Guest Blog

'The Elite' Author Kiera Cass' No-Fail Dating Advice

Posted 4/23/13 8:00 am EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

The Elite Hey Hollywood Crush Readers!

I'm Kiera Cass, author of "The Selection," "The Prince" novella, and "The Elite" (out today!). "The Selection" series revolves around a fictitious dating game, and lots of people ask if I ever watched "The Bachelor" to get inspired for my books. The truth is, I never watched an episode until after I wrote "The Selection," but since then I’ve learned a lot about televised dating relationships and all the drama that surrounds them.

Personally, I think it’s easier to find a guy the old-fashioned, off-screen way. But... that’s way less entertaining! So, if you decide to participate in one of these ventures, you’ve got to remember that the producers have it down to a science as to what mix of girls make for an interesting show and who would stand a chance at winning a happily ever after. So, you’ve got to quickly establish yourself as one of the following it you want a chance at snagging your ideal man!

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'Indigo Spell' Author Richelle Mead Reveals Her Unexpected Adrian Inspiration

Posted 2/15/13 3:45 pm EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

by Richelle Mead

People often ask where I get my inspiration from, and I always say I have no good answer because, well, inspiration comes from everywhere: people, places, memories. There are little gems all around us that can hold glimmers of inspiration. Here’s one of my more unexpected ones.

Louisa May Alcott, most famously known for writing "Little Women," had a much lesser known novel called "Eight Cousins." It’s about a preteen girl who’s orphaned and sent to live in the town her father grew up in, where she discovers she has seven boy cousins and a whole bunch of quirky aunts and uncles. Anyway, the book’s good, but I’m not in love with it. What I’m REALLY in love with is its sequel, "Rose in Bloom." Yeah...did I mention that the girl’s name is Rose? (Rose Hathaway wasn’t named after Alcott’s Rose Campbell, but it’s certainly one of the reasons I feel so strongly toward that name).

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'Unravel Me' Author Tahereh Mafi Shines In 'Shatter Me' Shoes

Posted 2/6/13 3:15 pm EST by MTV News in Fashion & Style, Guest Blog, Page Turners

by Tahereh Mafi

I have two great loves in this world: shoes and books. And with the release of "Unravel Me" on the horizon, I wanted to have some fun combining these two ideas. So I decided to grab a pair of old boots and the book that started it all: "Shatter Me."

"Shatter Me" is a dystopian novel about a girl with a lethal touch, but at its core it's a book about a girl with a fractured heart and mind and how she learns to put the pieces of herself back together. These shoes are about making a point: that not only can you recover from being beaten and broken, but you can take what's left and become something even more beautiful. Something that shines.

Enter: "Shatter Me" Shoes.

I created these boots using a pair of dearly loved but worn-to-bits Jeffrey Campbells (Brisbanes—original here), about 50 broken mirrors (purchased from my local craft store), and some really intense adhesive.

See the finished product after the jump!

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Dan Wells: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/17/12 11:30 am EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Our final essay comes from Dan Wells, author of "Partials" and the forthcoming "Fragments," out February 2013.

My favorite YA book of the year was "Insignia" by S.J. Kincaid, a kind of science fiction Harry Potter about a group of kids training to fight in World War III. The war is fought with drones, manipulated remotely through virtual reality, which essentially means that the war is being fought with video games, and the best warriors are the best gamers. To make the kids even better players the government puts computers in their brains, and that's when the science fiction kicks into overdrive and the virtual world starts blending with the real one. The teens learn how to program their brains, first just playing simple tricks on each other, but soon starting to suspect that other people—gangs, governments and multinational corporations—are secretly altering their thoughts, their personalities and even the way they perceive the world. It's cyberpunk at its best, twisting the world we know and the ways we communicate in exciting and terrifying new directions. I loved every page, and I can't wait for the sequel.

Tags Dan Wells, Insignia, S.J. Kincaid

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Kiera Cass: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/17/12 8:00 am EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Next up is Kiera Cass, author of "The Selection" and the forthcoming "The Elite," out April 2013.

I don’t think it’s any secret that there have been some stellar books in YA this year. From chilling to heartbreaking to adorable and full of girls in cute dresses competing for a prince *cough cough*, we’ve seen it all. But I’d like to take a moment to mention some of the quieter books this year, books that maybe you didn’t hear about so much, but you should have. These authors took on storytelling in slightly unexpected ways and were refreshing if only because they were different.

