Amy Ewing: No shrinking violet

Apple Ta-as, Hayde Quiñanola, Maria Niza Mariñas 12/04/2016

SHE STUDIED acting but dismisses the thought of pursuing that craft. She likes Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and, well, let’s say Keira Knightley, too. Meet Amy Ewing, timid as a child, purple-haired as an adult.…

Defining the moment

Hayde Quiñanola 07/24/2016

AMY had it easy. Her introduction to the literary world did not come as a sudden idea or a vivid scene fully formed in her head awaiting birth onto a page. No eureka moment. No quiet spells…

Her Own Bright Place

Hayde Quiñanola, Niza Mariñas 07/10/2016

WE’VE heard the stories of princesses and Prince Charming, of prom queens and kings, of the handsome boy next door and the girl he woos. Not that these turned from thrilling to stale, but it seems that…

Embracing Womanhood

Bai Hayde Quiñanola 10/18/2015

Before she was anything to the world of Young Adult and New Adult literature, she was simply a woman walking unknown paths in search of herself though never had she been the damsel-in-distress kind. After wading through…

Katie Cotugno: Writing the teen psyche

Maria Niza Mariñas, Rob Gonzales 08/09/2015

It’s one thing to be unstoppable in uttering statements on the complications of relationships, an unexpected pregnancy or a love triangle, quite another to be treading on delicate ground—that of mirroring teens’ everyday truths in one’s fiction.…

Robyn Schnieder: Wonderfully complex

Bai Hayde Quiñanola 07/26/2015

They say it takes only seven seconds to form the first impression— which means seven seconds to put your best foot forward and leave a good impression. While we come up with ways how to make seconds…

Leigh Bardugo: Grounded in fantasy

Bai Hayde Quiñanola, Maria Niza Mariñas 07/12/2015

Think of Russia in Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina.” Ridiculously expensive heavy gowns of bell-like skirts, slightly puffed shoulders, and corseted bodice. Now interject it with some flesh-eating monsters, gun fights, magic… and voila! Welcome to the Grisha…

E. Lockhart in the write mood

Bai Hayde Quiñanola, Maria Niza Mariñas 05/24/2015

The beach-wave hair, red-tinted lips and the conspicuous tattoo encircling the left bicep more than add character to a woman who is an accomplished book author with literary awards and recognition. Emily Jenkins, better known as E.…

Marie Lu: The real deal

Bai Hayde Quiñanola, Maria Niza Mariñas 12/14/2014

Isn’t it human to feel hate after being banished from your home, or to be vengeful to the people who did you wrong? Redemption. Isn’t that something we can all relate to? Because, admit it, you’re tired…

The dark quirky tales of Madeleine Roux

Bai Hayde Quiñanola, Maria Niza Mariñas 11/02/2014

That kind of night when things come alive in the dark; the dead wandering a bit, children chewing sweets past bedtime, and an apparently deranged man in a mask slaying promiscuous teens. That is pretty much how…

Two minds meet

Maria Niza Mariñas, Orly J. Cajegas, Rob Gonzales 10/05/2014

These women might have traveled around the world, but as best-selling authors of Young Adult fiction, the greatest journeys occur inside their minds when they pen their imaginations onto paper and share the adventures to their readers.…

Stephanie Perkins: Like an Open Book

Bai Hayde Quiñanola 07/20/2014

Born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, studied in San Francisco and Atlanta, and now residing in Asheville, North Carolina—here’s a writer who believes that “home” is  a person and not a place. She is that woman…

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