Blogger Love from Julia Hoban, author of Willow

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to read and review Willow. This is a story about a girl who feels that she is to blame for her parent's death. The way Willow deals with her emotions is to cut herself. Beautifully written and executed, this book is one of the BEST YA novels out there. I have had the chance to get to know Julia via emails that we've exchanged and interviewing her for my blog. I missed out on an opportunity to meet her a few weeks ago in Grand Rapids due to my son's football schedule!!! One of the main reasons I wanted to meet her was to see what she looked like!! Well, she's posted a Love Letter to Book Bloggers that has her gorgeous face on it!! and I'm totally over-the-moon to see my name within her letter!! I would like to share her letter with you today and to let fellow bloggers know that authors do read our words, are truly thankful for the time we invest in our book reviews, and know that we have a powerful forum going on out in book blogging land!!

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A Love Letter to Book Bloggers by Julia Hoban

When BookTrib approached me last week asking me to write a post expressing my thanks to, and admiration for, the many bloggers I have gotten to know this past year, I jumped at the chance. After all, I owe them all a debt of gratitude that I can never repay. Surely writing an extended thank you note is little enough recompense for all that they have done for my book, WILLOW.

So I sat down to write, full of excitement, extravagant phrases rich with praise dancing in my head … and then I froze. How could I possibly express my feelings towards this extraordinary group of young women? Anything I could say would sound so trite and insincere, hardly an appropriate thank you for all that they have done. Because of them, WILLOW, an underdog of a book if ever there was one, has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Surely a book about a cutter who falls in love while discussing Claude Levi-Strauss was most unlikely to capture the imaginations of many, and yet, through the efforts of the bloggers, WILLOW is reaching a greater audience than I ever thought possible.

And then it hit me. WILLOW is not really a book about a cutter so much as it is a book about relationships. It is about four relationships specifically: Willow’s fractured relationship with her dead parents, and her living brother, her relationship with Guy which allows her to heal those damaged relationships, and her relationship with books which allows her to connect with Guy and start the healing process in motion. In fact, the love of books is really a meta theme of WILLOW, one that informs every aspect of the novel. For Willow, a life without books is simply one not worth living. Without this love of books, Willow as a character would never be able to overcome her situation, and WILLOW as a book would simply not exist.

How magical then, how synchronistic, how RIGHT it is that WILLOW’S success is through the efforts, energy, and commitment of other young women whose life is about the love of books! It is truly extraordinary, and yet, upon reflection, I don’t think any other path for WILLOW in the world was possible, certainly none would have meant so much to me personally.

It would be impossible for me to mention all the wonderful bloggers who have helped speed WILLOW on her way. They are far, far, too many to mention, but I do hope that by singling out a few I am able to capture the spirit of that amazing community. To my darling Kristi of The Story Siren, the kindest person I know, to the amazing Lauren Becker of Shooting Stars Magazine, who started it all. To Kelsey of Just Blinded Book Reviews who always makes sure that WILLOW has some new book friends. To Staci of Life In The Thumb, who not only championed my book, but in her daily life as a librarian fights to find an audience for work that might otherwise go unnoticed. To Shesten of I Heart Monster, who introduced WILLOW to the west. To Tirzah of The Compulsive Reader who made such a wonderful trailer for WILLOW, to the wonderful Miss Swiggett of The Page Flipper (who has her own book coming out soon!) To Harmony of Harmony Book Reviews who continually surprises me with her generosity, to Erica, and Beth Fish both of whom I am just getting to know, to Alea of PopCultureJunkie whom I am privileged to call a friend both in and out of the blogosphere, and to the countless others whom I am so in awe of, I won’t say thank you, but I will say that I hope that your new year is blessed with just such magical outcomes!!

Part 2 of my interview with Julia Hoban- Author of Willow

Part 2 of Interview with Julia Hoban-YA Author

Staci: Is Young Adult your genre or do you feel that you may write for a different audience in the future?

Julia: Both! I do feel a special connection to YA literature, even more so since WILLOW has come out, and I've had the opportunity to talk to and connect with some very remarkable young women. It's a privilege to write for them. Having said that I very much intend to write adult fiction as well. I'd love to write a mystery more than anything, but I don't think I ever will. I'm in awe of those who do.


Staci: I really loved how vulnerable you made Willow's brother and that you allowed Willow to see him crying and releasing his pain. It really shows how healthy crying is and how Willow's cutting is so destructive. Where did that idea come from? How did you come up with this?

Julia: To my mind, David's crying and Willow's response to it, is really the heart of the book, and I'm thrilled that it not only spoke to you but that you got what I was trying to do. David's crying IS a healthy response to the situation he is in. It is the absolute opposite of the way that Willow processes her pain. There are three scenes where Willow watches her brother cry, and her reaction to each is an integral part of her growth. The first time she see him crying, she cuts herself. The second time, she forces herself to watch him without resorting to cutting. This is a tremendous step for her. It is after this that she is finally able to release her own feelings in a healthy way. And finally, the third time, she is able to go to him, to connect with him and comfort him in a way that she had not been able to do before.


Staci: I know that some readers feel that when author's write about such heavy topics such as, eating disorders, suicide, teen pregnancy, cutting, prostitution, that they should include a list of resources for someone who is dealing with the same problem. Do you feel that it's an author's responsibility to include this?

