Bookshelf: Contest Winner and Revelation

And the winner of our mini Discover-Author-X-contest is...

KATIE BETH G.!

Katie Beth was the first to email me with the correct answer to Author X, and therefore wins a $5 gift certificate to the latest book of Author X. Who is our mysterious author interviewee?

Author X has written six young adult books so far. Two are in a series, two are coming out this year, four are stand-alone. One is released on March 25, 2008. Some keywords from these book titles are: "book," "disreputable," "fly" and "how." Two of our previous bookshelf interviewees recommended this author in their Innovative interview (one of them was Melissa Walker, whose own sequel comes out this week!) Delacorte is the publisher of most, if not all of the books (I don't have time to check.) John Green said of a 2006 book, "I think this might be the best YA novel... I've ever read." Author X also shares a last name with a pivotal character in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

And Author X is, according to Katie Beth...

E. LOCKHART!

E. Lockhart is the author of four novels thus far (The Boyfriend List, Dramarama, The Boy Book, Fly on the Wall) and has two coming out this year (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and co-authored How to Be Bad). Both Melissa Walker and Robin Wasserman recommended her in their own bookshelf interviews. E. Lockhart is critically acclaimed throughout the publishing world for her gifted way of portraying teenagers, and is universally loved by teenagers themselves. In other words, her books are amazing.

Personally, she is one of my top 5 favorite authors and so I was thrilled/flabbergasted/amazed when she agreed to do an interview with us. She tells about her long path to publishing, gives advice to those of us "aspiring teen writers" and more in her interview... next week.

BUT DON'T FORGET ANOTHER BOOKSHELF AUTHOR...

Melissa Walker, debut author of Violet on the Runway, has another book coming out tomorrow! The sequel in her series about a geeky North Carolinan wallflower turned supermodel, Violet by Design, is released March 4th in bookstores nationwide. Grab your copy and visit her website at www.melissacwalker.com.