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Megan McCafferty urges readers to interact with YA authors via new web series

McCafferty is hosting a Google Hangout series titled 'Ask! Authors! Anything!' which finds her interacting with young adult authors like Sarah Dessen and Laurie Halse Anderson.

The next episode of 'Ask! Authors! Anything!' will find author Megan McCafferty chatting with Laurie Halse Anderson, whose book 'The Impossible Knife of Memory' was released this past January.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Author Megan McCafferty wants you to follow the instructions in the title of her new series, “Ask! Authors! Anything!,” and prep some questions for young adult authors.

McCafferty, author of the “Jessica Darling” young adult series, is currently the host of a new series that takes place on Google Hangout. On the web series, McCafferty interviews various writers and users can submit questions through McCafferty’s Twitter account or the Tumblr site for the show.

On the first “Ask!” show, on which McCafferty interviewed “The Moon and More” author Sarah Dessen and which took place on March 24, McCafferty did so with help from students from the Ann Richards School for Young Leaders in Austin, Texas.

The second episode of “Ask!” will take place on April 21 and will find McCafferty chatting with “Speak” writer Laurie Halse Anderson. A chat between McCafferty and Rita Williams-Garcia of “One Crazy Summer” will take place on May 19 and McCafferty will be speaking with “If I Stay” writer Gayle Forman sometime in June.

“The beauty of this series is that with today’s technology, we can bring together authors, fans online, and a ‘live audience’ of students from anywhere in the country,” McCafferty told Publishers Weekly.

She said the Ann Richards School students will be the participants in the web series through June but that booksellers, librarians, or teachers should get in touch if they want their book club, students, or other group to be the participating young adults.

“I didn’t want this series to be simply two authors talking,” McCafferty said. “I view the students as co-hosts, and with readers getting into the conversation with their questions, it really becomes an interactive event.”

If viewers don’t tune in for the live show, clips are available for viewing on “Parks and Recreation” actress Amy Poehler’s site “Smart Girls at the Party.”

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