#fourteenery

On March 14, 2013, we posted to this Tumblr for the very first time. We told you what you could expect from us--fourteen authors debuting in 2014--added a rainbow panda picture, and followed it up with fourteen-word descriptions of our upcoming novels.

Back then, none of us had covers. Some of our titles would end up changing. Some of our release dates were shifted to 2013 or 2015 over time. By now, in these first days of 2015, most of our books are out in the world. Others, we're still eagerly awaiting.

While all this excitement went on, we've been here on Tumblr with you all, sharing everything that caught our eye--and we've been emailing each other to commiserate and gossip and laugh and support one another fiercely.

It's been a wild, wild ride, and we've loved having all of you with us for it. After a year and nine months of Tumblr excellence, though, we've decided to retire the Fourteenery's public front, including this account.

Have no fear! We'll still be around on Twitter and at our personal Tumblrs: 

Livia Blackburne: liviablackburne Annie Cardi: palegirlinthecity Jessica Corra: jessicacorra Katie Cotugno: katiecotugno Christa Desir: christadesir Corinne Duyvis: corinneduyvis E.K. Johnston: ekjohnston Amber Lough: amberlough Jenny Martin: jmartinlibrary Julie Murphy: andimjulie Natalie C Parker: nataliecparker Tess Sharpe: sharpegirl Lindsay Smith: lindsaysmithdc Robin Talley: robintalley

Boo! What’s the Scariest Thing About Your Debut Year?

When the Freshman Fifteens first met online back in the summer of 2013, we modeled ourselves after another small group of YA debut authors: The Fourteenery.

As we are entering the final months of their debut year, we turn to this group of talented and generous authors once again. In honor of Halloween, we’ve asked them to share what they found to be the scariest part of their debut year.

“That…

MIDNIGHT THIEF, by our own liviablackburne, is out in the world today! To celebrate, we at the Fourteenery took a moment to pretend we possessed Kyra's grace, cunning, and moral flexibility and asked ourselves:

If we could steal anything at all, even abstract things, without consequence, what would we steal and why?

jmartinlibrary:

I'd steal Lyra's alethiometer!

christadesir:

Rush Limbaugh's Twitter handle. Just for a little while. Just long enough to suggest to his 419k followers that there are a few non-profit organizations that they should consider donating money to.

katiecotugno:

There's only one right answer to this question, right?

nataliecparker:

I would steal Pandora's Box. For no reason at all...

sharpegirl:

I would steal Shakespeare's First Folio. And then spend the rest of my life keeping it in a glass, temperature controlled case and never touching it :D

jessicacorra:

I would steal peace of mind. My anxiety disorder makes it exhausting to constantly accept myself and my life and my limitations. I'm robbed of enjoying simple moments because my mind never stops spinning, usually fabricating implausible doomsday scenarios. What I wouldn't give to rest sometimes.

palegirlinthecity:

The recipe for Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. It's my favorite and I currently live in fear that they'll retire it.

robintalley:

I would steal the amazing writing prowess of my Fourteenery sisters! 8 books out (now 9 with Midnight Thief!) and 5 still to come...

andimjulie:

I think I would have to say the photo booth from the mall I hung out at in high school, because I would love to relive some of those memories.

amberlough:

I would steal all of the world's desire for revenge, thus ending most conflict world-wide. Then I'd bottle it up and send it to the sun in a suicide rocket.

corinneduyvis:

I'd go with the TARDIS. Visiting other countries on a whim? Kidnapping friends to lovely New Zealand? Dropping in on every book event known to man? And--even better--spending eternity working on a book, only to pop back in time and be right back to where I started, this time with a finished manuscript? Yes, please!

lindsaysmithdc:

I'd steal TIME. There are never enough hours in the day to both savor all the world has to offer and to leave my mark on it! (I'd also settle for being able to slow it down a bit.)

And finally, an epic tale of thievery from ekjohnston:

Once upon a time, there was a little set of movies called THE LORD OF THE RINGS. You may have heard of them. They were kind of a big deal. They were also beautiful and brilliant, and sometimes must THINKING about them renders me incapable of higher brain function for a few minutes.

As with most films, there were cut scenes. And then some of those scenes got put back in for the extended version, and that was excellent. But, sadly, that is not the end of the story. Because while the movies are now approximate 14,000 hours long there are still pieces missing, which brings me sadness and despair and hours of wolves and shattered shields.

The clips are, presumably, in a vault in New Zealand (though occasionally one of them surfaces on tumblr), and we wantsss them, precious. We wants them.

For Frodo, you guys. AND ALSO FOR ME.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Lottie said... "You just slayed a dragon more or less on your own. I'm sure you can handle some musical accompaniment."

What better way to celebrate the release of our own Julie Murphy's amazing/heartbreaking/brilliant debut, SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY, than by writing out a few prescriptions? Below, see what the Fourteenery has to say about SEMV: 

What's the Fourteenery reading? (Idea originally from yahighway--thanks wonderfuls!) 

Part one:

Shamelessly stolen from our (so very fetching) friends at YA Highway--here's what the Fourteenery is reading right now, part 1:

Some conversations are hard to have, and that's reason enough to have them. 

Rape isn't easy to talk about. Heck, it's not even an easy word to write! But it's a topic that needs attention -- critical, creative attention -- and the Fourteenery is proud to say that FAULT LINE by our own Christa Desir is an essential piece of this conversation. This is a book that tackles a tough topic, asks tough questions, and doesn't offer easy answers.

There is no perfect way to talk about rape, but there is a wrong way and that is not to talk about it at all. As Audre Lorde said, "Your silence will not protect you."

Congratulations on this accomplishment, Christa, and thank you, for writing out loud, for starting a hard conversation, for being so brave. 

COSIGNED.