Thursday, January 26, 2012

Guest Post: Kiss, Date, Love, Hate author Luisa Plaja talks Film & Filmmaking in YA.


Please welcome Luisa Plaja to the blog today! Luisa stopped by today to talk a little bit about her new novel Kiss, Date, Love, Hate (released February  2nd) and has also written a fun guest post on YA books featuring films and filmmaking. I picked up some great rec's from this post!

Note to Luisa: You need to read Anna and the French Kiss right now! :)

I'll be reviewing Kiss, Date, Love, Hate in February, but for now, over to Luisa...


Kiss, Date, Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja
Publisher: Corgi
Release date: Feb 2nd 2012

What if you could change your friends' lives and loves through the settings of a computer game...?

Lex Murphy's group of friends have all dated, hated, ignored and lusted after each other for the last few years. If only there was a way of matching people perfectly to avoid all the unrequited love, dumping and drama! Then Lex's friend George is given a mysterious Sims-like game by his software-testing dad which involves building character profiles in the categories of Life, Looks and Love. Lex and George populate the game with avatars for all their mates, making a few 'wishful thinking' adjustments to the settings - and find that the next day these tinkerings have come true! But how long can this new calm, loved-up atmosphere continue?


Guest Post: Luisa Plaja on YA books featuring films and filmmaking:

Kiss Date Love Hate is mostly set during a film course in the October half-term holiday. The main character, Lex, spends the week altering her friends’ lives and loves, but when she’s not busy creating havoc she’s quietly making a short film with her course partner. 

Like Lex, I love film and cinemas, and I’ve been on very enjoyable (though FAR less eventful) filmmaking courses. I also love reading about film-loving characters. So I wanted to list a few other YA books that touch on movies and filmmaking.

1) Notes From aTeenage Underground by Simmone Howell
I absolutely loved this book about movie-lover Gem and the underground film she sets out to make, with her friends Lo and Mira as producer and star. Gem’s summer shapes up very differently from how she expected, and she hits friendship and family traumas on the way to discovering a lot more about life and herself. Simmone Howell is one of my favourite Australian authors and this book is inspiring and brilliant.

2) Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani
Adriana Trigiani is a bestselling author of adult fiction, and her debut teen novel is a sweet story for younger teenagers. It’s set in a boarding school, with a heroine who loves to shoot films. There’s a mystical element to Viola’s filmmaking and her Indiana surroundings are beautifully described. 

Can you believe I haven’t read this one? I know from what everyone has said that I really should. When I asked Twitter for help with this post, this book came up because Anna is a movie buff. It probably needs no introduction, but just in case: it features an American girl in Paris, a hot boy and loads of what I’m told is totally swoonworthy romance.

4) Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma
I haven’t read this one either but it’s now on my wishlist. I’ve heard lots of great things about this author, and the book sounds amazing. It’s the story of Dani, a girl from a small town who loves watching noir films in an arty cinema, and one day stumbles upon her very own cinematic mystery.

5) Just Henry by Michelle Magorian
The product description says: “When Henry develops an old camera film he uncovers a mystery and events spiral until his life resembles the drama of the big screen.” Film, drama, mystery – it sounds fantastic!


I’d love to hear other recommendations if anyone knows of any more.

Thank you very much for having me at Daisy Chain Reviews, and thanks to all the Twitter friends who helped with this post!

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Kiss, Date, Love, Hate by Luisa Plaja is published by Corgi on February 2nd 2012, £5.99.



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