Sydney Salter is a writin’ machine. She released her debut novel last year, the charming  My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters, and the exciting middle grade book, Jungle Crossing. Last month, her third book, Swoon at Your Own Risk, came out. How do you do it, Sydney? I guess some people don’t need to sleep.

I’m way jealous.

About Swoon at Your Own Risk

You’d think Polly Martin would have all the answers when it comes to love—after all, her grandmother is the famous syndicated advice columnist Miss Swoon. But after a junior year full of dating disasters, Polly has sworn off boys. This summer, she’s going to focus on herself for once. So Polly is happy when she finds out Grandma is moving in—think of all the great advice she’ll get.

But Miss Swoon turns out to be a man-crazy sexagenarian! How can Polly stop herself from falling for Xander Cooper, the suddenly-hot skateboarder who keeps showing up while she’s working at Wild Waves water park, when Grandma is picking up guys at the bookstore and flirting with the dishwasher repairman?

No advice column can prepare Polly for what happens when she goes on a group camping trip with three too many ex-boyfriends and the tempting Xander. Polly is forced to face her feelings and figure out if she can be in love—and still be herself.

About Sydney Salter

Sydney Salter has never had an ex-boyfriend or worked in a water park, but she did once babysit a bulldog. Sydney now lives in Utah with her first and only boyfriend (now her husband), two daughters, two cats, two dogs, and a pair of tortoises. She loves reading, writing, traveling, and really tall, really twisty water slides. She’s also the author of My Big Nose And Other Natural Disasters and Jungle Crossing. Visit her on the web at www.sydneysalter.com and www.mybignose.blogspot.com

Advice from Sydney Salter

What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Don’t borrow trouble. In other words, don’t worry about things that might happen, but haven’t actually happened. Usually, things aren’t as bad as they seem so don’t make them worse–or catastrophic–in your imagination.

What’s one of the worst pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Date lots of guys so you know what you like. I think you can know what works without having to experience everything that doesn’t.

What advice would you give to your sixteen-year-old self, knowing all that you know now?

Accept yourself–and all your flaws. You’ll find plenty of people–guys–who like you just the way you are.

How does Stacey Jay do it? Put out three books in fifteen months? While I have no basis for comparison, that sounds like more work than Irish twins.

Last month, I featured Stacey and her latest book, Undead Much? in this post. Well, if you can’t get enough zombies, you’re in luck because her third novel, My So-Called Death, came out last month.

About My So-Called Death

Just because you don’t have a pulse doesn’t mean you can’t be perky.

One second, freshman Karen Vera’s on top of the most fabulous cheer pyramid ever. The next, she’s lying on the pavement with seriously unflattering cranial damage. Freakishly alive without a pulse, Karen learns that she’s a genetically undead zombie.

Suddenly, Karen’s non-life is an epic disaster. She’s forced to attend a boarding school for the “death-challenged,” her roommate is a hateful wannabe-Goth weirdo, and she’s chowing down on animal brains every day to prevent rot (um, ew?). Even worse, someone is attacking students and harvesting their brains for a forbidden dark ritual. And it might be the hottest guy at DEAD High, the one who makes Karen’s non-beating heart flutter!

Armed with a perky smile and killer fashion sense, it’s up to Karen to track down the brain snatcher and save her fellow students from certain zombie death.

About Stacey Jay

Stacey Jay is a workaholic with three pen names, and a sick sense of humor. She loves creepies, crawlies, and of course, romance. What would a zombie novel–or any novel–be without kisses that make your toes tingle?

Stacey has been a full time writer since 2005 and can’t think of anything she’d rather be doing. Her former careers include theatre performer, professional dancer, poorly paid C-movie actress, bartender, and waiter.

More advice from Stacey Jay

What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Grow out your bangs. It was the early nineties and my mother begged me to keep them, but I insisted on letting them grow. The day those huge, fluffy things were gone from my face was one of the best of my life, lol.

What’s one of the worst pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

“Why don’t you just elope?” Um, if planning a wedding with someone freaks you out, that’s probably a clue that you’re not ready to get married at all!

What advice would you give to your sixteen-year-old self, knowing all that you know now?

Smile more. It’s not all as serious as you think it is.

Next up on the blog tour is Stacey Jay, whose debut You Are So Undead To Me, was released in January 2009. The sequel, Undead Much?, is out now, and with a title like that, how could you resist?

About Undead Much?

Even Zombie Settlers with Super Hot Boyfriends get the Blues…

A few months ago I was a normal girl with a normal life. But that was before my power to Settle the Undead returned and someone tried to kill me with zombies.

Now I work magic and practice kicking butt while trying to find time for pom squad and my boyfriend, Ethan, and trying NOT to think about how freaky my life has become. It can be tough. Still…things could be worse…

Oh yeah, right:

1. Feral new super-strong zombies. Check.
2. Undead psychic hottie predicting a zombie apocolypse. Check.
3. Earth-shattering secrets that could land me in Settler prison for life. Check.
4. Cheerleader vs. pom squad turf war threatening the end of the half time as we know it. Check.

I’m going to need therapy (and a cookie) if I live through the week. Unfortunately I’m learning that’s not something Zombie Queens can take for granted.

About Stacey Jay

Stacey Jay is a workaholic with three pen names, and a sick sense of humor. She loves creepies, crawlies, and of course, romance. What would a zombie novel–or any novel–be without kisses that make your toes tingle?

Stacey has been a full-time writer since 2005 and can’t think of anything she’d rather be doing. Her former careers include theatre performer, professional dancer, poorly paid C-movie actress, bartender, and waiter.

