Hi everyone! In addition to welcoming the always lovely Nicole Castroman to Pop! Goes The Reader for today’s edition of the Her Story: Ladies In Literature event, I’m also lucky enough to host the enormously funny, talented, and all-around-phenomenal, Adam Silvera, as I share the latest post from the More Happy Than Not blog tour! Adam’s 2015 debut, often likened to 2004’s Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind for a young adult audience, is available in stores now and is a novel that has long been on my own personal to-be-read list. My pre-order arrived just the other day and I absolutely can’t wait to begin reading! Today, Adam shares a little insight into his writing background, journey to publication, and offers invaluable advice as to how to make your literary (or otherwise) dreams come true. I would like to thank Adam for being gracious enough to stop by and encourage you to take a moment and visit all the other stops on the More Happy Than Not blog tour, the links to which you can find at the conclusion of this post!
About Adam Silvera
Adam was born and raised in the Bronx and is tall for no reason. He was a bookseller before shifting to children’s publishing where he worked at a literary development company, a creative writing website for teens, and as a book reviewer of children’s and young adult novels. He lives in New York City. More Happy Than Not is his debut novel.
Fun Fact: I did not go to college and am a published author. I didn’t start college and then quit, I legit never went to college. This had a lot to do with financial struggles because my mother placed me in a private high school where our tuition bills were mounting at the end of my senior year on account of my father ditching us, so I thought I would take a break, get a job at Barnes & Noble for a semester, and go to college afterwards. There was nothing I could’ve done anyway because my high school (understandably) wouldn’t release my grades to apply for colleges until I paid the tuition so I was stuck. But if we’re being fully honest, I was a student with okay grades and a dream to do nothing but write, as proven by all the fan-fiction I was working on whenever I was home instead of homework.
I don’t say any of this to use me as an excuse for why you should skip college or homework because writing is how I made something out of nothing, which my poor childhood prepared me for. And I don’t mean making up worlds either, I mean creating the future I desperately wanted and putting in the work to get it. I like to tell people I essentially created my own MFA program by working as a bookseller, book reviewer, marketing assistant at a literary development company, intern at a creative writing website for young adults, and other odd jobs in the publishing industry — all without college. But I made many sacrifices very early on while my friends were away at school because I knew not having college diploma would work against me in this brilliant field so I read broadly and wrote daily and lost at least twenty years of sleep within two years. (Don’t actually do the math there; it won’t make sense!)
One of the coolest things about being a writer is that there’s no one way to write a book and no one path to publication. You can outline before you write or not outline. You can start at the end and end at the beginning. You can write in verse and/or include photos. You can go to college or not go to college. You can finish high school or not finish high school. Everyone’s path is different, but hard work is 200% key if you’re going to write yourself into this industry and find a novel with your name on it in stores one day.
Title More Happy Than Not
Author Adam Silvera
Pages 304 Pages
Genre Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, LGBTQ, Science Fiction
Publisher Soho Teen
To Be Published June 2nd, 2015
Find It On Goodreads ● Books Of Wonder ● Barnes & Noble ● Amazon.com ● The Book Depository ● IndieBound
The Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-relief procedure seems too good to be true to Aaron Soto – miracle cure-alls don’t tend to pop up in the Bronx projects. But Aaron can’t forget how he’s grown up poor or how his friends aren’t always there for him. Like after his father committed suicide in their one bedroom apartment. Aaron has the support of his patient girlfriend, if not necessarily his distant brother and overworked mother, but it’s not enough.
Then Thomas shows up. He has a sweet movie-watching setup on his roof, and he doesn’t mind Aaron’s obsession with a popular fantasy series. There are nicknames, inside jokes. Most importantly, Thomas doesn’t mind talking about Aaron’s past. But Aaron’s newfound happiness isn’t welcome on his block. Since he’s can’t stay away from Thomas or suddenly stop being gay, Aaron must turn to Leteo to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he is.
Adam Silvera’s extraordinary debut novel offers a unique confrontation of race, class and sexuality during one charged near-future summer in the Bronx.
Don’t forget to visit all the wonderful stops along the More Happy Than Not blog tour for a variety of reviews, interviews, and much, much more!
June 01 – Novel Sounds
June 02 – Bookish Broads
June 03 – Cuddlebuggery
June 04 – The Hiding Spot
June 05 – Pop! Goes the Reader (You are here – Hi!)
June 08 – Paper Riot
June 09 – Rather Be Reading
June 10 – A Reader of Fictions
June 11 – Fiction Fare
June 12 – Book Rock Betty
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