Must-read romance: 'Drawn'; meet Alethea Kontis; Pintip Dunn cover reveal

Join me every week as I share a few shout-outs on romance author goings-on, related events and recommended reads.

Drawn by Christopher Ledbetter

Read this book. Drawn by Christopher Ledbetter is a solid great read. In one of those rare reading experiences, I didn't and still haven't read the book's blurb. I went in on faith with expectations set slightly above neutral. The author's excitement for his story got me. The cover design is spot-on … once you read, you'll understand. And the title made me wonder.

From the start, I was intrigued with the rare sighting of a young adult male action hero. While there was the usual setup with parents and adult figures stepping aside or removed from center stage, they were committed to their various jobs as helper, mentor or just the regular pains in the rear.

Then there is the high school backdrop where the various class distinctions exist and coexist. The norm. But then, with a quick flip of the switch, the norm is anything but normal. Ledbetter takes an innovative turn, with the right amount of creative risk, to amp the story with action-driven, suspenseful, mysterious and romantic elements.

What I appreciated was that the twist and turns, once started, didn't stop until the end. Lives must be saved. Time is running out. The bad guy … well, you'll never guess who it is. But this story energetically moves between time, inspires many to step up, challenges many to dig deep and opens the eyes (and hearts) of those hiding behind their fears. So my last wish is that this fantasy adventure hasn't ended.

Checking in with Chris Ledbetter …

Michelle: Why write in the YA genre? What elements draw you to this particular group of readers or about these young characters?

Chris: I have written for the adult market before. But, I don't get the same sense of purpose as when I write YA stories. And for the life of me, I'd never be able to write for middle grade. My mind can't find that voice. I think in a slightly older, teenaged voice. And that's where I live most of my day.

In general, I've always been drawn to transformation stories, which is also why I write YA. As I look back, they were always my favorite books when I was younger, and still are. I love to read and write tales wherein characters overcome obstacles or endure circumstances they never thought they could only to emerge stronger for them. I guess it's because I'm still a child at heart. Perhaps that's why those stories of discovery appeal to me. And I hope readers will gain their own strength and courage by reading my stories.

The process of storytelling absolutely feeds my soul. It's not simply something I do. It's who I am. The only other times I've ever felt that way were when I coached football and taught high school. In both of those activities, I was the change agent, deeply involved in the transformation of my students.

That's why I write YA. I love seeing my characters reach a level of self-actualization. It gives me joy to watch and experience their growth arc right along with them.

Michelle: What are some of your writing traditions or habits that you do to keep in the mind-set while writing your YA characters?

Chris: I certainly try to think back to how I viewed the world when I was in high school. I remember the angst and the immediacy, the magnification and importance of everything. Also, like I said, I taught high school for six years. I draw on that experience a lot.

Michelle: For Drawn, were there any subject matters that required in-depth research?

Chris: Absolutely, and I loved every minute of it. First, I do consider myself a very amateur sketch artist. Though, I can't paint to save my life. I mean, I can ... but it might be considered highly abstract, if you know what I'm saying. So, first I did pull from some of my own experience with art, but I did have to research utensils, techniques, terminology and the like to round out a full broad spectrum of my main character's world and passion. I needed to make the artists sound and behave in a real and believable manner.

I based the world within the cursed sketchbook on an Italian village circa The Renaissance. So I had a crap-ton of Italian research to do. The main city in Terra Sempre is a composite of cities in Italy like Orvieto, Perugia, Abruzzo and, most important, Firenze. I also researched both Latin and Italian language to help immerse the reader into that world.

Michelle: What makes you happy about writing? Any upcoming projects?

Chris: I adore the process of creation. And I like the way different words and sounds tangle and tumble together. I like to play with rhythm and cadence of sentences and phrases. That's fun to me. I also love diving headlong into worlds no one has ever explored and discovering them as I'm creating them. I love writing fantasy. I'm positively certain that most of my stories will contain at least some element of fantasy.

As for upcoming projects, I have two finished novels hopefully going on submission soon. I also am working on three additional novels. One is the sequel to Drawn. The second is a follow-up to one of the books going on submission. The third is brand new.

Michelle: Anyone you'd like to give a shout-out to or express your gratitude with your journey as an author?

Chris: I would like to send a shout-out to my critique partners. Their tough love is invaluable. I'd also like to send a shout-out to Suzanne Morgan Williams, who was my mentor for the Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program that I attended in 2012.

