E. Lockhart in Manila (+giveaway!)

Q.  Who are your favorite authors?

A. It’s very hard to have single favorites. My favorite YA author is Jaclyn Moriarty, she has a new series that starts with a book called, “A Corner of White,” and she wrote “Feeling Sorry for Celia,” “The Year of Secret Assignments,” and “The Ghosts of Ashbury High.” She’s mentioned in “We Were Liars,” basically because she is my favorite YA writer.

This year I really liked “Grasshopper Jungle” by Andrew Smith a lot, and I liked “Winger” by him as well. I think he’s really fantastic and interesting. I really loved Holly Black’s Curse Worker series, I mean she’s always been good but this series is kind of a paranormal con artist- crime family thing and set in a very realistic world with magic in it, and she does that amazingly well.

Q. What are you writing now, and are we going to see you explore other genres, like maybe Victorian literature?

A. I love Victorian literature, but I don’t think I will ever write historical; I’m too lazy to research it, or I don’t have the patience.

I just finished the draft of a new book, and I’m not really allowed to say too much about it, but it is not set in high school, it is young adult, and it has a little bit of murder. It’ll come out sometime in 2016.

Q. What would you advise to aspiring writers?

A. When I was in college I took one creative writing class and it was just a disaster because the criticism was extremely aggressive and therefore not constructive. The teacher did not think very much of me, to the point that he did not even read some of my stories and told me that. And a number of people in that class seemed to me talented, and they had, at the age of 20, a lot more to offer than I did. Of all the fifteen people in that class, only one has published any fiction work. And the difference between me and those other more talented writers is that my books are finished.

So I finished my books, and I rewrote them and I rewrote them. Many of those people got stuck, or blocked, or scared, and didn’t finish their projects. So, finish your book is my advice, and rewrite it. Again. And again. And again. Writing is a craft and you can learn it; it just takes practice.

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Emily signed my books, too (my hardcover Frankie is in storage, boo!)

155___03And we had our photo taken — Emily is wearing the book necklace I gave her! :)

IMG_3598And here’s the part you’ve all been waiting for: this month’s giveaway!

I’m giving away a signed copy of “We Were Liars,” with the special stamp and matching bookmark, plus a book necklace like the one I gave Emily:

155___031Join below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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P.S. Almost forgot — Ratings!
Ruby Oliver quartet, 4/5 stars
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, 4/5 stars
We Were Liars, 4.5/5 stars

31 thoughts on “E. Lockhart in Manila (+giveaway!)”

    1. Thanks, Nadine. If you are joining the giveaway, don’t forget to log on to Rafflecopter to make it count :)

  1. I love E. Lockhart and We Were Liars so much. It was the first book that got me reading, and the first book that made me cry. It was really the best. I would really, really love to have it!

  2. Thank you so much for this giveaway. So sad, I haven’t gone to see E. Lockhart here in Cebu. >.< Thanks for sharing your experience and the interview is so great. I wished I was there.

  3. Gah, I feel really bad for missing this, and for not giving my book to a friend to have it signed. I loved Frankie, and I LOVED We Were Liars. I have yet to read the last Ruby Oliver book, and seeing how it made you cry just made me want to read it sooner. :D

    1. Tina, I read Ruby Oliver because you said it had surprising depth, and you were right! :) Read Real Live Boyfriends, it’s the best of the four.

    1. The one I’m giving away is the best of the bunch, I think :) I read a lot of YA and it’s rare to find books that really make a lasting impression, and this one does :)

  4. I’ve seen lots of praises for WWL so I’m pretty pumped up to read it.

    Thanks for sharing your interview with E. Lockahart and thanks also for the giveaway. :)

  5. I enjoyed reading your blog. :)
    I love this book and I felt bad that I wasn’t able to attend the book signing event. I would love to have signed copy of the book. :)

  6. Whenever I visit your blog, I always tell myself “There’s your inspiration to resurrect your book blog!” And yeah, until now I haven’t. Haha

    Oh, and I loved We Were Liars so much and would like to try out her other books :)

    1. Aww, thanks, Ida. I’ve had struggles with blogging myself, especially in the past two years when I’ve had to adjust to new responsibilities at work and I just didn’t have the time or energy to blog as much as I’ve wanted to.

      This year I’ve made the conscious effort to push myself to blog more, and I’m halfway through last year’s post count and it’s only March, so that’s a small victory. I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the year! :)

      I think you’ll enjoy E. Lockhart’s other books as well — good stuff! Frankie deserves a slow clap, and Ruby Oliver takes some time to grow on you, but the payoff is at the end of the series, when she comes full circle.

  7. I’ve been dying to get the book We Were Liars for the past months but unfortunately it is beyond my budget. I always just look at it in the bookshelves then will whisper “I will buy you..just stay there!!” Hahaha.. When I heard see will come to the Philippines, I felt bad because I just couldn’t get to the venue. I know I can have ebooks but I get this happy feeling when I open and smell new books. I’m crossing my fingers to win. Thank you very much for this contest.

    1. Wishing you the best of luck, Sheila.

      I do a know what it feels to not be able to buy a book you really want — I was lucky to have friends who were always ready to lend me their books, but of course, having your own personal copy makes a world of difference. I think I overdid the “making up for it” part when I was finally able to buy my own books.

    1. She is nice! I like how takes time to personally reply to her fans on her social networks.

      Good luck in the raffle :)

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