We're excited to help launch Denise Jaden's blog tour for Losing Faith, which will be published by Simon Pulse on September 7th (in just one week)! While Denise has won awards for her adult novels, Losing Faith is her first novel for teens.
A terrible secret. A terrible fate.
When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don't know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.
As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith's final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.
We had the chance to ask Denise a few questions about Losing Faith and her writing process.
Many authors glean inspiration from unexpected sources. What are some incidents/memories/details that sparked scenes or characters in LOSING FAITH?
Losing Faith is about a teenage girl who loses her sister in a sudden and tragic accident. This plotline brought me back to a time when I was sixteen and lost a close friend of mine. Being young and trying to process something so big, there was just so much to explore there and I was constantly searching my own history and emotions to get into the head of my main character.
What was your favorite scene to write? What scene was the most difficult?
Actually, one of my favorite scenes to write is one that’s no longer in the book! In early drafts, the character of Tessa was introduced at a party with the main character Brie. Since then, the party scene needed to go, but there are still lots of fun scenes between these two.
The hardest scene to write was the funeral scene. Giving each family member their grieving time without letting the scene drag too much or become depressing was very difficult.
You're a member of The Contemps. What are some of your favorite contemporary YA novels?
I’m a huge lover of contemporary YA. I have way too many favorites to list, but I’ll call out some of my recent picks: THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson, FREEFALL by Mindi Scott, and THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger, to name a few from a very long list.
What's the best lesson you learned on your publishing journey?
Don’t every compare your publishing journey to someone else’s. It’s all apples and oranges. Even if you share the same publisher or agent, the approach to each book could be very different and have absolutely nothing to do with your skill or ability or saleability. Comparing your journey to that of other authors is just one big recipe for crazy-making, in my opinion.
You have a one-way ticket to anywhere in the world. Where would you go and why?
Tahiti. No question about it. I’ve been a Polynesian dancer for most of my life, but Tahiti is one place I’ve never had the fortune of visiting. I can make myself look like I’ve been there, I’ve dreamed about being there, studied the costumes, music, and culture, but never actually been there.
Thanks, Denise!
A terrible secret. A terrible fate.When Brie's sister, Faith, dies suddenly, Brie's world falls apart. As she goes through the bizarre and devastating process of mourning the sister she never understood and barely even liked, everything in her life seems to spiral farther and farther off course. Her parents are a mess, her friends don't know how to treat her, and her perfect boyfriend suddenly seems anything but.
As Brie settles into her new normal, she encounters more questions than closure: Certain facts about the way Faith died just don't line up. Brie soon uncovers a dark and twisted secret about Faith's final night...a secret that puts her own life in danger.
We had the chance to ask Denise a few questions about Losing Faith and her writing process.
Many authors glean inspiration from unexpected sources. What are some incidents/memories/details that sparked scenes or characters in LOSING FAITH?
Losing Faith is about a teenage girl who loses her sister in a sudden and tragic accident. This plotline brought me back to a time when I was sixteen and lost a close friend of mine. Being young and trying to process something so big, there was just so much to explore there and I was constantly searching my own history and emotions to get into the head of my main character.
What was your favorite scene to write? What scene was the most difficult?
Actually, one of my favorite scenes to write is one that’s no longer in the book! In early drafts, the character of Tessa was introduced at a party with the main character Brie. Since then, the party scene needed to go, but there are still lots of fun scenes between these two.
The hardest scene to write was the funeral scene. Giving each family member their grieving time without letting the scene drag too much or become depressing was very difficult.
You're a member of The Contemps. What are some of your favorite contemporary YA novels?I’m a huge lover of contemporary YA. I have way too many favorites to list, but I’ll call out some of my recent picks: THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson, FREEFALL by Mindi Scott, and THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger, to name a few from a very long list.
What's the best lesson you learned on your publishing journey?
Don’t every compare your publishing journey to someone else’s. It’s all apples and oranges. Even if you share the same publisher or agent, the approach to each book could be very different and have absolutely nothing to do with your skill or ability or saleability. Comparing your journey to that of other authors is just one big recipe for crazy-making, in my opinion.
You have a one-way ticket to anywhere in the world. Where would you go and why?
