Matt de la Peña at Blue Willow Bookshop

Yesterday I went to see Matt de la Peña at Blue Willow Bookshop.  He read a little from THE LIVING, then a little from THE HUNTED after we asked, and answered some questions from the audience.  If you haven't seen him speak before, he has a lot of upcoming events, including YAK Fest in Fort Worth this Saturday.

And if you haven't read THE LIVING, you should.  It is one of the seven books on the Cybils shortlist for YA Speculative Fiction.

A few highlights:

• Shy, the protagonist of THE LIVING, is the same character in his story "Angels in the Snow" from MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME (my review) and his One Teen Story "Passing Each Other in Halls".  He's been trying to find a good home for the character for ten years, so he kept trying him out in different ones.  THE LIVING and THE HUNTED were the novels that worked.

• THE HUNTED begins with a radio conversation, and part of it takes place at Sony's studios.  It comes out in May.

• When de la Peña wrote THE LIVING, he wanted to stretch himself and write something different from his other books, something more commercial.  He wants to reach as many readers as possible.

• There will be more Shoeshine in THE HUNTED and some of his mysteries will be revealed.

• de la Peña wrote a lot of THE LIVING while running, to make himself as uncomfortable as possible.  That way he could think of more uncomfortable things to happen to the characters. 

ETA: Here's a pic of the crowd!