Romancing YA - Lisa Schroeder

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Welcome to Romancing YA!

Big massive humongous shoutout to Hannah Reads Books for helping me organise such an amazing event! Unfortunately she is having blog problems and couldn't be a part!



Our third stop for the Romancing YA event, on this blog, is Lisa Schroeder!

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When Romance starts as Friendship
by Lisa Schroeder, author of BRIDGE FROM ME TO YOU (Scholastic, July, 2014)



When I was in college, I worked part-time at the Environmental Protection Agency during school and full-time during the summer months. It was a great job – it paid well, the job was designed to work around my class schedule, and, it was near campus.


My junior year, I made friends with a woman a few years older than me who worked as an Accounting Technician. One night, she and I were out having a drink, and we ran into this guy who worked at the same place we did. He was cute, and we had seen him around, but neither one of us had ever talked to him. Well, all that changed that night. Monica was bold in a way I wasn’t, so she called him over to us and we started talking. Before we knew it, we were laughing and having a grand old time. We decided to go to a place down the road where there was live music and dancing. We stayed out way too late, which was not the best thing to do, since it was a Thursday night, and we all had to work the next day.


Despite the insanity of it, my friend suggested we do it again the following Thursday. And so it continued, all summer long. Somewhere along the way, we started to get together on the weekends too. We’d go bike riding. Or swimming. Or shopping. The three of us became the best of friends.


The guy had recently gone through a difficult break-up. The same was true of myself. As for my girlfriend, her fiancé was in the military and was away, doing his duty, serving our country. At some point, one of us called ourselves the Lonely Hearts Club, and that’s really what we were. We were three people who found each other at the right time – we had fun together and when we were together, the holes in our hearts didn’t feel quite so large.


When my friend’s fiancé came back in the fall, things changed. They ended up packing up and moving, across country. Can you guess what happened once she left?
Yep. Romance blossomed between me and the guy, now that it was only the two of us. And now, fast forward many years later, and we are still together, still married.


I tell this story because it might say a lot about why I like writing about friendships that turn into romances.

In Chasing Brooklyn, Nico and Brooklyn train for a sprint triathlon together. They become friends and have fun together before any kind of romantic feelings take place. In Falling For You, Leo is Rae’s friend and he’s there for her in a way a lot of people in her life aren’t. With both of these relationships, the transition to “something more than friends” doesn’t go smoothly. Because it often isn’t a smooth transition. I can remember some really awkward moments as my relationship started to change with Cute Work Guy turned Husband. I love trying to capture those moments, and showing the butterflies that are there when you hold hands for the first time, or when you lean in for that first kiss and you’re not exactly sure how things are going to go.


Because it doesn’t always turn out the way you hope. Like, in high school, I had a lot of guy friends. We hung out in a big group and we had so much fun together. One night a bunch of us were going to a concert together, and one of the guys who had always been such a good friend leaned in and kissed me. I can’t even describe how awkward it was, at least to me, I think maybe because it felt like it came out of nowhere. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but it was like we both looked at each other and knew it would never work like that between us. And sadly, our friendship was never the same afterwards.


That’s the thing about friendship turning into something more – it’s risky. And it can be messy if one person wants it more than the other. But maybe that’s the fun of writing about it, right? And reading about it to!

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Bridge from Me to You - Lisa Schroeder


Released: July 29, 2014
Publisher: Point
SynopsisLauren has a secret. Colby has a problem. But when they find each other, everything falls into place. 

Lauren is the new girl in town with a dark secret. Colby is the football hero with a dream of something more. In alternating chapters, they come together, fall apart, and build something stronger than either of them thought possible--something to truly believe in.



~ Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ The Book Depository ~


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The Author...



Lisa Schroeder is the author of four teen verse novels including I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME and its companion, CHASING BROOKLYN, FAR FROM YOU, and the Oregon Book Award finalist, THE DAY BEFORE. Her latest book for teens is a combination of prose and poetry and is titled FALLING FOR YOU. She's also the author of the middle grade novels IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES, SPRINKLES AND SECRETS and FROSTING AND FRIENDSHIP. Her books have been translated into several languages and have been selected for state reading lists. She lives in Oregon with her husband and two sons.

~ Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

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Mad Claire
xo

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Reader, Blogger

Twenty-something | book-blogger | tea-drinker | procrastinator | wannabe-writer | student

14 comments:

  1. Yes, I think friendship is very important. The romance and everything else about love and romance will follow. Friendship first.

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  2. I think the best relationships begin as friendships - I mean, if you're going to really love someone, you have to really like them first, don't you? Lisa's an amazing author!! Thank you:)

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  3. Yes, I do believe that friendship is an important part of romance and both parties should work to make sure they remain friends.

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  4. That is such a wonderful story!! It's so cool it's true and that it inspires her books.

    I think friends that become a couple are the best - I mean, you have to like the person before you really love them, right? Not just a hotness attraction, it makes it true.

    Thank you:)

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  5. I don't think all relationships need to start as friendships. I believe that good relationships can come a variety of ways, but it's important that there's friendship in the relationship, or I don't think it will work. Either way, this is such a cute story.

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  6. I think it's a good idea to be in like as well as love. The friendship part of a relationship is important.

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  7. Not necessarily,but it is important in a relationship that has both friendship and love :)
    Wonderful story! :)

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  8. I think it helps and makes a relationship stronger.
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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  9. I don't think so. A story can start out with the characters already in a relationship. Maybe the plot could just be that they go through some struggles and realize where they truly stand in the relationship. That being said, I actually read more books where the characters actually start out by disliking each other. Especially in the Lux Series and the Iron Fey series.
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  10. I don't believe that friendship is important to start romances. I think it would benefit a relationship tremendously, but you could immediately like someone and start a relationship with them and THEN develop friendship overtime. I personally have never been friends with someone first and developed romantic feelings for them after.

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  11. No, sometimes the transition from friendship to something more is difficult and can destroy a friendship.

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  12. I think it would be best to start off as friends, but then again, it's different for everyone.

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  13. Yes! I think that's the best to get to know someone. :D

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  14. (This is Darith L)

    It really depends. A friendship can show that you have a lot in common, but it can also destroy the friendship if the romance doesn't work out.

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Ooh yes, comments puh-leaaase :D