Monday, May 9, 2011

Guest Post: Susane Colasanti (and Giveaway!)



Greetings, friendly neighbors! I’m stoked to share some of the inspiration for my fifth book, So Much Closer.

Realistic fiction is my thing. I like incorporating details inspired by my own experiences to make my books feel as realistic as possible. So Much Closer takes place in my neighborhood, the West Village. I had lots of fun including my fave New York City places and things in this book. For my blog tour, we thought it would be fun to share some of them with you. So here we go!

6. Origami

In seventh grade, my science teacher taught us how to make origami cups. She was one of those cool teachers who gave out prizes and popped popcorn on your birthday. The origami cups were for the popcorn. But I used mine for lots of different things. And I never forgot how to make them. When I became a science teacher, I made origami cups for students who wanted a drink. There was a sink in my classroom and the cups totally worked. Well, you sort of had to drink quickly, but they worked for a few minutes!

Origami has continued to fascinate me over the years. I got really into folding paper in college. I had like 73 cents in my bank account back then, so I’d give origami as gifts. I still have my origami books with instructions for how to make intricate animals that look way too complicated now. As Brooke took shape while I was writing the first draft of So Much Closer, it became apparent that she loved folding paper. She folds found paper instead of the pre-packaged, perfectly square kind because it’s more challenging that way.

I could learn a lot from that girl.

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(click "Fullscreen" to better read the sampler!)
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Thanks so much, Susane! Be sure to check out her website and twitter page for even more news and information!

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WIN A SIGNED FINISHED COPY OF SO MUCH CLOSER!

FILL OUT THIS FORM TO ENTER!

Ends May 23. US Only.

23 comments:

  1. I've always admired people who could do origami!

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  2. Susane write such great stories. I have several of her other books and I love sharing them with my teens.
    Count me in please!

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  3. Origami is really cool, but I don't think I have the patience for it!

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  4. In high school I had an English teacher who did "Japanese Friday" almost every week. We would take off our shoes and call her "Kimi-San". One week she decided to teach us how to make paper cranes ... to this day I still can't make them. Good for you for being so talented.

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  5. In high school I had an English teacher who did "Japanese Friday" almost every week. We would take off our shoes and call her "Kimi-San". One week she decided to teach us how to make paper cranes ... to this day I still can't make them. Good for you for being so talented.

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  6. I also am a realistic fiction girl at heart. I will read other genres, but my first love is and always will be realistic fiction. Can't wait to read this book!

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  7. I really like the cover of the book, and I don't think I've read a book that takes place in New York(:
    That should be new!:D
    Thank you so much for giving us the chance to win our own copy(:
    lisa
    www.turningpages94.blogspot.com

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  8. I love origami - We learned how to make cups in the like 3rd grade, but I have never really learned how to do more than make a cup. Two years ago in geometry we had an assignment to make a swan, and I kept messing it up so I had my friend do it lol. I don't think origami and I get along.

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  9. That's awesome. I wish I had a cool teacher like that and I wish I knew how to do origami. Can't wait to read your new book!

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  10. What a great gift your teacher gave you! Makes me want to check out a library book on origami.

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  11. I tried origami once.... Yea I can't fold paper neatly. I tried so hard to. Thats a pretty awesome teacher! None of my teachers are talented. :(

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  12. I love origami! (Though I'm not good at folding neatly...) Lol, I imagine you'd have to drink that water very, VERY quickly. ;)

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  13. I'd love to be good at oragami. My daughter got a book for Christmas last year and I was surpised at what a hard time I had with it. We put it away to try again another time since neither of us were getting it to work very well!

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  14. Wow...love the story about the origami. I tried to make a few things couple of times. I wasn't good at it. I had a foreign exchange student from Japan my junior year of high school and she could make thousands of the paper cranes. :)

    aliasgirl1976@yahoo.com

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  15. I absolutely fail at origami. I don't venture down that path any longer lol :)

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  16. I've always wanted to learn how to do Origami but it usually ended up in my crumbling up the paper :/ I wish I had the patients for that kind of thing. Brooke makes it seem so easy in the book, almost makes me want to give it another try, almost. haha.

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  17. This book sounds great but I fail at origami. My son was into it several years ago and .... nope ...... I can't do it.

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  18. I have tried some easy orgami but maybe now I will be trying out the more complicated stuff!

    Your book sounds like a great read.


    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

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  19. Thanks for the great giveaway. Your book sounds really good. Tore923@aol.com

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  20. Origami cups? That's so cool! I should figure out how to do that to make attempting a drink at the water fountains a little less unproductive.

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  21. Ahaha oragami cups. that is soo cute! That's a great idea, for popcorn and stuff. Anyways,I am so happy that Susane Colasanti wrote a new book and it is out now! Sadly, I can't get my hands on it because I'm very busy but I can't wait to read it! :)

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  22. Yeah. I tried the following the boy thing a few times. It looked a little stalkerish. I'm surprised there are no restraining orders out there.

    Can she make a paper airplane that actually flies? I can't. Apparently, I'm simply a gifted stalker.

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  23. that is so cool. when ever i think of making something of origami i cant seem to focus because some stuff is so complicated to make. need real patience and be good with ur hands. awesome post Susane Colasanti is a cool author. love her writing style

    khyla_808ATyahooDOTcom

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I love getting comments, so feel free to leave your thoughts :)