Pick yourself up, dust yourself off....and then what?

by: Joelle Charbonneau

One of the unexpected bonuses to being a young adult author is getting to visit schools and talk to young readers.  Part of the visits is a Q&A session with the students where they get to ask – well – anything.  The fact that they get to ask whatever comes to mind often causes panic for the teachers who worry that I’m going to be faced with a question I don’t feel comfortable answering.  (Or that will be inappropriate.)  So far, students have yet to ask anything that is out of bounds. To be honest, the questions asked have been fun, interesting and incredibly thoughtful. 

Part of my talk at schools revolves around my journey to being an author….specifically my wandering career path that forayed into theater, opera, modeling and just about any field that guaranteed a huge amount of rejection.  More than once I was asked the question “How do you stay motivated when you get rejected?”

That question was my favorite to answer.  Perhaps because the answer isn’t really about facing rejection. Despite what you might think.  And I’ll tell you why…

Rejection sucks.  It’s hard to hear NO!  It’s even harder to be told NO when you have put your heart and soul into something like an audition or a manuscript.  After all, you put yourself into that work so essentially it is you that they are judging.   It’s hard not to take that personally and feel as if what you are doing has no value.  Which is why so many people hear NO and decide to stop writing or performing or put aside whatever they are working on.

See…rejection sucks.  But when rejection strikes, the most important thing you can do to help yourself is to ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing?  Do you love the work?  Or do you love the accolades you dream will some day be yours?  If you are writing because you want to see fabulous reviews and sales…or if you are singing and dancing because you crave the applause – well, you might be doing these things for the wrong reasons.  Why?  Because you are seeking something you have no control over-outside validation.  External approval is a wonderful frosting on the top of the cake, but all frosting does not a dessert make.  (Trust me on this…I’ve made enough cakes to know!)  There needs to be something underneath the frothy, sweet, colorful topping that has more substance. 

If you are only looking for the accolades and the external approval of agents, editors, directors, reviewers, etc…well, rejection is going to eat you up and spit you out.  Each NO will feel like a punch.  Eventually, one of those punches will knock you out.  I’ve seen it happen a lot.  Applause is great, but it isn’t a reason for writing or performing.

What is?

The work!  Pushing yourself to be better.  Being passionate about what it is that you do.  Those things are the cake under the frosting.  Those are the things that you can control.   Those are what will get you through when you hear the word NO.

When I answer the question about how I stay motivated despite the number of rejections I get I can honestly say, “The work motivates me because I love what I do.”  And while that kind of sounds like a Hallmark card, it doesn’t make the sentiment less true.  Being passionate about what you do makes the work worthwhile whether it is validated by an external source or not.  It doesn’t mean the rejection won’t sting, because—hello!  Rejection sucks.  But being passionate about getting up day after day and doing what you love (whether as your full time job or late at night when you can squeeze in a few minutes) lessens the intensity of the sting and the pain of the punch.  Because while you’d like to hear “yes”, no matter what someone else says you know in your heart how important the work you do is to you.  And that really is what matters.

So – to all high school/college students out there – I give you this advice – find work that you are passionate about and use your desire to be the best you can be at that work to motivate you.  Let the goal of growing and improving keep you moving forward.  Don’t get sucked into needing external approval as a goal. 

And to all the writers who read this blog – when rejection slaps up upside the head and makes you stumble, ask yourself “Why am I writing?”  and if the answer is “Because I love the work.” I know you’ll pick yourself up, dust yourself off and be just fine.

Young adult...not just for the young adults...or is it?

 by: Joelle Charbonneau

I have to admit that I never intended to write a young adult book.  I knew lots of authors who wrote for kids.  I thought their work was great, but I never thought I'd have a story idea that fell into the young adult category.  Since my first young adult thriller, The Testing, was published just over a month ago, I proved myself wrong. 

My mistaken assumptions about the young adult genre were part of the reason for this twist of writing fate.  First, I assumed that the young adult genre was the same as when I was a young adult.  (Which for those keeping score wasn’t all THAT long ago.)  Second, I assumed that the voice required for writing young adult books needed to be just that—young. 

Turns out I was wrong on both accounts.  No, the young adult genre isn’t merely comprised of Sweet Valley High books with a few Christopher Pike novels thrown in for good measure.  (Okay, maybe I’m older than I want to admit!)  Yes, some of the contemporary young adult books out there are filled with pop culture references and other teen slang that I’m not familiar with.  However, what I didn’t realize is unlike adult genre novels that have very specific categories and rules that govern them, young adult has only one rule:  a teen must be at the heart of the story.

It’s as simple as that. 

