“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” –Helen Keller
Author: justina
Polar Escapades
Polar bear ice sculptures…
100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader!
What an honor… Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) is #40 on Bitch Magazine’s 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader list alongside Judy Blume (Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret), Julia Alvarez (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents), Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games), Sarah Dessen (Dreamland), and Laurie Halse … Read More
Girls Weekend
Girls Weekend by Justina Chen featuring beaded jewelry Snowmobiling. Giddiness. Serial killers. An inspirational weekend with my girls that grounded my soul even as I came away with twenty-one new ideas for my next novel. And that is how my creative process works!
Napa Writing Retreat
In a mad dash to finish RETURN TO ME, I took myself, my mom and my manuscript off to Napa Valley. So while I had a writer’s retreat, my mom had an artist’s retreat where we fueled each other in one big 72-hour spurt of creativity. Novel’s done! And my mom has a new subject … Read More
Brainstorming at Barrio
My New Year’s resolution is to P-L-A-Y more. So what better way to start 2011 with a brainstorm play session at Barrio? While my writing buddy, Janet Lee Carey, talked about her work-in-progress, DRAGONSWOOD, I bemoaned my own, RETURN TO ME. We solved at least 3 plot problems this night.
Dancing Queens
You wonder why I love writing for teens? It’s pure joy. I mean, come on! Would an adult reader dance with me?
Napa Writing Retreat
Tolkien may have had it right when he said, “Not all who wander are lost.” To finish my work-in-progress novel, I took a desperate wander down to Napa so that I could focus on the book, not on my laundry and bills. On a brief break from my rewrite, I took a slight WRONG TURN, … Read More
Montgomery County Teen Book Fest
What a weekend of books and stories and laughter and dancing! Flew to Houston to attend the 7th annual Montgomery County Teen Book Fest along with fellow authors Lois Lowry (!!), Jeff Stone, Anna Godberson, and Tom Sniegowski. Books, yes. Posters, yes. Bookmarks, yes. But I’d never signed a Kindle or a Converse until this … Read More
Composing a Novel
Composing a Novel by Justina Chen on Polyvore.com An abundance of thoughts and thanks to my two friends and heroes, Robbie and Pete, who are helping me unlock a character in my work-in-progress novel. Motivation and male psyche insights… Such great men, these two.