Teens@Random

We are thrilled to announce that author Swati Avasthi will be joining us all next week starting on Monday! The author of Split will be answering the questions you posted on her forum! If you haven't had the chance to ask her something yet, now's the time to do it! In the meantime, here is a letter written to all of you from Swati herself! Enjoy and have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hi there,

Stoked to be here on Random Buzzers, answering your questions and listening to your virtual voices.

In Split, 16-year-old Jace Witherspoon shows up on his brother’s doorstep with bruises, courtesy of dear old dad, and a secret.  He tries to go for a fresh start, but can’t, not when his secret-harboring ex keeps emailing him, and not when mom is still in his dad’s line of fire.

Split is my debut novel and is coming out on March 9.  It is actually the second novel I wrote.  (The first one is stashed in a Do Not Enter drawer).  Split has been through 8 full drafts and, you can see some of the deleted scenes at www.swatiavasthi.com when it is officially released in March.

Writing Split was like riding on a roller coaster for the first time:  not sure when to scream and when to lift your hands out of the car and a niggling in the back of your mind, wondering both when it will end and whether you even want it to end.  After that, it got even better.  Like a ride you love and your body has kind of memorized.  You know exactly when to stick your hands up, but you can still feel the butterflies rise in your stomach even as gravity pulls you down. But there were no lines to wait in and it lasted a lot longer – 2 years instead of 2 minutes.

When I got to drafts 4-8, it was more like trying to get all your friends to ride the roller coaster with you.  I rewrote scenes and sentences, trying to make sure that the reader in the car next to me would gasp when I had, would lift their hands when I had, and scream when I did.  I hope the read is a good ride for you and that you’ll want to come back again and again.

In the meantime. come ask me questions.

Ask me about your creative writing projects.  I teach creative writing, so I’ll have all the answers.  (Because as I’m sure you all know, there are “right” answers when it comes to creative writing.  Like math problems. Of course.)

Or, ask me about what inspired Split.  There’s a story there, but probably not the one you’re thinking of.

Or, tell me about what you like to read and who is your favorite author.  I’ll dish out mine in exchange for yours.

Or, ask me any old question in the universe and I’m sure to have an answer.  Of some sort.

Best,

Swati