Blog Tour: Guest post+giveaway with Elizabeth Rudnick!

Today is the last stop for the Tweet Heart blog tour hosted by The Teen {Book} Scene. Liz Rudnick, the author of this adorable debut, kindly answered my less-than-eloquent question about epistolary novels. Read on to see her response and stick around because you'll have a chance to win a Tweet Heart prize pack! Now, let's give a warm welcome to Elizabeth Rudnick! :)

My question went like this: I thought that you could perhaps talk about how books like yours (books told in emails, tweets, instant messages, etc.) will have more impact for readers and in general since everything is digital now.

Check out her awesome site!

Elizabeth: Sometimes I wish I had paid more attention to my literature classes in college! I know that is a random thought to start this guest post but the reason I say that is because I think we can look at this new medium of writing (e-mails, tweets, IMs, texts, etc) as just the next step in writing evolution. In other words, writing changes to reflect the times. We live in a world where EVERYTHING is instant. Or at least, it pretty much can be. You have full meals that take seconds to heat. If you don’t want to watch commercials, you can have a full show at your disposal simply by DVRing it or TiVoing it. People can go on Wikipedia and get an instant blurb about classics like Moby Dick (instead of slogging through all those pages while trying not to fall asleep in the middle of a dark Vermont winter--not that I’m bitter). It’s amazing, really. So the fact that writing and communicating has become as instant just makes sense. It speaks to the times and is a reflection of our world. Just as writing in stanzas and using wild analogies and metaphors was a reflection of the world Shakespeare lived in. Then, the world was full of political upheaval but speaking out against anything was frowned upon--and often penalized severely. Now we have more freedom (well, that depends I guess on where you live but in general) and a deep desire to speak our minds--it is in fact encouraged. People LOVE to hear other people gossip about political figures, complain about the mundane or the deep and people LOVE to hear it as soon as possible. That is why things like Twitter work so well. A thought pops in your head and in an INSTANT you can share your thoughts--with anyone willing to listen. It is pretty remarkable.

It may seem ironic, given that I wrote a book in tweets, but I’d like to think that while tweets and IMs and texts will continue to become more and more prevalent in our society, the actual prose novel will never disappear. Because a novel in tweets, e-mails, and blogs, is just one rung on the evolutionary ladder. There are still all those very successful forms of writing that have come before that made tweeting possible. My hope is that something like Tweet Heart will get people reading, pure and simple. It is fun, simple, and easy to follow. But I wanted it to have heart, and a message--which I think it does. And I think that what it does is speak to my audience directly. Tweets, IMs? That is the language of the younger adult. I truly hope that people who read Tweet Heart will feel like it is a book in “their” language. Something that they can read and understand and embrace. And really, like I said about being just a next step in the writing evolution, Tweet Heart is inspired by a classic novel--Cyrano de Bergerac. So to try and get back to your question, I think the impact is that these types of novels reflect our current world. They speak to an emerging audience and generation that will take them and mold them to fit their needs--instant or not.

Thank you for that insightful response, Liz! I like that you mentioned Cyrano de Bergerac-after reading your novel, I can see how that story would relate with yours. :)

Now, onto the giveaway rules! The prize pack includes: A signed copy of Tweet Heart, a water bottle and a bookmark. This contest is open until August 20th-the winner will be announced the 21st. The best part though? It's INTERNATIONAL! All you have to do to enter is fill out the form. Good luck everyone! I hope you enjoyed this guest post as much as I did! Contest is now closed!