In adult fiction, the publisher is concerned about where a book is shelved.  Is it a mystery?  A thriller?  Is it science fiction or romance?  In young adult, they don’t separate books into categories the same way.  The books are young adult.  Period.  Which is why you find science fiction/thriller/romances or Fantasy/romance/mysteries topping the young adult charts. 

In my opinion, that mash-up of genres is the reason that so many authors have found joy in writing for the young adult marketplace.  Anything goes.  Young adult books (or books targeted for the ages of 12, 13, 14 and up) can have violence or strong, they can contain sex and provocative themes.  Anything that is allowed in the adult marketplace is allowed in teen books—as long as it is believable teen journey.

And teens aren’t the only ones reading these books.  Studies done have shown that adults are reading young adult books in droves.  Quite possibly this is because so many of the titles now available transcend the adult genre fiction rules.  Because the young adult marketplace reaches such a broad audience, it’s not a surprise that almost every publishing house has multiple imprints to accommodate their young adult titles.  Huge sections of bookstores are now devoted to “teen” literature and a great number of those bookstores have relocated their teen sections away from the children’s picture books in order to make them more adult friendly.

Which takes  me to the point of this little chat.  YA fiction isn't young.  It isn't simplistic.  In fact, the work I was doing this week on my new YA project involved a lot of math calculations to make sure I didn't screw up the world building.  The young adult fiction category doesn't mean that the story is uncomplicated or less violent--THE TESTING trilogy books are the most violent books I've ever written. Young adult fiction is a category that is growing every day because it appeals to readers of all ages.  At least, that is my guess.  And maybe you can help me prove that to be true.  I'd love to conduct a very unscientific survey.  Please let me know in the comments if you've read a book that features a teen protagonist sometime in the last year and whether you fall into the under 20 or over 20 crowd.  Let's see how wide the appeal of young adult fiction is with our DSD audience.  Most of you are crime fiction lovers...lets see how far your reading has taken you. 

YA – is it just for young adults? Hell no.

by: Joelle Charbonneau

Okay, this post will most likely make Steve Weddle froth at the mouth. Could someone please stick him in the ass with a tranq before he reads this? I really don’t want his family to experience him having a temper tantrum during the pre-holiday frenzy. That just isn’t festive. Besides, it would make me feel downright mean, and I don’t want to be mean.

(insert pause as someone knocks out my fellow redhead)

Is Steve out cold? Good. Here’s the thing. I read Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for the first time about two weeks ago. Since then, I’ve read Catching Fire and Mockingjay – the other two books in the Hunger Games trilogy. Technically, theses are YA books because the heroine is the teen. However, the themes in the book aren’t what I would typically think of when someone mentions young adult books. I’ve read a lot of YA books that have teens learning and living and experiencing the heart ache of high school and college. They fight with their families. They chose whether or not to have sex and deal with all the issues that might bring. They have romances and break-ups and all the drama that being a teen holds. That kind of YA isn’t really for me.

No offense to that part of the genre. Teens love it. They should. It is meant for them. But some books don’t fit into the YA category as easily. Hunger Games and the two following novels are different. I’m going out on a limb here, but something tells me these books would never have been targeted at the young adult reader when I was a young adult. The market and the breadth of the genre has changed and the publishers understand that. Targeting a violent book like Hunger Games at the Young Adult market lends buzz to the book. Some adult readers will praise the book. Others will lament the violence and scream for the publisher to be held accountable for taking the innocence of our youth. Ha! You can’t buy that kind of press.

I am thrilled that our youth is reading period. That being said, I’m even happier when I know they are reading books that ask important questions. The Hunger Games and the two follow-up books do. They force the reader to think about government, rebellion and the ability of good, well-intentioned people to do the wrong thing. The books are violent, but the violence isn’t extraneous. It’s purposeful. Sometimes it makes you angry. Other times it makes you cheer and here and there it makes the reader cry.

These books have great depth, a kick-ass storyline and a heroine that is damage from the first moment she steps onto the page. It is that damage that makes her more than a typical YA heroine. She is more adult that youth. Her circumstances demand it and it is that maturity of spirit that allows adult readers to identify with her.

Sure, there were a few technical flaws in the books – very minor shifts to third person that I caught happening here and there. There were also a couple of flashbacks that I had to read several times and still found a tad bit confusing, but none of these flaws detracted from my enjoyment or my need to turn the pages.

I guess what I’m saying is that there are young adult books and then there are YOUNG ADULT books. To say that the entire genre should not appeal to an adult is belittling some really great reads. I admit that I failed to read Hunger Games or the other books earlier because I chalked them up as YA and therefore not as pressing to read as others. I was totally wrong. If Steve Weddle wakes up from his nap looking mellow – press a copy of Hunger Games into his hand and make him curl up in front of the fire. He won’t be sorry.

