Ask the Author: Dahlia Adler
Answered Questions (20)
Dahlia Adler
Just thinking of my characters as people inspires so much. Once I have a premise in place, I just think about how they'd naturally feel in that setting, what very human emotions they would have, what they'd express to others and what they'd want to express to others but maybe couldn't yet. What might help a reader see themself? What's a perspective we maybe haven't seen in this situation yet? Thinking about that def inspires me too.
Dahlia Adler
Yes! Everything she does is so excellent and vital.
Dahlia Adler
No author could possibly answer this! But Courtney Summers is definitely a big, big favorite, if I had to choose one! (And of her books, my favorites are Cracked Up to Be and Sadie.)
Dahlia Adler
My next book, Going Bicoastal, is currently up on both Netgalley and Edelweiss!
Dahlia Adler
Always! Some of my favorites are YOU SHOULD SEE ME IN A CROWN by Leah Johnson, HOT DOG GIRL by Jennifer Dugan, LATE TO THE PARTY by Kelly Quindlen, TELLME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL by Aminah Mae Safi, SHE GETS THE GIRL by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick, and HOW TO EXCAVATE A HEART by Jake Maia Arlow.
Dahlia Adler
It's normal in the sense that it happens with every single book at some point or another! It's not normal in the sense that it's illegal and I have never given permission for any of my books to be made available for free. Also, sometimes it's a book that's literally impossible to be available because it doesn't exist in any such form yet and in that case, it's probably a virus. Fun with piracy!
Dahlia Adler
Oh man, hopefully this isn't carved in any kinda stone because it's the kind of thing that changes all the time. But if I'm taking into account factors of "Books/writing I love" plus "ideas I get excited about" plus "nuance they always bring to work" plus "likelihood I am to buy/read their new novels being 100%" and stuff like that? Let's say...Courtney Summers, Stephanie Kuehn, Katie Cotugno, Stacey Lee, and Anna-Marie McLemore, but acknowledging that I also danced around with maybe Adam Silvera, Becky Albertalli, Corey Haydu, and Brandy Colbert in here as well, and also think I can't say anyone with fewer than three books out but fully expect Tiffany Jackson and Caleb Roehrig will leap on here when they do. And that's in YA. I can't even talk about anything right now. I don't even know if I'll have the same answer in 10 minutes.
Dahlia Adler
I'm sure there are, but unfortunately, that's where my knowledge base ends! (Hence why my blog and website are both wildly unimpressive.) I'd say to take a look at some of your favorite book blogs, see what you do and don't like about them and where they're hosted (that info is usually somewhere in a tagline at the very bottom), figure out what features you want on yours, and then search into how to get them! (Or even contact your fave bloggers - I'm sure some will be happy to help!)
Dahlia Adler
First things first is figure out what kind of blog you want to start. Do you strictly want to review books? If so, just start doing it! Reviews of backlist books are SO underrated; if you're new to blogging and you don't get ARCs yet, reviewing older titles (or even recently published ones) is a great way to get some material so you've got something to show for it when you start making requests.
If you're looking to have more author interaction, just reach out to authors and ask if you can interview them! Most are really easy to reach via contact info on their websites, and are generally really happy to be interviewed, especially if they haven't published anything in a minute. (A great sweet spot: aim for authors who just published 2-4 weeks ago and aren't on tour - that's when we're especially dying to figure out how to continue release momentum.)
Of course, you'll need to promote yourself too, so make sure that social media is a part of your skill set. If you don't have a big following on social media, then make good use of hashtags so people can find you and help you build it!
If you're looking to have more author interaction, just reach out to authors and ask if you can interview them! Most are really easy to reach via contact info on their websites, and are generally really happy to be interviewed, especially if they haven't published anything in a minute. (A great sweet spot: aim for authors who just published 2-4 weeks ago and aren't on tour - that's when we're especially dying to figure out how to continue release momentum.)
Of course, you'll need to promote yourself too, so make sure that social media is a part of your skill set. If you don't have a big following on social media, then make good use of hashtags so people can find you and help you build it!
Dahlia Adler
Hi there! Most immediately, I'm working on HIS HIDEOUS HEART, which is the Edgar Allan Poe-retellings anthology I'm editing that releases in fall 2019 and for which I'm doing a queer contemporary twist on "Ligeia." In the land of novel-writing, I'm working on both an f/f YA sports romance currently titled OPPOSITION and an f/f NA "big sister's best friend" romance called WHAT HAPPENS IN ICELAND, which gives you a whole lot of clues as to its content ;)
Dahlia Adler
Hi, Anya! Yes! I'm currently working on a whole bunch of different projects, but the primary two are an f/f YA sports Romance called OPPOSITION and an f/f NA Romance called WHAT HAPPENS IN ICELAND, which, I guess is obvious, is set in Iceland. (It's a big-sister's-best-friend trope set at said big sister's bachelorette party.) Hopefully at least one of them will be out in 2018! Until then, I've got short stories coming up in two 2018 historical YA anthologies: ALL OUT, which releases on February 27, and THE RADICAL ELEMENT, which releases on March 13!
