Outlaw Boots, pair #6: Rebecca Fjelland Davis

Friends! You really must read CHASING ALLIECAT. If you are a fan of mysteries or sports (in this case, competitive biking) or *strong* character voices, this book is for you. The action is swift, the love triangle is sweet, and it's a great ride (ha ha, I made a pun).

Disclaimer: I am biased as all hell about Becky and her book. She is a dear-to-my-heart longtime friend and one of my critique partners, and she's with my fabulous publisher Flux (they have good taste, huh?). However, I am not the only one who loves this book. And you will love it too. Read the reviews (a bunch!) and order the book here.

Here is Becky, her bike, and her Newfie, Freya. That dog is really a bear, but we don't tell anyone. Sweetest dog ever.



Here is ALLIECAT.



Here is the book trailer.


AND (finally), here is why BFD (Big eFfing Deal, Becky Fjelland Davis)is an Outlaw:


--Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
The guy who beat up Father Malcolm in Chasing AllieCat. Why, besides obvious reasons? He has no moral compass and lives only for himself.


--Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?
Only concerning the church. Flaubert said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

--What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear (you or your character--maybe outlaw boots?)?
Shit-kickers. Interpret that as you will.

--Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character:
Horse rustler (not that I’ve written about horses yet).


--Best thing about being an outlaw:
Following your instincts and heart, not rules or morès.

--Favorite outlaw/badass food:
Lip-blistering, sweat-inducing curry. Either red or green.

--Favorite outlaw/badass role model/why:
Gus and Call in Lonesome Dove. They’re heroes more than outlaws, but they start the story by rustling horses. Heroes outside the law. LOVE them.

Official release date is Feb 8, which is SOON. Put it on your calendar!

Outlaw boots, pair #5: Neesha Meminger

Friends, this month's pair of Outlaw Boots is early, but no less notable for its outlaw-ness. Neesha Meminger is the author of SHINE COCONUT MOON (a book I'm teaching in the spring, can't wait) and the released-last-week JAZZ IN LOVE. She is a Debs 09 Debutante, which is how I met her, and I have it on good authority (meaning I saw it happen) that she's been mistaken for Halle Berry. But Neesha is *way* more outlaw than Halle Berry.

Neesha writes about girls that not many people (if any) write about. Sam (SHINE) and Jazz are daughters of South Asian immigrants. Have you ever seen books about Indian-American girls? No, I didn't think so. The girls struggle with traditional teenage things--love, clothes, friends--but layered on top are cultural traditions and constrictions that will surprise any reader. Want to learn about identity struggles that shake you to your toes? These books are for you.

(Not to mention the fact that Neesha has published JAZZ IN LOVE in a unique and cool way--she's a true outlaw for that as well!)

Here's Neesha:


And here's why she's an outlaw:

--Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
Jazz, from JAZZ IN LOVE, is the biggest rebel I've written so far. She just keeps getting herself into bigger and bigger piles of doo-doo as she struggles to do what she wants while trying to hang on to the approval of her friends and family. She doesn't do a very good job of the latter, though. In following her own heart, she ends up alienating just about everyone she cares about, and then she has to decide if it's (he's) worth it.


--Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?
I am definitely an outlaw, for better or worse. I know because, like Jazz, I often find myself in big piles of doo-doo.

--What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear (you or your
character--maybe outlaw boots?)?
Jazz is definitely a sneaker gal--probably a wildly colored pair of Converse; while Sam, from SHINE, COCONUT MOON, is more of an Uggs type of gal--comfy, practical, yet still trendy. Me, I like clogs.


--Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character:
Jazz refers to herself as an "academic rock star," or a "cool geek," and Sam is more of a stealth bomber--she comes at you sideways, and before you know what hit you, she's gone :).

--Best thing about being an outlaw:
You're probably happier than most inlaws. *heh heh*

--Favorite outlaw/badass food:
I'm a mostly-vegetarian who has been vegan at various points in her life, so my badass food has to be goat marrow. Seriously. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

--Favorite outlaw/badass role model/why:
The real Storm from X-Men because, dude--she can command the WEATHER.
(me talking: real Storm = better than Halle Berry (again!))

Neesha, you are amazing. Thank you for showing us your Outlaw Boots. Go, friends, and buy these books! Don't you have an outlaw on your Christmas list?

One more thing: those Chucks up above are my Chucks, but I figure Jazz would like them. But the new Chucks I want--right here. They say MUSIC IS MY LIFE--Gabe needs a pair!

Outlaw Boots, pair #3: A. S. King

Today’s Outlaw Boots are worn by A.S. King, an outlaw if I ever met one (photo of her boots supplied by Amy!). She is the esteemed author of THE DUST OF 100 DOGS (from Flux, so she is an imprint-mate) a fantastic story of PIRATES! and reincarnation and history, plus the anxiously awaited (starred review from Kirkus, woo woo!) PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ, out very, very soon, and there’s a third one coming soon, but I don’t know the details. These books are for rebels everywhere. Her characters are independent, quirky, and unafraid, plus they find themselves in situations where you say, “huh?” Then you say, “hmmm,” and then you plunge back in, anxious to find out what’s next, because you can’t put her books down.


Saffron and Emer live behind the red/black cover, and Vera is behind the lime green (?) one. Spectactular art on both books, wouldn’t you say?


This is Amy.

And here are her Outlaw Boots:

--Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
Emer Morrisey--because she likes to take out people's eyeballs, probably. And she refused to be a kept woman.

--Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?
Yes. Becasue my actual nickname is "The Outlaw." I'm serious, too. Also, because I never do what I'm told. Which is probably how I got the nickname.

--What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear?
All of us wear boots. Big honking boots.

--Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character (I think this one is a duh for you):
Uh. Pirate?

--Best thing about being an outlaw:
No one tells you when to go to bed. You can spit. It's a toss-up between them.


--Favorite outlaw/badass food:
Skittles for breakfast or, if no Skittles, Peanut Butter Capn' Crunch. (Emer's answer: you eating your own ear.)

--Favorite outlaw/badass role model/why:
Mickey & Mallory from Natural Born Killers. Why? Because like most outlaws, they have baggage that perfectly explains why they're outlaws. I love that the movie explores it and I love that the characters embrace their outlawness once they decide to go for it.

Read her, read her, read her. Read her now. You won’t be sorry. And now I’m going to sit by my mailbox and wait for my copy of PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ. It's coming out NOW--go get it!

Outlaw Boots, pair #2: Kurtis Scaletta

Today, friends, we have our second installation of Outlaw Boots, this time featuring middle-grade author Kurtis Scaletta. True confession: my kid loves Kurtis' books, which is enough endorsement for me, but I think Kurtis is awesome, too.

What does Kurtis write? Funny boy stuff (I love funny boy stuff): baseball games that get rained out for years and years (MUDVILLE), guys who have a thing for poisonous African snakes--in Africa (MAMBA POINT), and scary fungus run amok (THE TANGLEWOOD TERROR, out in Fall 2011)

Here's Kurtis.


Here's why he wears Outlaw Boots.

Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
- Sturgis Nye from Mudville. As a pitcher he's a fan of the beanball.
As a kid, he's gotten into a scrape or two. And his theme song is
"Outlaw" by The Cult!


Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?

- No, I'm very lawful. I don't even speed when I drive. Seriously.


What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear (you or your character--maybe
outlaw boots?)?
- Snakeskin cowboy boots.



Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character:
- I like the cowboy-style outlaw. Jesse James or Butch Cassidy.



Best thing about being an outlaw:
- Playing harmonica.



Favorite outlaw food:
- Key lime pie and black coffee at a highway diner in the middle of nowhere.


Favorite outlaw role model/why:
- Robin Hood, because (at least in the legend) turned to crime out of
a sense of justice. But a version where he's a cowboy outlaw.


Tune in next month for the next installment of Outlaw Boots! Kurtis is one of my role models for how to write funny boy happenings, so I need to go read about Linus and his mamba.

Outlaw Boots, pair #1: Courtney Summers

BACKSTORY: I've been looking for a way to feature writers/writerly peeps on my blog, because part of blogging is returning the blog love. So--Outlaw Boots. Now I'm sure you're asking, because you are discerning blog friends: what the hell? What are Outlaw Boots?

BEHIND THE BACKSTORY: I love writing YA because of outsiders--almost every protagonist believes s/he's an outsider, in whatever way. That I-don't-belong sensibility is near and dear to my heart, partly because I've felt that way as long as I've been able to think about myself.

Then, at some point, "outsider" got translated to "outlaw." This correlation isn't exact--some outsiders aren't traditional outlaws, but there are still take-charge, let-me-mess-with-you elements to outsiders, too. I see outsiders as the key element of the basic YA "formula": outsider/outlaw makes crazy stuff happen, and hilarity may or may not ensue, then we discover all the vulnerability *underneath* the outsider/outlaw posturing, and oh man, perfect setup for a story. I love my genre!

OK, so, with that loooong introduction, I give you the first set of Outlaw Boots, worn by Courtney Summers. Courtney is the author of CRACKED UP TO BE, SOME GIRLS ARE, and FALL FOR ANYTHING (out in December), all from St. Martin's Press.

Edited to add: I didn't even tell you what her books are about! Basically: high school girls behaving badly, mostly to each other. For example, from the CRACKED UP TO BE blurb: "Perfect Parker Fadley isn’t so perfect anymore." Hmmm . . . interesting! Or, from the blurb of SOME GIRLS ARE, "Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard–falling from it is even harder." Provocative! All you need to know: read them.

Full disclosure: Courtney is an agent sibling. But even if she wasn't, I would still love her, because 1) she's sparkly, but not in a vampire-y way; 2) she's funny, smart, and talented; 3) she's Canadian, which seems rather outlaw and outsider to begin with; and 4) I loved loved loved CRACKED UP TO BE.

There are questions (dun dun dunnnn!) for those who wear Outlaw Boots, and these are Courtney's answers:

Who's your most outlaw character (in any book)--why?
Definitely Parker, because of her determination to go against the grain.


Are you an outlaw too? How do you know?
Maybe! I refuse to compromise a lot. I don't know if that makes me an outlaw so much as a jerk, though.


What kind of shoes does your outlaw wear (you or your character--maybe outlaw boots?)?
A kick-ass pair of flowery slippers.


Pirate, ninja, nerd, other outlaw title for you/your character:
I always go with ninja. Because Ninjas are cool.

Best thing about being an outlaw:
Not answering to anybody.

Favorite outlaw food:
Zucchini fries! Wait. That's food that should be outlawed. ;)


Favorite outlaw role model/why:
Pierre Trudeau! He was a bit of an outlaw as far as Canadian PMs go. He didn't take no guff!

Image of kick-ass flowery slippers stolen from here. Courtney also moonlights as Pele, the volcano goddess, because she hearts volcanoes. When she is not sparkly, she looks like this:

Thank you, Courtney, for wearing the first pair of Outlaw Boots!