LET'S MEET ALETHEA KONTIS

About Alethea (courtesy of her website):

Paste BN and New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a fairy godmother and a geek. She's known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters and ranting about fairy tales on YouTube.

Her published works include The Wonderland Alphabet (with Janet K. Lee), Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome (with Janet K. Lee), the AlphaOops series (with Bob Kolar), the Books of Arilland fairy-tale series and The Dark-Hunter Companion (with Sherrilyn Kenyon). Her short fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in myriad anthologies and magazines.

Her YA fairy tale novel Enchanted won the Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award in 2012 and the Garden State Teen Book Award in 2015. Enchanted was nominated for the Audie Award in 2013 and was selected for World Book Night in 2014. Both Enchanted and its sequel, Hero, were nominated for the Andre Norton Award.

Michelle: What is the magic that attracts you to fairy tales and your "interpretation" of them in your stories?

Alethea: I have always loved really dense, complicated stories with lots of layers, tons of obscure literary references and a plethora of inside jokes. Like Through the Looking Glass, which is, at its heart, a chess match. Or The Westing Game (and anything else by Ellen Raskin), which seems like a treasure hunt version of Clue, but is really ... well, I won't spoil it. But the world building is there, and the wordplay is there, and every time you read it you find something new. (Seriously — I only recently discovered that "Cabbages and Kings" was a reference to an O'Henry novel. Did you know that?)

Fairy tales are important, seminal tales that have shaped young lives for centuries ... and yet, when you read them over and over (as I have done for many years) you begin to wonder about all the things that aren't talked about. After the huntsman and before the dwarfs, what happened to Snow White to make her seek such vengeance upon her stepmother? How did Cinderella — a virtual shut-in — really feel at the top of those stairs at a royal ball attended by half the country? After the wolf and the woodcutter (depending on which version you read), how could Little Red Riding Hood have possibly lived a normal life? Why is Iron Heinrich left out of modern Frog Prince retellings when the original Grimms' tale bore his name as the title? And who was Bluebeard's first bride, anyway?

I read these stories and know there is more. I see the layers that aren't there, and I want to fill in those blanks with other stories, ones that make sense to me. And in doing so, I seem to have invented a whole new world in which my imagination can play. My very own Wonderland.

Michelle: On your website, you feature the phrase: "Nothing is impossible. Anything goes." Please elaborate.

Alethea: "Nothing is impossible" — when I was a kid, my dentist had a bunch of clever stickers and plaques full of pithy expressions on his walls. It's sort of shocking not only how much I remembered them, but also how much they informed my life as I grew up. One in particular was: Nothing is impossible, only the things that YOU can't do. It took me a long time to learn how to be brave enough to put myself out there and try everything, no matter how strange or silly. If I can impart that same wisdom to other folks — no matter what age — it would be an honor.

"Anything goes" — I was a child actress and (am still) a lover of clever poetry and complicated prose, so it's no wonder that I was a pretty big fan of Cole Porter. Similarly, I rebelled in strange, unobvious ways. I ran around the house in layers of skirts and counted snakes and spoke in a British accent and my best friend was a tree ... because nobody told me I couldn't do those things. I kissed girls to practice for kissing boys. I was a math whiz who stunk at English, so of course I wanted to be a writer more than anything in the world. I performed impromptu plays for my grandmother's sewing circle, but forced my little sister to ask for ketchup at McDonald's. We are who we are. No one is "normal." Anything goes. Every so often, I am thanked for being "unapologetically me." I treasure those moments, those people, and remember them every time I'm feeling timid.

Michelle: What's your favorite fan event that you like attending?

Alethea: Dragon Con, first and forever. It was my very first convention, back in 1996. I had just graduated from college with a chemistry degree ... and got a second job at a Waldenbooks (I was already assistant and promotional manager of a local movie theater). The bookstore manager was a huge Trekkie and invited me to attend Dragon Con with her and her husband. Back then it was only a hotel and a half. Now it's six or seven hotels and the Americas Mart. It's different being on the other side of the table, walking in the parade instead of just watching it, appearing on panels that are broadcast on DCTV into every room in the host hotels. But it's still the convention where I feel the most at home. Like a giant family reunion for me and 60,000 of my closest friends.

Michelle: What is one of your favorite characters that you've written?