Julia: Well, that's an interesting question. I feel strongly that a YA author has responsibilities to their audience that a write in another genre might not. For instance, I would never have a character of mine have unsafe sex, unless the point of the book was about the consequences of unsafe sex. This is actually something I've gotten into arguments with other YA writers about. Certainly I felt it was crucial to show how very wrong, how absolutely destructive cutting is, not to glamorize it in any way. I wanted to have my character move beyond this terrible behavior. I would have felt as if I had committed a moral wrong if I did not show that her cutting and its consequences were dreadful. But as to including a list of resources, do you know that never even occurred to me! I can say that nobody at the publishers suggested it either. Perhaps it would have been a good thing to do, but I do think it is secondary to the first responsibility ---that of portraying the 'heavy topic' in a serious manner, of alerting the reader to the profound consequences of those particular issues.


Staci: Can you discuss with us what you're currently working on?

Julia: Well the fact is I'm horribly superstitious. Really!! In fact the corrections for WILLOW were due on April first, and I begged my editor to let me hand them in April second. I just couldn't bear the thought of sending in the book on April fools day! In any case, I would feel all sorts of worry if I let the cat out of the bag as regards my current project before I was finished.

Your readers may be interested in the fact that I connected with you because I was going through a ferocious case of writers block, and stumbled across your blog while (yes!) procrastinating. As I emailed you back then, something I read in one of your posts got me back on track. I won't say what it was now, but I do hope that whets your appetite!!



I want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to Julia for being so gracious in taking the time to answer my questions and also to correspond with me. I hope that you enjoyed my first ever author interview!! Remember, every comment left on this post will be entered to win a copy of WILLOW!!!


***Edited: I am so sorry that this is being posted so late!! I came home from a very long day of motorcycle riding in Canada only to find that I thought I had this all ready to post this morning but guess what? Today is May 31, not June 1st!! I never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed!!! Forgive me, please!!

Guest Post with Author Julia Hoban and Giveaway!!

I am so excited to bring to my readers today a short Q&A that I did with author Julia Hoban. I want to preface it with letting my friends know that Julia is such an open and inviting person to talk to. We've been communicating for several months now and I finally read her book, which I absolutely LOVED and she graciously answered some of my questions. Enjoy and remember every comment enters you into the giveaway of her powerful novel, Willow.

Interview with Julia Hoban: Part 1

Staci: What made you decide to write about a girl who cuts herself?

Julia: I wanted to write about a character who was self destructive---as we all are to one degree or another. I wanted that character to grow and change, to heal and move beyond her damaging behaviors, something I would hope for anyone. I chose cutting because I thought that was a particularly dramatic form of self destructive behavior---one that would immediately take readers to the gritty heart of the matter.


Staci: Have you ever known someone who cuts themselves? What kind of research did you do in order to write such compelling passages about Willow's urgent needs to release her pain?

Julia: I was rather surprised to find out that I do in fact know several people who have been cutters. After my book came out some women that I'd known for years told me that they had experimented with this kind of behavior when they were in their teens. As for the research, I did quite a bit--I read case studies, some rather harrowing memoirs--these were invaluable as far as the technical details of cutting went. But as for getting to the depth of Willow's need--I looked to the challenges I've faced in my own life. I have never been a cutter, but I have felt that kind of despair, that kind of desperation, that absolute inability to process pain in the correct way.




Staci: Do you have a special place or ritual that you do while you're writing?

Julia: I'm sorry to say that my biggest ritual is procrastination! It's amazing how inventive I can be when it comes to avoiding work! However, when I do get down to it, I am always most comfortable writing in my pj's--preferably polka dot ones. Also, I consider myself very fortunate to have my own little office. It's painted the most heavenly shade of cornflower blue, and I designed my own desk. It's hand painted with roses. Yes, you read that correctly.


Staci: I know some blossoming young writers who get discouraged easily and they don't realize that even adults do re-writes and editing. From start to finish how long did it take to write Willow?

Julia: I wrote the first draft of the book very quickly. It was barely a hundred pages, and was really no more than a rough outline of the finished product. It was something I had to get down on paper though before I could go on. The next draft included a seven hundred page outline and took six months. But it's fatal to compare writing processes! Everyone is different! The important thing is to stick to it, especially when you're ready to give up. Look, if it makes anyone feel any better, take heart from this example: Van Gogh wrote to his brother that he didn't think he was worthy to paint in oils. Van Gogh! The man who forever transformed oil painting! I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're discouraged, if you're beset by self doubt, don't let it get you down. You're in good company!


Staci: Did the character Willow haunt your dreams while you were writing this story?

Julia: I can't say I ever dreamt about Willow, but I can say that my every waking minute was obsessed with her. I think one not only has to be obsessed with their characters, but love them deeply as well. I read in Laurence Olivier's autobiography that he felt he truly became an actor when he learned to love the characters he was playing, flaws and all, without judging them. A writer has to feel the same way about the characters they are creating. We may be writing about people with tremendous failings, but we still have to adore them. We have to be willing to spend every moment with them occupying our thoughts.


Come back tomorrow for Part 2!!! And Thank you for stopping by today and taking the time to read my interview with Julia and to leave a comment!!