Dahlia Adler
Hmm, probably Taylor and Jonah from JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta. There's just something so fierce about how they love each other, and you can actually see them finding safety in each other when neither of them has really felt that in such a long time. I have very strong feelings about Julep and Dani from TRUST ME, I'M TROUBLE for similar reasons, but I need to read more of them for them to hit fave status!
Dahlia Adler
Ha, well, I do like the real world, too - it's the stuff within it that inspires the stuff in the reading world, especially for a Contemporary author - buuuut yeah, I'm a pretty big fan of the reading world ;)
Dahlia Adler
Ooh, good question! Well, I definitely love writing both, so it's been fun ;)
(I'm just gonna blanket state from here that I'm talking about cisgender guys and girls in this answer, i.e. people of the same gender they were assigned at birth; there's so much interesting discussion in writing trans characters and how the dynamic can vary so much more then, but I have yet to write any.)
I think the most interesting and different thing about writing same-sex versus hetero is that you don't have the same gender dynamics at play. For instance, when I write m/f, it's with the conscious knowledge that men are usually coming from the position of societal and physical power, and that factors in to the way I write things like interaction, consent, sexual history, contraception - not that I necessarily stick to the expected norm, but I think you can't not put it on the page when there's a deviation from that. Whereas when you write same-sex, you're working with two people who've experienced the world through a similar lens (and of course, this will range through race, ability, etc.) and that's a big thing to consider.
Then you specifically look at f/f, and you have not writing guys in at all, which is extra interesting because particularly in sexy m/f, these dominant "alpha" males are so central, but when you take them out of the romance equation and just work with two women, it's a totally different experience. Especially if they're new to understanding their sexuality, how do they know if they're more than friends? Who might have added responsibility to confirm all sex acts are consensual when there's no obvious physical strength differential? And with all same-sex pairings, there are the added questions of "Are they out? To who? What's that like? Have they both been out for the same amount of time? Do they have queer friends?" Setting becomes much more important, too, because a queer relationship isn't gonna be the same in, say, the deep south as it will be in New York City. So there are all these additional factors you can kinda take for granted in m/f that you can't in LGBTQ+.
Regarding being excited to share f/f, the answer is unhesitatingly yes. I might've been a little nervous about it before Under the Lights released, mostly about how well I handled the content, but thankfully, the response has been really great. It's something we're seriously lacking, and it makes me really happy to contribute to filling that gap. I love knowing that there might be one more answer to people asking for f/f recs when they're feeling completely down at how few there are, and feeling like the lack invalidates them. I love having added a YA with a queer girl of color and a happy ending, as well as positive bisexual representation. I love knowing that there'll be NA to point to when someone asks for a rec for a book where a main character IDs as Pansexual on the page. And I love my f/f books themselves!
What I do know is that not everyone who read Behind the Scenes followed to Under the Lights, and not everyone who'll read my first two NAs will follow to the third. Writing is not how I earn my living, so in the sense of "What does that mean for my career??" that doesn't matter to me. Of course I'm sad when people won't try f/f, and I wish more people would - I'm certainly honored at how many *did* for the first time with Under the Lights. But that's sadness, not fear; anyone who has a problem with me writing/publishing f/f is...not for me, shall we say! It's something I very much plan to keep doing (though I do have more m/f plans and one m/m plan as well), and even if old readers don't stick with me/those books, hopefully the new readers who need them will!
(I'm just gonna blanket state from here that I'm talking about cisgender guys and girls in this answer, i.e. people of the same gender they were assigned at birth; there's so much interesting discussion in writing trans characters and how the dynamic can vary so much more then, but I have yet to write any.)
I think the most interesting and different thing about writing same-sex versus hetero is that you don't have the same gender dynamics at play. For instance, when I write m/f, it's with the conscious knowledge that men are usually coming from the position of societal and physical power, and that factors in to the way I write things like interaction, consent, sexual history, contraception - not that I necessarily stick to the expected norm, but I think you can't not put it on the page when there's a deviation from that. Whereas when you write same-sex, you're working with two people who've experienced the world through a similar lens (and of course, this will range through race, ability, etc.) and that's a big thing to consider.
