Anywhere with Tanya Kyi


We have a special treat for you, YA followers! Our very own editor, Mordechai, sat down to chat with author Tanya Kyi, author of ANYWHERE BUT HERE!

Anywhere but Here coverEver since his mom died, Cole just feels stuck. His dad acts like a stranger, and Lauren, his picture-perfect girlfriend of two years, doesn’t understand him anymore. He can’t ditch his dad, so Cole breaks up with Lauren. She doesn’t take the news very well, and Cole’s best friend won’t get off his case about it.

Now more than ever, Cole wants to graduate and leave his small, suffocating town. And everything is going according to plan—until Cole discovers the one secret that could keep him there…forever.

 

 

 

 

 


Author Tanya KyiMordechai with YA Mag: Welcome to YA Magazine, Tanya! I really enjoyed ANYWHERE BUT HERE. I’m so happy to have a chance to share it with our audience. So!  Where did you come up with the concept for ANYWHERE BUT HERE?

Tanya Kyi: There are so many messy relationships in high school. Not just dating relationships, but those with friends and family members as well. I wanted to explore the border between feeling entangled and feeling loved. Plus, the town where I grew up had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. That adds a whole new level of messy relationships.

 

YA: How did you manage to put yourself into a boys mind? (I’m a guy and I always find it tricky when I have to get into a girl’s mindset!)

TK: When I began writing ANYWHERE BUT HERE, there were two narrators — a guy and a girl. But Cole was so much more interesting, he took over the book.  I love that he’s highly intelligent and yet emotionally unaware.  The poor guy has a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Especially in the early stages of the book, Cole is rather self-centered. I wanted the reader to understand his friends better than he did, and see the effects of Cole’s words and actions before he did. As I wrote, there were times when I wanted to take this guy out of the book, slap his head straight, and then stick him back in. But like all of us, Cole has to learn consideration and gratitude in his own good time.

 

YA: Cole’s mother is dead, and now two girls are fighting over him.  But who is Cole?

TK: Cole is smart, ambitious, and — though he does his best to deny it — loving. He spends much of the book threatening to leave his family and friends behind. He’s always plotting his escape from his small town. But at the same time, he’s caring for his dad, falling in love, and even trying to help his ex-girlfriend. Under all his bluster, he’s a good guy.

 

Anywhere but Here quoteYA: What scene was hardest to write for you?

TK: Living in a small town, you know all sorts of details about other people’s lives. I wanted ANYWHERE BUT HERE to reflect that. I wanted the reader to learn about Greg’s family problems, Lauren’s overprotective parents, and even the school counsellor’s love life. It was difficult to weave in all those details unobtrusively, so they became simply part of the fabric of Cole’s days.

 

YA: Which girl do you most relate to and why?

TK: I have to choose Hannah. She’s a bit misguided, but she’s full of heart. And none of the drama is her fault! She finds herself caught in the middle of an impossible situation, and she does her best to manage it with kindness. And semi-drunken grace.

 

YA: What happens to Cole when the book ends?

TK: That’s a difficult question to answer without giving away the book’s ending. But I’m quite sure Cole has a bright future ahead of him.

 

YA: Tanya, thank you for talking with me today.  Before we go, do you have a favorite YA book?

TK: My all-time favourite classic is The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham.  And I’m a huge John Green fan.  I’m a sucker for witty dialogue and wounded characters!

 

YA: Congratulations on ANYWHERE BUT HERE! We know our audience is going to love it!

 


Readers, be sure to check out Tanya Kyi at her website TanyaLloydKyi.com and facebook fanpage. Or follow her on Twitter @TanyaKyi.

ANYWHERE BUT HERE, published by Simon Pulse, is now available at your favorite retailers and local independent bookstores!

 

 

 


anywhere-with-tanya-kyi

We have a special treat for you, YA followers! Our very own editor, Mordechai, sat down to chat with author Tanya Kyi, author of ANYWHERE BUT HERE!

Anywhere but Here coverEver since his mom died, Cole just feels stuck. His dad acts like a stranger, and Lauren, his picture-perfect girlfriend of two years, doesn’t understand him anymore. He can’t ditch his dad, so Cole breaks up with Lauren. She doesn’t take the news very well, and Cole’s best friend won’t get off his case about it.

Now more than ever, Cole wants to graduate and leave his small, suffocating town. And everything is going according to plan—until Cole discovers the one secret that could keep him there…forever.

 

 

 

 

 


Author Tanya KyiMordechai with YA Mag: Welcome to YA Magazine, Tanya! I really enjoyed ANYWHERE BUT HERE. I’m so happy to have a chance to share it with our audience. So!  Where did you come up with the concept for ANYWHERE BUT HERE?

Tanya Kyi: There are so many messy relationships in high school. Not just dating relationships, but those with friends and family members as well. I wanted to explore the border between feeling entangled and feeling loved. Plus, the town where I grew up had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. That adds a whole new level of messy relationships.

 

YA: How did you manage to put yourself into a boys mind? (I’m a guy and I always find it tricky when I have to get into a girl’s mindset!)

TK: When I began writing ANYWHERE BUT HERE, there were two narrators — a guy and a girl. But Cole was so much more interesting, he took over the book.  I love that he’s highly intelligent and yet emotionally unaware.  The poor guy has a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Especially in the early stages of the book, Cole is rather self-centered. I wanted the reader to understand his friends better than he did, and see the effects of Cole’s words and actions before he did. As I wrote, there were times when I wanted to take this guy out of the book, slap his head straight, and then stick him back in. But like all of us, Cole has to learn consideration and gratitude in his own good time.

 

YA: Cole’s mother is dead, and now two girls are fighting over him.  But who is Cole?

TK: Cole is smart, ambitious, and — though he does his best to deny it — loving. He spends much of the book threatening to leave his family and friends behind. He’s always plotting his escape from his small town. But at the same time, he’s caring for his dad, falling in love, and even trying to help his ex-girlfriend. Under all his bluster, he’s a good guy.

 

Anywhere but Here quoteYA: What scene was hardest to write for you?

TK: Living in a small town, you know all sorts of details about other people’s lives. I wanted ANYWHERE BUT HERE to reflect that. I wanted the reader to learn about Greg’s family problems, Lauren’s overprotective parents, and even the school counsellor’s love life. It was difficult to weave in all those details unobtrusively, so they became simply part of the fabric of Cole’s days.

 

YA: Which girl do you most relate to and why?

TK: I have to choose Hannah. She’s a bit misguided, but she’s full of heart. And none of the drama is her fault! She finds herself caught in the middle of an impossible situation, and she does her best to manage it with kindness. And semi-drunken grace.

 

YA: What happens to Cole when the book ends?

TK: That’s a difficult question to answer without giving away the book’s ending. But I’m quite sure Cole has a bright future ahead of him.

 

YA: Tanya, thank you for talking with me today.  Before we go, do you have a favorite YA book?

TK: My all-time favourite classic is The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham.  And I’m a huge John Green fan.  I’m a sucker for witty dialogue and wounded characters!

 

YA: Congratulations on ANYWHERE BUT HERE! We know our audience is going to love it!

 


Readers, be sure to check out Tanya Kyi at her website TanyaLloydKyi.com and facebook fanpage. Or follow her on Twitter @TanyaKyi.

ANYWHERE BUT HERE, published by Simon Pulse, is now available at your favorite retailers and local independent bookstores!