World Blog Hop with K.V. Flynn

It’s blog time, krew. And today, it’s not about skating (surprise!). This is part of a worldwide blog hop for readers and writers called “The Writing Process World Blog Tour.”

How did I get here? Well, another YA writer named Katy Naas invited me. Her debut novel is called THE VISITORS, a science fiction piece that mixes romance and action. It’s about 17-year-old Noah whose planet, Verdant, is visited by “humans” including 16-year-old Jady. Katy wears many hats: Christian; wife; mother to her young son Aven, and her four-legged sons Shakespeare and Poe; teacher of middle school reading and high school English in southern Illinois; and now—her lifelong dream realized—author. From a young age, she was always an avid reader and writer with a big imagination. She spent much of her childhood searching for ghosts and UFOs to no avail—but hasn’t given up the hunt just yet. Though she grows older, her true literature love is and has always been young adult fiction. She creates both futuristic and realistic stories about teenagers, and feels so fortunate to work with them daily as a teacher. Find her at: http://katynewtonnaas.wordpress.com/

And what about me? Me, well, maybe you know this already, but… K.V. Flynn is a writer who lives in Southern California, kind of near Manhattan-Huntington-Malibu Beach. His action-adventure book ON THE MOVE about 14-year-old skater friends who are stranded at skate camp when a War breaks out comes out on Sept.2. Follow the news about it at www.OnTheMoveBooks.com. His favorite ride is an 8.25" Krooked deck, Indy trucks, and 53 mm Spitfire wheels. He is half Spanish and half Irish. K.V. has a dog, and has been watching "Pretty Sweet" by Chocolate Skateboards, "Stay Gold" by Emerica, and "The Deathwish Video" by Deathwish Skateboards. What about you!? He and his bros regularly cruise Venice, Stoner, Skatelab, and Van’s. Talk back: KVFlynnOntheMove@gmail.com.

Here is what we’re answering today:

Q. 1/ What are you working on? First, the prequel to ON THE MOVE. It’s called ON THE RIM, and is about the same great 14-year-old skater friends from Surfside High. But it takes place during their last year in middle school, starting with Get-Your-Stuff day, when they apply for the big score of the year: the Eighth Grade Europe Trip. Callum, Levi, Obbie and Levi plan and prepare until the big day arrives: Spring Break and they’re off to Germany and Spain. Sure, there are castles to see and chocolate to try but they’ve also mapped out the top skate spots to hit, no matter what. What happens when they get separated from their group, though? They have to find their way back to their ride home through a network of skaters and parks, starting with Europe’s best—and scariest—in Marseilles, France. I did a little research trip/skate safari this summer to get inspired. I’ll blog my pix and videos on that later.

Also, I’m writing a new short story called Taurus Twenty13 about a pair of budding engineers who risk getting barred from graduating high school with their Class of 2013 when they corral a group of 13 skaters, stoners, musicians, jocks and artists in order to pull of The Best Senior Prank Ever. Seriously. Ever.

Q. 2/How does your work differ from others in your genre? ON THE MOVE is the first book in a middle grade/YA trilogy, and it really lives inside the world of skateboarding and boys’ friendships. Also, this is a totally multi-cultural group of buddies: Obbie’s Native American, Mateo’s Mexican, their camp friend Martin is African-American, and narrator Callum is half Spanish. And, because these guys experience a huge War, they also pick up on a cool underground network of retro tech, green living, secret clues, and skater support like no other you’ve read about before.

Q. 3/ Why do you write what you write? I think that there are never enough MG or YA books about and for boys. But I’ve loved the ones that have been written, and know how much kids 10- to 15-years-old like to find and read and share them, whether for school reports or vacation fun or just to talk about with their friends. I write about 13-14-year-old boys because I agree with #Paper Towns author #John Green: “13 is the most interesting time: a time of deep confusion and yet enough intellectual ability to do really interesting things. We’re most creative in that period. You still have an imagination and you’re figuring it all out.” I write about ordinary kids in extraordinary situations who use all that they are to figure it out and find their ways home, while JHF (Just Having Fun) along the way.

Q.4/ How does your writing process work? Writers write. We write a lot. We write well and we write badly. We write down what we see and hear, whether it’s random events encountered in the world we inhabit or whether it’s listening to the chatter of characters having a yack in our brains. I carry a notebook and like to write things longhand sometimes—it’s like taking dictation and I love the feeling that flow as characters tell me what they’re thinking and saying. But I also love to type. I’ve played piano since I was three-years-old and I am always happy with a keyboard of some kind under my fingers. I also like the re-reading and editing process, where you take a bunch of junk you’ve written, read it out loud like it’s telling you a story, and then tweak, rearrange, rewrite, or scrap it and start over until you capture the rhythm and vision that is perfect for your scene.

I don’t think you have to have any interest in writing to like this book. Plus, I think that lots of people are good writers, including kids—they just have to write it down and read it back to fix it so it says what they mean. Yes, that’s a pain, but it’s as simple as that!

Now I get to introduce 3 new authors who will each be posting about their books at their blogs on August 12:

Lou Spirito is a screenwriter, playwright and memoirist who recently published the award-winning GIMME SHELTER: A Damaged Pit Bull, An Angry Man, and How They Saved Each Other. Find Lou’s new blog next week at tannerthepitbull.blogspot.com

Andy Lewter is an author at Astraea Press of the paranormal YA series, Gifted. Read about her & her book next week here: www.facebook.com/AndyLewterAuthor

Mya O'Malley’s new love story At First Sight is released today, 5 Aug! She’ll be posting about her novel next week at myaomalley.blogspot.com.

Peace out, for now.