First up is "Chopsticks" by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral. If you’re looking for a book that you can get through in less than an hour or you can stay engaged with for weeks, look no more. Told through a series of photographs, playlists, YouTube URLs and the like, you learn about Glory and Frank’s love story the way you remember your own: through the little moments that make it what it is. It’s creepy and kind of beautiful. Like us, ya know?

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Kady Cross: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/14/12 3:26 pm EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

Ally Carter As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Next up is Kady Cross, author of the "Steampunk Chronicles."

Technically this isn’t "quite" a YA book. It’s written for a slightly older audience, but one stand-out book for me of 2012 was "Easy" by Tammara Webber. Jacqueline (not Jackie) is in college, and has just been dumped by her long-time boyfriend. She is saved from a sexual assault by Lucas, a boy she’s never really noticed before, but who is about to become a bigger part of her life than she ever expected.

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Ally Carter: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/14/12 11:15 am EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Next up is Ally Carter, author of the "Heist Society" series.

In the spring of 2008 I had the opportunity to go on a retreat (in Ireland!) with 10 other writers, one of whom was Holly Black.

Holly.
Freaking.
Black.

Well, it took all of about five seconds to realize that Holly is one of the nicest people on the planet. About five seconds after that we both realized that we love to cook. What followed was a week of us hanging out in the kitchen, chopping and baking and, of course, talking books.

The day before I’d left for Ireland I’d turned the final draft of "Heist Society," a book about a teenager named Kat who has been raised in an infamous family of criminals but cons her way into a boarding school to try to find another life. I’d thought it was so different and fresh and unlike anything else in YA fiction. And then I started talking to Holly...

Who had recently finished a book called "White Cat" about a teenager who has grown up in an infamous family of criminals who cons his way into a boarding school to try to find another life.

Part of me was panicked. And part was just happy that a tiny piece of my brain could operate like Holly’s.

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Becca Fitzpatrick: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/13/12 3:00 pm EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Next up is Becca Fitzpatrick, author of the "Hush, Hush" series.

Readers of the "Hush, Hush" series often ask me for book recommendations—they're looking for a story that has the same sexy, suspenseful vibe as my books, and when I read "Poison Princess" by Kresley Cole, I knew right away that it would appeal to fans. The romance between Jackson and Evie broils as hot as the small-town Louisiana setting. Jackson's complex, roguish character is certain to keep readers guessing—can we trust him? He's a bayou bad boy with a trail of dark secrets, after all. If you're going to read "Poison Princess" after dark, do yourself a favor and check the door locks first.

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Gayle Forman: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/13/12 10:38 am EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Next up is Gayle Forman, author of "If I Stay" and the upcoming "Just One Day," out January 2013.

"It’s like being in love, finding your best friend." So says Queenie, one of the engaging heroines in Elizabeth Wein’s terrific novel "Code Name Verity." It’s a little like being in love, reading a gem of a book like this one. Set during World War II, "Verity" tells the story of two best friends, Queenie, a spy, and Maddie, a pilot. Queenie’s been caught in France by the Nazis, and the first part of the narrative is her confession, a twisting tale of friendship and war, a tease and a dance. Really, it’s only when you get to the second half of the book that you understand the incredible complexity of the tale Queenie (and Wein) have woven. Then you’ll race to the end and start it all over again. And if I’m being vague on the plot details, it’s intentional. Loose lips sink ships. They also ruin books.

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Eliot Schrefer: My Favorite YA Novel Of 2012

Posted 12/12/12 3:00 pm EST by MTV News in Guest Blog, Page Turners

As part of Hollywood Crush's Best YA Novel of 2012 poll, we've enlisted a handful of our favorite teen lit writers to weigh in on the tomes that touched them this year. Next up is Eliot Schrefer, author of "Endangered."

I went into reading Patricia McCormick's "Never Fall Down" hoping to find ways to dislike it (McCormick and I were both finalists for the National Book Award, and I guess I was feeling competitive). A book about the Killing Fields, with a blurb by Archbishop Desmond Tutu? I was ready for guilty manipulations and pat battlefield epiphanies. Instead I got a moving, intimate and gritty retelling of a real boy’s (Arn Chorn-Pond) experience of being pressed into military service by the Khmer Rouge. A veteran journalist and poetic writer, McCormick knows to keep her story grounded in specific, vivid detail, especially at her novel’s most harrowing moments: Sometime screaming, too, and then we hear the crack, like splitting coconut. After that, quiet. Small sound, cracking the skull.

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