My love of reading began at an early age, thanks to my mother. It was further reinforced by my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Yates. She would take off her shoes and walk up and down the aisles in her stockinged feet. The cadence of her voice, the slight scrape of the pages turning and the scratching sound of her stockings rubbing together had a calming–almost drugging–effect on me. Crazy as that may sound. I got used to this routine every day of my life during the fifth grade and have enjoyed it ever since. I was exposed to S.E. Hinton’s The Oustsiders in this very way during Humanities in the 7th grade. That same year, during recess, I caught the writing bug. As I honed my skills, the way I read books changed. Now that I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up, every book I read after that left me with questions: “Where did they get the idea from?” “Why did they give the character that name?” “Does this place really exist?” If I enjoyed the book, I always made sure I wrote the author telling them so. Now, in my late 30’s and writing for teens, I still like to know where other authors get their ideas. So I thought I might share mine.
My first book, Secrets and Kisses (Mar 2004), sprouted from two ideas: my first kiss and my favorite t.v. show at the time, 21 Jump Street. Skylar Knight is 17-yrs-old and she’s in her final week of school. In between studying for finals and working her part time job at the mall, she’s getting kissing lessons. Yes, you read that right. Kissing lessons. You see, Blair Neuman, the most popular girl at school, is having an End of the Year Bash at her house for juniors only. And everyone knows what’s going to happen there: The Kissing Game. A new version of Spin the Bottle, but without the bottle (you’ll have to read it to see what I mean). Skylar knows her crush, Kedren Price, will be there and horror of horrors, she has no idea how to kiss! With the insistence of her best friend, Skylar begins her lessons in a most unconventional way. During the course of the week, she overhears conversations about Kedren and Blair and Skylar starts to wonder if she has more to worry about than lack of pucker power. Be sure to check out the start-up blog http://secretsandkisses.wordpress.com hosted by an older and wiser Skylar Knight.
Dance Jam Productions (Sept 2004) came to fruition through a reoccurring dream and one boring day the summer before my senior year of high school. Mataya “Mattie” Black Hawk loves to dance. When her favorite local teen dance show, “Dance Jam Productions”, hosts a contest to find new regulars, Mattie and her friends make the trek down to the park to sign up. Only to find out that she’s going to be paired up with a guy? A guy she doesn’t even know? Fantastic. Not! Enter Jarek Thanos. A guy who, as it turns out, she knows so it’s all good. Especially when they become one of twelve finalist couples who have to come up with a dance routine for the Dance-Off the following week. No problem. But teenagers are showing up on the news with scars on their sides and foul play is pointing to “Dance Jam Productions.” Not good. However, that’s the least of their problems. Jarek is starting to show an interest in Mattie, and she’s been hiding her own scars for the past ten years… Be sure to check out the start-up blog http://dancejamproductions.wordpress.com hosted by an older and wiser Mattie Black Hawk.
My current project, a YA series called Draven Atreides, Teenage FBI, was inspired by Sydney Bristow, Buffy Sommers…and my niece. Draven Atreides (pronounced Dray-ven A-tray-deez) is 16-yrs-old. She’s been in the foster care system all her life, she graduated from high school at the age of 13…and she’s been hired by the FBI as an informant. The FBI has a lot of criminals on their Wanted lists. Ever wonder if those lists could be whittled down with a little help from a teenager? You’re about to find out. The first draft of Book One, A Royale Pain, is complete and I’m working on Book Two: A Whole Latte Trouble.
My first two books were self-published, but I decided to go the traditional route with the series. That’s always been a goal of mine and I decided, “Why not?” Go for it and see what happens. It wouldn’t hurt to try. I’m currently looking for an agent and have been chronicling the journey on my blog at http://geminiwisdom.blogspot.com. 75 agencies (and counting), 30 rejections (so far), 11 requests for partials (a couple willing to see it again if a 2nd draft is done) and still waiting to hear from 40 more…it’s hurting a little more than I thought it would, but I’m trying to keep a stiff upper lip. One of the many things I love about writing is that I have the ability to take experiences, dreams, shows, music, anything I think up and blow them out of proportion to create this wonderfully fantastic fictitous world. A wonderfully fantastic fictitous world based in Phoenix, AZ, that is. Man, I love that.
Hi. My name is Celise Downs. And I’m a Young Adult Fiction author.
Celise Downs was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. She’s a newlywed of six months and shares her home with a talkative Tabby cat named Sweetpea. When she’s not writing, she loves to read, watch her shows (Smallville, Supernatural, Bones, Heroes) and go to the movies. You can visit her on her soon-to-be-revamped site at www.celisedowns.com.