Fiction and Uncomfortable Truths

By Russel D McLean

It was all over the twitter-feeds earlier this week.

A young-adult title that dealt very specifically with rape. That confronted what it was like for a victim who felt they couldn’t speak out.

Heartbreaking.

Tough to read.

Unsettling.

But essential in many ways. Yes, we want to protect children from the realities of life, but we also have to educate them about the truths they will face.

Unless, of course, we live in Republic, MO, where a Dr Wesley Scoggins has asked that this book – Speak – be removed from the school libraries on the grounds that it is “soft pornography.”

A book written from the point of view of a victim of sexual abuse, written to show that silence over this kind of event is wrong, is “soft pornography”. Its something we do not want our children exposed to.

Not because they’re offended, but because it brings up uncomfortable issues. And because, in Mr Scoggins world, even a rape scene is “pornography”. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t pornography designed to titillate? I never much doubt that the scene in question was designed in such a way. Particularly since the theme of the book is speaking up about an issue everyone else would rather not talk about.

I think that “soft pornography” line says more about Scoggins attitude than anything else. Also, his reaction to Slaughterhouse Five *in the same article* is wonderful. “The f-word is plastered on almost every other page,” apparently.

Really?

Did we read the same book?

(and while I’m at it, you want to go and read The Good Son, Mr Scoggins. I’ll show you language that could make a sailor blush… also, I remember a good friend of mine at school chose Trainspotting as his review of personal reading in fifth year… now there’s a book I would say you might have some point in worrying about, although I’d still disagree with you if a teenager is ready to read such a book)

Look, here’s the thing: we can object to the realities of life all we like but we cannot hide from them. And fiction is one of our ways of dealing with issues. I know everyone likes to talk about “escapist” fiction, but serious fiction that tackles unsettling issues head on can be absolutely essential to dealing with everyday life. And even more-so for the “young adult” market. Yes, such books have to be handled sensitively. But just because the idea of the topic upsets you does not mean you should call for a banning of the book.

A book like Speak can – if well done, and I’m giving the book the benefit of the doubt that it is well done since I am not familiar with it myself – open teenage reader’s minds to the idea of what someone else might be going through, give them an empathy and an understanding of other’s experiences. Or it can perhaps persuade someone who is going through a similar experience to have the courage to speak out rather than hide what happened because this is an issue that no one talks about.

Fiction has to deal with issues.

It can’t all be about escapism.

I have a memory of a book I had in my early teens called something like, “My Mate Hamid”. I can’t find a trace of it now, but I remember it was a story about a white kid at a UK school who makes friends with a Pakistani pupil at his school, the only kid of a different skin tone in attendance. Simple, right? Except it wasn’t. It was about racism. I remember the sheer anger I felt at reading about other kids taunting with, “Paki-lover” and trying to figure out why some people would attack someone else just because they came from another place. I have memories of the two characters running away from bigger kids who were hurling bricks. That angered me, and made me start to realise things about how some people could be cruel for the most ridiculous reasons. The book, from what I recall, wasn’t graphic or adult in a way that might have truly upset or confused, but it was pitched just right for my development at that stage.

What I’m saying is that books can deal with tough issues for teenage and young adult readers without us necessarily screaming “oh, but its too much for the darlings!” Young people aren’t as daft as we give them credit for and whether you like it or not they’re going to deal with some very tough issues in their day to day life, and fiction can help them to deal with that. As it can help adults, too.

And you know what, instead of banning books, maybe it would help if parents and teachers talked to children about books and about the issues raised. A book like Speak isn’t pornography. It’s the start of a debate and a learning process. And, sure, I wouldn’t want younger children reading it, but when it comes to the older teenagers… how long do we protect them from the world? Because whether we like it or not, sooner or later they will encounter harsh truths about the world and I would rather they were prepared for them than not. Even if its simply through fiction that helps them understand experiences they hopefully will not encounter but that others they meet will have.

Young Adult Books for Adults

By Steve Weddle

So we're chatting on Twitter last week about adults reading young adult books. MOCKINGJAY had just come out at midnight and folks were excited.

It's possible that if you search the basement of DSD, you'll find an archived post in which I might have made what could be considered a "snide" remark about adults who read the TWILIGHT books about the 120-year-old guy seducing a teenage girl.

But many adults read young adult books. OK. As DSD's Jay Stringer said, "A good book is a good book." Of course, he should know. He wrote OLD GOLD.

