-writing class. Did you ever take a class like that, and what was your experience?
Elana: I haven’t! I took a couple of online writing classes when I first started writing, but they were geared toward novel-writing.
Jenn: My heroine longs to be a novelist. Was your journey to publication filled with longing? Quick and easy? How did you make it?
Elana: I feel like it was a long, winding road, but looking back, I realize it was quite fast. I started writing in December 2007. I wrote POSSESSION in April 2008, and it was my third novel.
My query road was long. I queried my first book for 8 months and got no takers. So I shelved it. I cleaned up POSSESSION and started querying. 8 months later, I got a single offer.
After that, though, the journey’s really accelerated. After a couple rounds of revision, the book sold quickly. I only did one round of edits, and then it’s just been ARCs, first pass pages, cover, blurb, etc. from there.
Jenn: In one of my creative-writing classes, I was taught never to write about writing. Oh well. Were you taught this too? Are there other writing rules you were taught that you still remember and either follow or throw out the window?
Elana: Well, I’m self-taught through blogs. Ha! No wonder I break so many rules. See, I’m a lover of both the adverb and the flashback. So sue me.
Jenn: What good books have you read lately?
Elana: SO MANY. Divergent (by Veronica Roth) is one of my favorite reads of 2011.
Jenn: When readers tell you they’ve read and loved all your books and they want recommendations for similar books to read now, what do you say?
Elana: Well, my book has been compared to UGLIES, MATCHED, and DELIRUIM, so I’d probably recommend those, even if *I* don’t think they’re quite the same.
Jenn: What’s next for you?
Elana: Who knows? That’s one of the best-and worst-things about writing! Every day is unknown.
For the latest on Elana's work, check her web site at elanajohnson.com!