1
1 1) The
genre of Young Adult (YA) fiction can be defined as literature written or
marketed for teenage readers. However, YA fiction is not simple reading. For example, in your fabulous book, Babe in Boyland, you deal with complex
topics such as cross-dressing and authenticity, among others. In writing YA
fiction, are there topics that you’ve found to be (from a marketing
standpoint), “off limits?” If so, why do you think this is?
YA fiction has really exploded in
the last ten years; I think this is largely because YA authors and editors have
been busily exploring and pushing the boundaries of this genre. “Back in the
day” (when I was a teen) YA fiction generally stayed within circumscribed, safe
territory. Judy Blume was about as racy as it got back then. These days YA
covers a huge range of controversial topics: teen sexuality, gender issues,
drug use, suicide, cutting—just about every topic has been touched on in this
YA renaissance period. I’m not saying “anything goes”—obviously authors,
readers and publishers vary in terms of what they’re comfortable with—but the
spectrum has expanded exponentially.
Personally, I love this expansion.
I think it’s really healthy and it’s making YA fiction much more relevant to
young people’s lives, hence the popularity of the genre.
That said, editors are people and
they have their preferences like anyone else. For example, in Triple Shot Bettys in Love I wrote a
scene where the main character goes to a party and some cool, attractive kids
are out on the front porch puffing away on cigarettes. My editor felt this
glamorized smoking, and we decided to take the cigs out. If smoking had been
integral to the scene we would have left them in, but why casually condone it
if it’s not necessary?
I find I need to be more conscious
about any messages I’m sending than I used to be with my adult fiction. If it’s
not 100% necessary for a character to swear, for example, I consider another
word choice. We weigh the pros and cons of risky moves in YA perhaps more than
in adult fiction. At the same time, I love pushing the envelope when the risk
has meaning and value.
2 2) Did
you intend for Babe in Boyland to be
a YA book when you started writing it?
Actually, the genesis of BABE was kind of
unusual. My editor at Dial had worked on a nonfiction book called Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent about a
journalist (Vincent) who lives as a man for a year; we agreed a similar tale could
work well for teens. So my editor's vision helped to prompt my own, and yes, we
both saw it as a YA book from the start.
3 3) How
has your playwriting experience influenced your writing of novels?
I integrate a
tremendous amount of dialogue into all of my novels. Perhaps because of my
playwriting background, dialogue feels like “home” to me. I write a descriptive
section and my fingers crawl along the keyboard, but when I finally get to
where the characters can talk to one another my fingers start to fly. It’s such
a relief! I just love writing dialogue.
Another
playwriting tendency of mine: I have to be able to see and hear my characters.
I usually “cast” an actual person—either an actor or someone I know—in order to
crystallize my vision. I gather images of that person and experiment with
voices until I can hear them. This casting process helps the character feel
more real to me, more three-dimensional.
4 4) Your
deep connection to Northern California has drawn you to Mendocino College in
Ukiah, where you now teach writing. So the question must be asked: have you
visited the fictional Murder She Wrote house that is located in the nearby coastal
town of Mendocino?
No! I haven’t. I adore Mendocino,
though, and will be on a panel at the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference this
summer, so I’ll have to check it out.
