Creative writing junior Tom Leveen presented his first published book to hundreds of young adults at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe Saturday.
Fifteen authors attended the bookstore’s second Yallapalooza event, including Leveen, whose novel “Party” tells a story from 11 different viewpoints of high school students at an end-of-the-year party.
Leveen said he chose to write about high school students because he believes anything is possible at that age.
“Who wants to read about a 30-something white guy paying his mortgage? That doesn’t sound terribly exciting,” Leveen said.
Yallapalooza offers young adults and teenagers a chance to meet their favorite authors and features both local and out-of-state writers.
Leveen, 36, premiered his book at Changing Hands Bookstore last year on April 27 with great success, said Brandi Stewart, an ASU English literature graduate and an employee at Changing Hands Bookstore. Stewart selects what children’s and young adult books will be sold at Changing Hands.
Stewart said she particularly connected to Leveen’s publishing process because she has worked with him since before his book was published.
“It’s really fun to see a brand new author and go on part of their journey,” Stewart said.
Leveen praised the creative writing program at ASU, crediting his professors in the English department for teaching him much of what he knows.
“They have instructors who take the art [of writing] very seriously and then there are instructors who take the business [of writing] very seriously,” Leveen said.
The balance between these two aspects of publishing often clash, but the professors find a way to teach both, he said.
Leveen said he chose to go back to college so he could tell his children that he got his degree.
ASU English literature graduate Katrina Bender attended Yallapalooza to meet young adult authors because she loves to read and write young adult literature.
Bender is currently writing a young adult novel about a girl in the Victorian era who strives to be a knight rather than a princess.
“Hearing about people who went to ASU and got their book published is really encouraging to me,” Bender said.
Miranda Kuhl, who received a bachelor’s degree from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2009 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work, said she attended the event because she likes to meet authors and get advice from them.
The authors advised her to stay persistent and realize that she may get rejected but she should keep writing.
Kuhl said she writes on the side and enjoys young adult literature because it can be a “guilty pleasure” to read.
All of these ASU authors said they struggled at some point in the writing process.
Kuhl found the most difficult part of writing, whether it was writing a paper for class or a novel for enjoyment, was starting and “silencing the inner critic.”
“Everything I write I never think is good enough, so the main point is to just keep writing,” Kuhl said.
Bender said she had to start writing another book when she found out that her first novel idea was very similar to a recent book published by another author.
Though Leveen’s first written book was turned down by 40 literary agents, he persisted and found an agent to represent his second book, “Party,” which was picked up by publisher Random House. Random House is a publisher of popular young adult literature like “Eragon” and “The Golden Compass.”
Leveen advised aspiring authors to keep writing, reflecting that it is incredibly rare for an author to get their first book published.
“Nobody here today, as far as I know, nobody I’m personal friends with, published their first book,” Leveen said.
Leveen attributed the success of “Party” to his use of first-person rather than third-person, and described the book as “much tighter and [more] succinct” than his first book.
Stewart said she credited Leveen’s success to his powerful skill as an author.
“I feel like Tom is this amazing writer and I don’t know if he really understands that he is. He’s very humble,” Stewart said. “And I think he needs to embrace his awesomeness.”
Reach the reporter at hhuskins@asu.edu