Then you specifically look at f/f, and you have not writing guys in at all, which is extra interesting because particularly in sexy m/f, these dominant "alpha" males are so central, but when you take them out of the romance equation and just work with two women, it's a totally different experience. Especially if they're new to understanding their sexuality, how do they know if they're more than friends? Who might have added responsibility to confirm all sex acts are consensual when there's no obvious physical strength differential? And with all same-sex pairings, there are the added questions of "Are they out? To who? What's that like? Have they both been out for the same amount of time? Do they have queer friends?" Setting becomes much more important, too, because a queer relationship isn't gonna be the same in, say, the deep south as it will be in New York City. So there are all these additional factors you can kinda take for granted in m/f that you can't in LGBTQ+.
Regarding being excited to share f/f, the answer is unhesitatingly yes. I might've been a little nervous about it before Under the Lights released, mostly about how well I handled the content, but thankfully, the response has been really great. It's something we're seriously lacking, and it makes me really happy to contribute to filling that gap. I love knowing that there might be one more answer to people asking for f/f recs when they're feeling completely down at how few there are, and feeling like the lack invalidates them. I love having added a YA with a queer girl of color and a happy ending, as well as positive bisexual representation. I love knowing that there'll be NA to point to when someone asks for a rec for a book where a main character IDs as Pansexual on the page. And I love my f/f books themselves!
What I do know is that not everyone who read Behind the Scenes followed to Under the Lights, and not everyone who'll read my first two NAs will follow to the third. Writing is not how I earn my living, so in the sense of "What does that mean for my career??" that doesn't matter to me. Of course I'm sad when people won't try f/f, and I wish more people would - I'm certainly honored at how many *did* for the first time with Under the Lights. But that's sadness, not fear; anyone who has a problem with me writing/publishing f/f is...not for me, shall we say! It's something I very much plan to keep doing (though I do have more m/f plans and one m/m plan as well), and even if old readers don't stick with me/those books, hopefully the new readers who need them will!
Dahlia Adler
Thanks so much, Melody! There already is a sequel/companion called Under the Lights! But if you mean you want more where Liam and Ally are the main characters, that's not gonna happen for any more full books, but I *am* working on something fun for fans that'll bring them and all the main characters back for a bit! As soon as I finish up my next books, I'll share some more info on that ;)
Dahlia Adler
Hi, Karla! As of now there are no more Daylight Falls novels coming, buuuuut I may or may not be (but definitely am) writing something just for fun (and for free!) to give Daylight Falls fans a little more of both major couples ;) Remember how UNDER THE LIGHTS ended with discussion of everyone meeting up on a certain trip? Well... stay tuned!
Dahlia Adler
I'm still writing Right of First Refusal right now, so most likely it'll come out in the fall. I'd hoped for earlier, but having two YA books out this year made that trickier than I'd anticipated!
Last Will and Testament was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend in which she told me that her parents willed her younger brothers to her in the event of their death as soon as she turned 18, even though she was going to college, because they had no other family members they thought would've made more responsible guardians. As soon as I heard that, I knew I'd be turning it into a book someday. The teacher-student part maaaay have been influenced by my watching Pretty Little Liars while writing it ;)
Last Will and Testament was inspired by a conversation I had with a friend in which she told me that her parents willed her younger brothers to her in the event of their death as soon as she turned 18, even though she was going to college, because they had no other family members they thought would've made more responsible guardians. As soon as I heard that, I knew I'd be turning it into a book someday. The teacher-student part maaaay have been influenced by my watching Pretty Little Liars while writing it ;)
Dahlia Adler
I blogged about my favorites for BN Teens here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/te.... I also have to give a shoutout to one of my favorite friendships in YA that isn't *about* friendship, which is Lainey and Bianca in THE ART OF LAINEY by Paula Stokes.
Dahlia Adler
Honestly, I'm so pressed for reading time that I rarely pick up books I don't think I'll like. The closest would probably be ILLUSIVE by Emily Lloyd-Jones - I didn't think I'd dislike it, but I rarely do well with sci-fi, so I didn't expect to like it *that* much, and it ended up being one of my favorite reads of the year.
Dahlia Adler
I'd love to! If you like dark contemporary, Laura Wiess is one of my favorite lesser-knowns - try LEFTOVERS and SUCH A PRETTY GIRL. For the lighter, fun type, I love LOVESTRUCK SUMMER by Melissa C. Walker and AUDREY, WAIT! by Robin Benway. And if you haven't already read THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson, that's a definite must!
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