This is the kickoff panel for all of Lit Track! Meet the authors! Hear all about what’s going on. And to wake you up and get you ready for the day, some of our authors will read some fanfic they’ve written. Yeah. You heard us. We’re starting the day with fanfic. *drops mic* *walks away*
We wondered what to say about this panel, as the title sums up what we think. We assume a lot of you agree. But how does this happen? What’s the reality of writing diverse characters in today’s publishing market? What do we even mean when we say diverse books? Are we all talking about the same thing? This panel gets into some of the specifics of past, present, and future.
Do you Tumbl? A lot? All the time? Do you want to know the secrets of Tumblr? Join Rachel Ferchleiser from Tumblr HQ in this behind-the-scenes discussion about how Tumblr and the reading community work together. This panel reblogs you.
Authors make characters. Good ones. Bad ones. And dreaaaammmy ones. But there’s a fine art to making a love interest. How do you make an appealing character. What’s a manic pixie dream character? Can good characters do bad things? This panel wants to take things to the next level with you.
Are you writing a book? Is it broken? Are you deeply confused as to how this happened? Did the plot flatline? Do you just know something is wrong but can’t figure out what? Book doctors Holly Black and Scott Westerfeld are here to help. Like Dr. House, they can diagnose the problem. It’s often not what you think. It’s never lupus.
Let’s make a WHOLE NEW WORLD! But first, lets figure out all the rules of how this world works. NO BIG DEAL, RIGHT? Some people love the worldbuilding part of writing a story; others quake. This is a panel about constructing the framework, establishing logic, making magic, building societies—and making it all make sense.
YA literature doesn’t shy away from hard topics. Sexual assault, death, substance abuse, eating disorders, violence, unplanned pregnancy…these are things that play a role in many lives. How do you about writing about some of these real-life problems? How do you research such a book? How do you negotiate some of these rough scenes in the most effective way possible? How can books help people heal? And why do so many people want to ban books that discuss the realities of life? This panel will contain discussion of topics that may be difficult for some—but these are things that need to be talked about.
We’ve all seen movies based on books we love—but what’s it actually like to write a book and see it turned into a film? What’s the process? What happens when material is changed? How do you deal with the nerves, the highs, and the lows? Our panel of authors have been through it and have lived to tell the tale.
Is there such thing as a bad book? Or a book you should feel guilt for reading? Why is one person’s trash another person’s treasure? Should we ever feel guilty about reading? And why do so many of those books labeled as “guilty pleasure” seem to be written by women? What roles do sexism, snobbery, and taste play in our reading choices?
Yes, it’s your favorite classic game show, in the all-YA edition. Our authors compete against each other, AND SOME OF YOU!
Every year, by this point, Lit Track organizers Maureen Johnson and Robin Wasserman are exhausted, dazed, and saying stupid things. Which is why every year we showcase this moment in a lounge. They just sit there in front of some microphones and ramble and try to answer questions. This has become a beloved tradition. It’s a chance for us all to get closer. You’ll probably all be in line for John’s signing, so just file in when you’re done. We’ll be the ones slouched in the front.
Your friend Maureen talks book-things with her friend, Famous Writing-Man John Green. Arrive early. Sit close. Sit very close. No, not that close. Yes, where you are now. That’s good. Now we can begin.
We do it every year because it’s awesome. See and hear some of today’s top YA writers reading from some of their early—very early—works. Works that possibly should have been destroyed, but thankfully, were not. We’ve all got to start somewhere.
There seems to be a certain trend in the media to portray YA books in a dismissive light. Why is the narrative? Time to ask some big questions about what YA is, how we judge the value of a book, and how media coverage of books affects reading behavior.
It’s graphic novel time! How are graphic novels created? How do you balance the story and art? If adapting a novel, how do you make the leap from text to illustration? What advantages are there to the graphic novel format, or limitations?
Sometimes, in the course of events, an author has to knock off a character. Sometimes this makes readers upset. “WHY????” the reader writes, in a fervent email to the author. “WHY DID YOU DO THAT???” In this panel, you’ll find out why, and learn a little about the art and science of character-killing.
It’s time to get down and dirty and talk about how we do it. How do we write books? Outlines? Off the cuff? In order? In random sections? On file cards? By hand? On computer? In the dead of night? At all hours? During the day, like a normal? And how many times do we do it over again? This panel has no shame.
Join your favorite authors in a fantastic final lit event—two great games brought into one. We’ll have rounds of authors telling lies (or truths?) about themselves. Can they fool the other authors? How good are they at making stories up in real time? Mixed in, we’ll have a bit of Ex Libris, the ultimate book nerd party game.