Advice from Stacey Jay

1. What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Treat everyone with respect.

2. What’s one of the worst pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Don’t ever give up. There are times when giving up is the strongest course of action, when it doesn’t make sense to keep slamming your head against the wall trying to do something that isn’t a good fit for your life/personality.

3. What advice would you give to your sixteen-year-old self, knowing all that you know now?

Skip drama school and use that scholarship for something that might actually qualify you to make some money. (Oh, and minor in creative writing .)

Although I haven’t read either of Erin Dionne’s books (but totally want to!), I am impressed by her mad titling skills. I mean, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies and The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet? Those are some truly excellent titles.

I’m sorta jealous, Erin. Of the titles, and the excellent blurb you got from Lauren Myracle. I loves me some Ms. Myracle.

About The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet

Hamlet Kennedy just wants to be your average, happy, vanilla eighth grader. But with Shakespearean scholar parents who dress in Elizabethan regalia and generally go about in public as if it were the sixteenth century, that’s not terribly easy. It gets worse when they decide that Hamlet’s genius sevenyear- old sister will attend middle school with her– and even worse when the Shakespeare project is announced and her sister is named the new math tutor. By the time an in-class recitation reveals that our heroine is an extraordinary Shakespearean actress, Hamlet can no longer hide from the fact that she–like her family–is anything but average.

About Erin Dionne

Erin Dionne’s debut novel, Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies, was inspired by events that occurred in seventh grade, when she wore a scary peach bridesmaid dress in her cousin’s wedding and threw up on her gym teacher’s shoes (not at the same event). Although humiliating at the time, these experiences are working for her now. Erin lives outside of Boston with her husband and daughter, and a very insistent dog named Grafton. She roots for the Red Sox, teaches English at an art college, and sometimes eats chocolate cookies.

Advice from Erin Dionne

What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Do what you love, the money will follow. SO TRUE!! If you devote yourself to your passion, everything works out okay.

What’s one of the worst pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

To play it safe. I firmly believe that taking risks are the only ways we can grow.

What advice would you give to your sixteen-year-old self, knowing all that you know now?

Enjoy who you are right now and wear a bikini! You look great!!! Any crappy stuff you’re experiencing now won’t matter in two months, let alone two years from now.

I’m participating in a blog tour with a bunch of cool authors, so for the next several months, my Writer Wednesday feature will be replaced with interviews from authors who made their writing debut last year and have a second novel coming out this year. Impressive no?

I’ve asked all the authors to relay the best and worst pieces of advice they’ve ever heard, creating a sort of advice column for all y’all. I can’t wait to see what little nuggets of wisdom everyone passes on.

First up is Shani Petroff, whose debut novel, Bedeviled: Daddy’s Little Angel, came out last August. The sequel, Bedeviled: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress, has been on the shelves since January. Rabid Bedeviled fans will be delighted to know that a third installment, Careful What You Wish For, is due out in June, and I’ll be featuring it later in the summer. Thanks for stopping by my blog on your tour, Shani!

About Bedeviled: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Dress

Angel Garrett knows two things for sure. The first is that she inherited her devil-dad’s powers. The second is that she wreaks havoc whenever she tries to use them. Especially  when she’s trying to impress her crush, Cole. Angel’s only solution is to stay as far away as possible from him until she learns how to harness this new gift. But how do you avoid someone and get him to ask you to the school dance at the same time?

About Shani Petroff

Shani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. In addition to tween and teen books, Shani writes for news programs and several other venues. When she’s not locked in her apartment typing away, she spends a whole lot of time on books, boys, TV, daydreaming, and shopping online. She has no devil lineage as far as she knows.

Advice from Shani Petroff

What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

If you’re going to pursue your dream then pursue it—if you’re not then get a decent paying job. For a while I only talked about going after my dreams. I didn’t actually do it. However, I didn’t want to get a “real” job either… because I didn’t want it to stand in the way of my creative pursuits (which I wasn’t really pursuing—it was a pretty bad circle). So I would temp, wait tables, but nothing that interested me. Finally, my dad told me it’s great if I want to follow my dreams, but then I needed to really follow them. Not just talk about it. And if not, then he told me I should put my degree to use—get a job that would lead to a career—one where I wasn’t always struggling to make ends meet. I ended up doing both—following my dreams and getting a cool job while I went after them. (FYI, that cool job paid horribly for the first few years, but I knew I had the potential to move up the ladder, and it was in an industry that always fascinated me).

What’s one of the worst pieces of advice you’ve ever received?

Back when I was in fifth grade or so, I went to get my hair cut. I only wanted a trim. My mother thought that I should do something different. She suggested I get bangs. Big mistake. The woman started them from the middle of my scalp. Half of my hair was turned into bangs. To make matters worse, my hair was thick and wavy—so the bangs sprouted out in every direction imaginable. It took forever to style them the way I wanted—and even then they didn’t look right. It took me years to grow them out fully. (I actually like bangs—just not the ones the woman gave me.)

What advice would you give to your sixteen-year-old self, knowing all that you know now?

Follow your dreams. Don’t let anyone stand in your way. Oh, and a few years down the line when you see a guy that’s completely your type named, well, let’s call him Mr. X (I’ll fill you in later to keep his name off of the internet) and you make eye contact across a crowded room and he moves toward you just like in all the best romance movies—run the other direction. You can do much, much better. Don’t let him or anyone ever make you feel like you aren’t good enough. (Although he did make for some amusing stories down the line—so, maybe it wasn’t all bad. Live and learn).