Elizabeth Mueller - Young Adult Author

Look at that! I mean, will you just look at that?! LOL - don't I sound like a grumpy old woman? So would you if you'd had your Blogger post removed! Well, I'm putting it up AGAIN! So there. Poor Elizabeth Mueller's post was chewed up...

Elizabeth Mueller (blog)
website

Today (well, it was yesterday really) we're going to get into the mind of a Young Adult writer: Elizabeth Mueller - and she has an ironic secret.


I'm not a Young Adult writer, but I do remember the books I read as a child - the Narnia series, Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Mallory Towers. They tend to stick with you, don't they?


Elizabeth Mueller is a prolific writer with eight novels under her belt. Very soon her new novel, Darkspell will be released.

Elizabeth, thank you for letting me take some of your valuable time today.

Sue: Many adults are reading young-adult books these days. Why do you think that is?

Elizabeth: As adults, we remember how it was like in the good old days when we were teenagers. When life was carefree, exciting, magical—at least it should have been.

As adults, we go through a tremendous amount of stress. I like to imagine us as battle-worn foot soldiers in a great war; we are fighting to keep our homes in view, our jobs in grasp, and families together. Life has grown to be very difficult, especially with our economic downfall and moral decay.

I think young-adult books are a fabulous form of escapism for adults.

Sue: What attracts you to this genre? Are you trying to get a message across?

Elizabeth: The first thing that attracted me to this genre as a reader is that it doesn’t, for the most part, have the questionable content that many books for adult readers have; violence, sex, language.

I have a passion for teenagers. While adults are fighting their battle of survival, so are teens. They are fighting to know who they are, where they fit in, and how. Their internal identities are in question at every turn, especially if they don’t know, or show it. They feel that they need to prove that they are strong, even though it isn’t always that way.

It is my wish for them, along with any-age reader, to know that while our lives are pitted with many obstacles, we may fail, but if we don’t give up hope, we will come out strong. It is, and has always been my goal to write uplifting books that won’t pollute anyone with dark thoughts.

Sue: There’s a large market for young-adult books, does this mean more children are reading these days?

Elizabeth: I have no doubt that more and more kids are reaching out to books. There’s a fantastic array of worlds out there within our fingertips that we can get lost in. Movies are great, but you can’t sneak a movie to your bubble bath, or under your covers with that flashlight, or in a car on that long, boring drive. Having four kids at home from 15 years of age down, I can safely say this!

Sue: For any of the readers here who are thinking about embarking on the young-adult genre, what advice would you give them?

Elizabeth: You are in for real treat! Make sure you have plenty of pillows—or bubbles—to snuggle into!

Sue: What was your favorite book, or series, when you were a child?

Elizabeth: This is very interesting that you’d ask, as well as ironic! When I was a child, I struggled with reading, I didn't like it because of that. Don't get me wrong, it had nothing to do with lack of desire. It was quite the opposite. I remember glancing at books when I was 5 and felt so sad because the letters were strange to me.

The reason why I didn't like reading was because my mind would blank out; I learned how to disconnect from myself for self-preservation. I didn't grow up in the most ideal home. I had a hard time understanding anything I read, but that didn’t stop me from writing stories through grade school all the way to my senior year. I failed comprehension tests in high school, and had to take a basic writing class in college because I had lost a lot of ground while growing.

But my need for expressing my emotions stayed with me all the way to now. I never gave up!
Please tell us something about Darkspell (this is optional, of course, but please feel free for some early promotion!).

Winter Sky believes she is everything ordinary . . . until she is kissed by Alex Stormhold.

As seer of Stormhold Coven, Alex is sworn to be Winter’s protector against the darkness that hunts her.  Violently thrust into a magical realm she always thought impossible, she stumbles upon a disturbing secret of her own.

Will love prove thicker than magic?

Darkspell, YA Paranormal Romance, releases late fall of 2011!

Thank you so much Elizabeth and I do look forward to reading Darkspell and also to welcoming you back on Lauracea during your tour in July. 

BLOGGER! Leave this alone (growl)