Alethea: I swear, every time I write a new character it's my favorite character. A bunch of bloggers asked me who my favorite character was in Dearest, and I picked four (but couldn't talk about three because SPOILERS). My first favorite character, though, was Mr. Jolicoeur. I had never even considered writing a character like him ... until Mr. Eko died on the TV show Lost. To say I was upset would be an understatement. I loved Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and everything he brought to that role so much that I refused to let him go. So I wrote him into the manuscript I was working on at the time: Enchanted. He has what I consider possibly the best line in the book ("All of us heal in time. The strongest are born again. We only keep the scars we choose to keep."). His backstory wove into the Woodcutters' almost effortlessly, inspiring an entire country that opened up a whole new avenue of diverse folktales — much to my delight.

After reading a recent article about Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and his latest semi-autobiographical film project, I hunted down a fan mail address for the actor. I'm going to send him a copy of Enchanted. I hope he gets it.

Michelle: What three things make you thrilled to bits?

Alethea:

• I'm in a hotel for a few days, hiding from the rest of the world so that I can get some significant words down on Thieftess (Woodcutter book four). When I get home, Jude Deveraux's new book, Ever After, will be waiting for me. I will drop everything to read two authors: Sarah Addison Allen and Jude Deveraux. So I'm pretty excited. It's also great writing motivation.

• In the last three days at this hotel, I've written 2,000 words on Thieftess ... and almost 9,000 words on a separate project I have no business writing. The scenes are just stuck in my head. I can't sleep because they're playing out like a movie behind my eyes. When I sit at the computer the words flow like water onto the screen. This happened to me once last year — after RWA nationals I sat down and wrote a 40,000-word novel in 13 days. I never thought it would happen again. (And it still might not ... check back with me in a couple weeks ...) I've certainly never been able to work on two novels at once before. I'm thrilled to find that I have this ability, however rare it might be.

• Poetry. Clever words put together in a small space still thrills me after all these years. Doesn't have to rhyme, but I'm a big fan when it does. I watched Whitney Avalon and Steve Gossett's latest Princess Rap Battle today (Khaleesi vs. Maleficent, starring Yvonne Strahovski) and marveled at the playful words, the cadence, the double entendres, all of it seemingly effortless. Silly and brilliant. I'm a big fan of silly and brilliant things.

• Couldn't stop at just three … I'm extremely excited to announce that Audible will be releasing both Hero and Dearest on audio! We will be asking Katherine Kellgren, the award-winning narrator of Enchanted, to continue on (and I can tell you that Katy is also thrilled about the project!)

It's so difficult for an author when a book finally releases — it's been edited and revised and 17 people have had to read through the manuscript 42 times. By the time it sees the light of day, you wonder if it's good anymore. I remember popping in the CD of Enchanted and hearing Katy's voice for the first time. It was so surreal and so wonderful all at the same time — like watching a play I had written being performed on stage. I remembered why I had written Enchanted — because it was the book of my heart — and Katy made me fall in love with it all over again. It was one of the most precious gifts I've ever received.

I've listened to the audio of Enchanted no less than 10 times, and I find something new every time. I cannot WAIT to fall in love with Hero and Dearest again the same way!!!

I've also just remembered what a complete and utter nerd I am. *grin*

Find out more about Alethea at www.aletheakontis.com.

COVER REVEAL

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn

Guess what? Pintip Dunn's Forget Tomorrow is up for preorder and promises to be an intriguing read.

What it's about (courtesy of Entangled Teen):

Imagine a world where your destiny has already been decided...by your future self.

It's Callie's seventeenth birthday and, like everyone else, she's eagerly awaiting her vision-a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they're meant to be. A world-class swimmer. A renowned scientist.

Or in Callie's case, a criminal.

In her vision, she sees herself murdering her gifted younger sister. Before she can process what it means, Callie is arrested and placed in Limbo-a hellish prison for those destined to break the law. With the help of her childhood crush, Logan, a boy she hasn't spoken to in five years, she escapes.

But on the run from her future, as well as the government, Callie sets in motion a chain of events that she hopes will change her fate. If not, she must figure out how to protect her sister from the biggest threat of all-Callie, herself.

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Michelle Monkou writes for Harlequin Kimani, Evernight Publishing and Boroughs Publishing. Michelle's website is michellemonkou.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook.