Latest news with #youngadult
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Victoria's Whitney Gardner explores fame, phantoms and free (not haunted) pianos in new graphic novel
When Whitney Gardner came across an ad for a free piano, advertised as "not haunted," she knew there was a story there. "That piano is obviously very haunted," she told CBC's North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher. And while she never learned the story of that particular piano, the Victoria-based author and illustrator felt moved to write her own story that includes a haunted instrument. The book, a young adult graphic novel, is centred around a pre-teen girl searching for fame. It begins in 1980 and then jumps forward to the present day. "When I sat down to write the book, I first thought that it would be like this big wooden stand up piano haunted by a Victorian ghost," Gardner said. "I kept hitting roadblocks and hitting the wall and not wanting to write this sad dreary piano music book. And then I realized, wait, I'm in charge. I can write whatever I want." So, she chose a haunted synthesizer, one just like the model John Carpenter used to compose the soundtracks for the Halloween horror films. In Gardner's book, the synthesizer is haunted by a ghost from the 80s, named Vision. The ghost is based on the American pop star Tiffany, who rose to fame with her cover of I Think We're Alone Now in 1987. While writing the book Gardner watched the music video for I Think We're Alone Now every day. "Just to put myself in the mindset of this superstar and also to see all of the backgrounds and the antics of the 80s," Gardner said. The book's main character, Margot, has a lot in common with her creator, Gardner. For one, they both have fathers who spent much of their lives in search of fame, which left Margot and Gardner feeling that they had to compete for attention with their father's fans. Second, Margot and Gardner both tend to write light-hearted pieces. "There's a lot of myself in Margot, probably more so than any of the other books I've written." LISTEN | The story behind Whitney Gardner's latest book: In the story, Vision and Margot share a commonality: by making music that makes them popular, they're giving up making music for themselves. Gardner is both the author and illustrator of this book as well as her previous works, Fake Blood and Long Distance. While art and drawing are her first loves, writing stories for younger audiences has become her passion. "These books, comic books, have more pictures than any kind of book. This is where my heart is now. I sort of fell in love with telling stories through words and pictures together. And now it's like all I want to do." Free Piano (Not Haunted) is available now.
CBC
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Victoria's Whitney Gardner explores fame, phantoms and free (not haunted) pianos in new graphic novel
When Whitney Gardner came across an ad for a free piano, advertised as "not haunted," she knew there was a story there. "That piano is obviously very haunted," she told CBC's North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher. And while she never learned the story of that particular piano, the Victoria-based author and illustrator felt moved to write her own story that includes a haunted instrument. The book, a young adult graphic novel, is centred around a pre-teen girl searching for fame. It begins in 1980 and then jumps forward to the present day. "When I sat down to write the book, I first thought that it would be like this big wooden stand up piano haunted by a Victorian ghost," Gardner said. "I kept hitting roadblocks and hitting the wall and not wanting to write this sad dreary piano music book. And then I realized, wait, I'm in charge. I can write whatever I want." So, she chose a haunted synthesizer, one just like the model John Carpenter used to compose the soundtracks for the Halloween horror films. In Gardner's book, the synthesizer is haunted by a ghost from the 80s, named Vision. The ghost is based on the American pop star Tiffany, who rose to fame with her cover of I Think We're Alone Now in 1987. While writing the book Gardner watched the music video for I Think We're Alone Now every day. "Just to put myself in the mindset of this superstar and also to see all of the backgrounds and the antics of the 80s," Gardner said. The book's main character, Margot, has a lot in common with her creator, Gardner. For one, they both have fathers who spent much of their lives in search of fame, which left Margot and Gardner feeling that they had to compete for attention with their father's fans. Second, Margot and Gardner both tend to write light-hearted pieces. "There's a lot of myself in Margot, probably more so than any of the other books I've written." In the story, Vision and Margot share a commonality: by making music that makes them popular, they're giving up making music for themselves. Gardner is both the author and illustrator of this book as well as her previous works, Fake Blood and Long Distance. While art and drawing are her first loves, writing stories for younger audiences has become her passion. "These books, comic books, have more pictures than any kind of book. This is where my heart is now. I sort of fell in love with telling stories through words and pictures together. And now it's like all I want to do."
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Matilda''s Embeth Davidtz Says Her Son Once Threated to Tell Fans She's ‘Nothing' Like Miss Honey (Exclusive)
Embeth Davidtz is excited for her young adult children to see the fruits of her labor The mom of two recalls balancing years of raising her two kids while also working on the screenplay for her directorial debut, based on the novel by Alexandra Fuller Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight directed by Davidtz is in theaters nowEmbeth Davidtz is excited to see her family proud of her hard work. Speaking with PEOPLE about Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, her directorial and screenwriting debut, the actress talked about the journey bringing this movie to audiences, which ran concurrently to her own journey as a mom of two — son Dylan and daughter Charlotte. "It's great because there was a moment in time when the kids were really little and people would say anything about Matilda, I'd see them sort of get thrilled that my mom is Miss Honey or something. But occasionally my son would sort of mutter, 'You're nothing like Miss Honey,' " she says, referring to her beloved role in the 1996 adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel. "If I'd say, 'You are in a timeout,' or consequences for behavior or whatever, he'd go, 'You're so mean. And the next time someone comes up and tells me that they love you as Miss Honey, I'm going to tell them that you're nothing like her,' " she continues. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Davidtz, 59, recalls a time when work was moving away from Los Angeles, making it harder for her to go after certain acting jobs. "My son, again at a somewhat rebellious stage, he'd go, 'Well what do you do all day?' And I do think I felt, there were a couple of years when they were teenagers where I thought, 'I want my kids to see me working,' " she shared. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! "And when I'd be sitting writing, because it took a long time to write this, I think they might've thought I was just on YouTube or whatever they do on their computers. But I really wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote it again," the working mom explains. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, based on the memoir by Alexandra Fuller, tells the story of apartheid South Africa through the eyes of 8-year-old Bobo, who tries to understand the harsh realities of growing up amidst familial strife and the ongoing racial conflict. In addition to writing and directing the adaptation, Davidtz also stars as Nicola Fuller. "I did many, many drafts of it. And then, when this happened, as my son left for college and my daughter was in her final year of college, they came to see the movie. I mean, it's sort of the fantasy that every parent has that your kids then go, 'Oh my God, that's what you were doing,' " she says. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Davidtz adds that it was "lovely on many, many levels" to see her children understand what she's worked toward. "It's great for women to have their kids see that they have a purpose and do work. And a lot of moms — I feel like the hardest working moms I know — are the ones who are being moms, let alone the ones who have jobs and are being moms," she continues. "I wanted my kids to know that I had done something meaningful outside of just being their mother." Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is in theaters now. Read the original article on People
CBC
13-07-2025
- CBC
Man found dead in Ontario lake, as police warn of dangerous weekend on the water
A man in his early 20s is dead after a boating incident on Weslemkoon Lake in the Township of Addington Highlands, Ont., as provincial police warn of a "large number of marine incidents" over the weekend. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said they received a call at about 7:45 a.m. on Saturday that an individual had fallen into the water at Weslemkoon Lake, located about 40 km east of Bancroft. Multiple OPP units — including marine, aviation and underwater search and recovery — were involved in the emergency response, police said in a Sunday afternoon news release. At about 8 p.m. Saturday, the body of a deceased 22-year-old Toronto man was recovered, OPP said. As a result of the investigation, police charged a 21-year-old man from Toronto with multiple offences including operation causing death and operating while impaired with drugs and alcohol. Police have not released the identity of the deceased. 'Large number' of marine incidents On Sunday afternoon, OPP released a video on social media urging people to take safety measures on the water. "This reminder comes after a large number of marine incidents were reported across the province this weekend," the spokesperson said. "OPP members from various detachments were called out to multiple incidents on OPP-patrolled waterways, and police are urging the public to take measures to prevent tragedy."
