This is the final author spotlight for this series! Today’s spotlight is on Susane Colasanti, author of Keep Holding On, Something Like Fate and several other novels.
Along with the author spotlight, we will be giving away some great prizes like signed books from each author. Today we add a signed copy of Keep Holding On. This is the final prize to be added to the Summer Beach Bag of Books.
What is your most recent work and why were you inspired to write it?
Keep Holding On is my latest novel. It is a story about a girl who is being tormented at school and neglected at home. It was inspired by my own experiences. So I just really wanted to reach out to teens who are being bullied who can relate to feeling like an outsider and feeling horrible all day at school and horrible at home and never feeling comfortable anywhere. It is such a horrible situation to survive and unfortunately there are so many teens out there in those types of situations. I just really wanted to write this book to reach out to them and hopefully it will help them in some way.
What was easier to write, the first line or the last line? And if you can, quote it!
I guess the first is easier and the first line of Keep Holding On is, “Julian Porter is blocking me.” That was really easy to write because that whole scene was based on the boy who inspired Julian Porter. And this one day we were in class and he was blocking me in the aisle and he was just standing there. He moved slightly so I could get by him and I remember the most intense, overwhelming attraction ever that I remember in high school. So when I wrote that line so much more was behind that.
What is the one YA book that is out now that you wish was out when you were a teen?
Laurie Halse Andersen’s book for sure. She does an amazing job connecting with teens and letting them know it is ok to have these experiences. Not only going through rough times but I remember when I was a teen I was thinking no one else has these weird ideas, no one else has these weird feelings, I’m so weird. But to know it is actually common and going through these hard times you aren’t alone. I remembering reading Winter Girls and I had to pause to absorb her writing. Her writing is so powerful and intense and perfect. I think as a teen those books would have just made me feel better about my own life.
Links for Susane:
Website
Twitter
Facebook