Tahiti. No question about it. I’ve been a Polynesian dancer for most of my life, but Tahiti is one place I’ve never had the fortune of visiting. I can make myself look like I’ve been there, I’ve dreamed about being there, studied the costumes, music, and culture, but never actually been there.
Thanks, Denise!
Pretty cool interview.
ReplyDeleteI read the first 2 chapters on her web, and now I have to read the rest of the book.
Such a beautiful cover! And I really want to read this book.
ReplyDeleteGREAT INTERVIEW.
The Sky is Everywhere, The DUFF, and Freefall are all on my to-read list and I have an ARC of The DUFF already! Great choices. Tahiti, eh? That definitely sounds like fun. Aweosme interview!
ReplyDelete~Briana
I can't wait to read her book!:)
ReplyDeleteI'm becoming quite a fan of contemporary YA. I want to read all the ones she listed!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for all of those books or yous, Denise! I hope that you'll get to Tahiti soon, too. :)
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
Thanks so much for the interview! It's so fun getting to know authors more :)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! The Sky Is Everywhere and The Duff are two of my favorites too. Can't wait to read Losing Faith. :)
ReplyDeleteLisa ~ YA Literature Lover
Nice interview, I haven't read any of the contemporary books Denise listed but I do have a copy of The Sky is Everywhere and want to read it soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. I loved The DUFF as well and the other books are on my to-read list :)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview :) I can't wait to read the book!
ReplyDeleteaprilxu2222@gmail.com
I'm giving this book away on my bog http://aclairedawn.blogspot. com along with THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE. Contest ends at 11.59 EST Thursday and is open to anyone everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice about never comparing your journey with anyone else's! It would definitely be crazy-making, as Denise says.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interview!
I would love to see you go to Tahiti Denise as I know your love for Polynesian dancing is deep. This book gets more enticing the more I read about it :)
ReplyDeleteNice interview! Your lesson learned is great advice.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, Denise. Interesting to hear your favorite scene didn't make the cut.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of folks that want to go to Tahiti. Most of my friends actually. I'd really rather go to Japan or South Korea...hell I'd be happy with Taiwan! My interests lie further in the Asian Studies than in tropical paradises...
ReplyDeleteLexie C.
Awe, that stinks that you're fave scene had to be cut! Very nice interview :)
ReplyDelete~Alison
Great interview! This sounds like such a great read :)
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, being a teenager is about exploring lots of things and emotions. It can get difficult but that's part of everybody's life.
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you Denise, about the grieving part. You just get in the skin of the ones who are grieving and feel what they are feeling even if that's not happening to you. I've read some books where my tears will just pop out, and the burning aching inside me will come out and I'll be like: What's going here? While continuing crying. You don't need a reason to cry, you just need an emotion to do it.
It was another great interview. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer them Denise, and to the interviewer too, thanks. :)
Great interview! I can't wait to read her book as I read all of these interviews! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all your wonderfully-kind comments, everybody! And thanks Kirsten and YA Highway for hosting me!!
ReplyDeleteFuneral scene?! SPOILER! hahahaha.
ReplyDeleteI loved The Sky is Everywhere, and I'm sure to love The DUFF, once I finally receive my copy.
Great interview!
It's cool that Denise was able to turn such a difficult part of her life into a story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interview!
(And darn, now I'm curious about that party scene!)
I seriously need to read more contemporary YA...I've been neglecting it lately, though I wholeheartedly agree about The Sky is Everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing and I hope you're able to make it to Tahiti someday!
Ohh, I relaly enjoyed Freefall as well! Seth's voice is definitely real. I can't wait to pick up your book as well, Denise. =0)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview. Congrats on the release! Sounds like a pretty powerful book, Im looking forward to picking it up.
ReplyDeleteI would love to get my hands on Duff and Sky is everywhere. Hope it will happen soon. Also so exited for Loosing faith...
ReplyDeleteI love the Contemps! Losing Faith is on my TBR list. seescootread[at]gmail[dot]com
ReplyDeleteI just heard about The Duffs! I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteIt sucks that you had to have your favorite scene edited from your book :(
I just heard about The Duffs and can't wait to read it!!! It also sucks that you had to edit out your favorite scene to write from your book. Hope that doesn't happen again :(
ReplyDelete