ABC News
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
How Powerless author Lauren Roberts became a bestseller at just 22 years old
The idea for Lauren Roberts' debut novel came to her when she was just 18 years old. So she did what any teenager with access to a phone would do next: start a live stream to share her idea with BookTok. "And [my followers] were like, 'We want to read it!' Telling me to add this trope and that trope," the US writer tells ABC Arts. She spent the next three months writing Powerless, which went on to become a bestselling YA romantic fantasy (romantasy) novel, in between studying at college and working a part-time job. "I'd be up until 4am every day writing, and then I'd wake up and go to school and then [to my job] and do all of that all over again." After finishing the first draft, Roberts hired a freelance editor to help shape her manuscript, asked her mum if she could leave college and moved back home, where she Googled: "How to self-publish a book." Somehow, in 2023, she pulled it together and published her debut just after her 19th birthday. The world was very interested, as it turns out, in Roberts' protagonist Paedyn Gray, a pickpocket from the slums of Ilya considered a powerless Ordinary in a society that only serves Elites with special abilities. Until, that is, she unwittingly saves the life of Prince Malakai and is thrust into the kingdom's annual purging competition, a series of deadly trials meant to showcase the most powerful Elites and reinforce the tyrant King Edric's rule. By late 2023, Roberts had signed a deal with a traditional publisher who wanted to pick up the first instalment in her dystopian tale of romance and political intrigue. Since then, she's written four more books (the third novel in the Powerless trilogy, Fearless, came out in April) and become a New York Times bestselling author. And a TV adaptation is underway. All this by the age of 22. "I can't believe this has happened. I didn't imagine this would ever be a thing," Roberts says of her success. She says life has simultaneously changed "so much" and "not at all". She's still living in the same apartment with her cats. But she's quit her part-time job and is now writing romantasy full time. "I get up and I just write most of the day. But, aside from incredible [book] tours — when I get to meet so many people that love these books and it's like, 'Whoa, this is crazy' — it doesn't feel big. It's just me in my apartment." Roberts is still learning to navigate the pressure — and scrutiny — that have accompanied her success. Not only is she a young author new to the publishing world, who started out as a BookTok influencer, she's also faced criticism over what some readers believe are similarities between her debut and popular YA fantasy series such as Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games and Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen. Roberts has been open about this for years. "Absolutely, there are similarities to The Hunger Games … and to so many other amazing books out there," she says now. "And that's how it is because there are billions of works." Still, the Goodreads pages for her books are filled with reviews by readers arguing the Powerless series is, at best, derivative and too heavily reliant on romance and dystopian fiction tropes and, at worst, a rip-off of various fantasy novels. Roberts says this "can be a little frustrating". "But I do remind myself that, a lot of the time, they're 14-year-olds and we know how the internet is. And at the end of the day, there's inspiration from every angle, and tropes are something that are in every book. "On the internet, I don't feel the need to address it because it's simply not true." This strategy is working — for now, at least. While Roberts can't say much about the Powerless TV adaptation, she confirms, "There are things happening behind the scenes [and] we're very excited." There's also an upcoming international book tour, including Australia. "We're travelling from one side of Australia to the other, with tons of stops, and I'm really excited to answer the readers' burning questions," she says. There are more books in the works, too, including another Powerless novella titled Fearful, out in September. After that, Roberts plans to slow down the release schedule. Not only did she write Powerless in three months, she also finished the first drafts for follow-up books Reckless and Fearless in the same amount of time. Roberts wrote Powerful, the first Powerless novella, in just 28 days. "It is daunting. It's not like, 'I'll just write for two hours today and whatever.' It's definitely three months of head-down writing," Roberts says of her process up until now. "This past year, it has been go, go, go. So I'm reaching a point where I do want to space out the books a little more. Nothing crazy, but even just writing one book a year." Rebecca Yarros, another high-profile romantasy author, signalled plans to do the same in November 2023. At the same time, the publishing industry is facing increasing comparisons to fast fashion, with some readers attributing the "Sheinification of books" to what they perceive as the decreasing quality of fantasy novels. The Powerless series is frequently brought up as part of these conversations online. Roberts doesn't let the criticism get in her way, instead choosing to "focus on the positives". She says her number one goal in finishing the Powerless series is "staying true to what 18-year-old me started". Lauren Roberts will be discussing Powerless at events in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth from June 21-29.