I asked folks for a good recommendation for a young adult book that I might like. I said I'd listen to suggestions and pick one and then report back about how cool it was -- or wasn't.

Kent Gowran mentioned Robert R. McCammon's Boy's Life.

McCammon says this at his site:

I say Boy's Life is not about lost innocence, because I believe we all maintain the pool of innocence and wonder inside us no matter how far we get away from our childhood. I believe this pool can be revisited, and we can immerse ourselves in its healing water if we dare to take the risk of knowing again the children we used to be. This is a risky thing, because once we look back---once we let that wonderful pool take us in again---we may not ever fully return to being the adults we are now.

This is part of what Boy's Life is about: the rediscovery of magic, of wonders that lie drowning and half-forgotten in our souls. Boy's Life is about the dreams and terrors in the life of a Southern boy in 1964, but I hope it is more than that, too; I hope it is a universal key to yesterday, and by the opening of that door for a backward look we may all see today tomorrow in a much clearer, brighter light.

What it's about: The year is 1964. On a cold spring morning before the sun, Cory Mackenson is accompanying his father on his milk delivery route. Without warning a car appears in the road before them and plunges into a lake some say is bottomless. Cory's father makes a desperate attempt to save the driver, but instead comes face-to-face with a vision that will haunt and torment him: a dead man handcuffed to the steering wheel, naked and savagely beaten, a copper wire knotted around his neck. The lake's depths claim the car and the corpse, but the murderer's work is unfinished as, from that moment, both Cory and his father begin searching for the truth.


OK. That sounds promising. A few other folks suggested that one too, or agreed with Mr. Gowran. Well, let's put that one in the running.


How about JERNIGAN, also recommended by Mr. Gowran? 
"Self-pitying, alcoholic widower Peter Jernigan, unable to communicate with his confused teenage son and emotionally distanced from his live-in lover, narrates this depressing first novel."


Well I like the sound of that. I don't know from the work of David Gates, but this looks promising. No idea how this is young adult, but 'tis intriguing.


Hilary Davidson mentioned Sophie Littlefield's upcoming BANISHED. Now, I don't need much convincing to read a book from Sophie Littlefield. Of course, for those who could use a push in that direction, here's an excerpt you'll dig.


John Hornor Jacobs has a YA book, which I'll of course read because his THIS DARK EARTH is such a great novel. 


Allan Guthrie said Jess Mowry is worth looking up. He suggested WAY PAST COOL, which looked good and has an excerpt here.


THE NEW RULES OF HIGH SCHOOL by Blake Nelson was the suggestion of JimmyTheWorm. According to the Booklist write-up at Amazon, "High-achieving students may question whether Max's voice and lifestyle really belong to a Yale-bound kid, but many teens will recognize the book's rapid dialogue, school politics, and the young man's wandering, often painful ambivalence."


Amy Boggs may or may not have suggested MOCKINGJAY.


Tom Piccirilli said "Try Peter Abrahams's Reality Check or Bullet Point. Very strong, dark YA material. And Robert Cormier, of course, including FADE." 


How could you go wrong with Robert Cormier, right? The Library School Journal people said of FADE: "Those who find Cormier's novels bleak, dark, disturbing, and violent will not be disappointed with his latest."


Dave White said THE OUTSIDERS. I think I read that one when I was a kid. I think I liked it. You'd think I'd remember a book with Sodapop and Ponyboy Curtis.


That's the thing, though. I didn't read much young adult when I was a kid. Maybe it wasn't as popular. Maybe it wasn't a genre. Maybe it wasn't capitalized as YA, and I just didn't notice.


I read Salinger. I read Harry Harrison's STAINLESS STEEL RAT books. I read Piers Anthony. I read Dr. Strange comics. I read Spider-Man. 


When I was a young adult, science-fiction was young adult. There was fiction on the left-hand side of the Waldenbooks in the mall. There were children's books in the back right corner, along with some "merchandise." In the middle was all of the non-fiction. The biographies. The sports books. Cook books. And along the right-hand side of the store was the science-fiction and fantasy. That's where they kept the Steven Brust, the Isaac Asimov.


Maybe I need to head into the new stores and look in the YA sections. Maybe I need to see what all the fuss is about.


I still can't imagine a noir hero in a YA book, though. Someone who loses. Someone who doesn't [SPOILER ALERT] defeat Voldermort at the end of the book, or whatever the YA equivalent is.

Is it possible that Young Adult Noir even exists? I mean, yeah, there's the Glass family in Salinger's works, but anyone else?

Forget the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Or maybe don't. I don't know. Young Adult mysteries. Thrillers. Noir. OK, DSD friends and neighbors. What have you got?