In summer 2010 I had the best idea. It was one of those times when it feels as if the universe has just lobbed a gift directly into your brain, and within minutes I was madly scribbling down notes. The notes, which can still be found on a page in one of my notebooks, look something like this: Ancient warrior (soul? spirit?) trapped in blade for centuries. Heroine accidentally releases? Sets magic/curse in train... Blade belongs to... heroine? Heroine's FAMILY. Warrior heroine - sword-fighter, like a manga heroine. OMG JAPANESE! British born Japanese heroine. Ancestral katana! Forbidden! Kitsune, [...]

Author Guest Blog: Laura Lam Caveat: What I reveal about characters in Pantomime does somewhat “spoil” a “twist” that is revealed 20% into Pantomime. Some people have enjoyed being surprised, but if you’d prefer to read the book without knowing, please skip this post! I will say that I don’t think knowing this going in unduly colours the reading experience, but then again it’s impossible for me to know, as I can never read the book I’ve written for the first time. Another note on gender pronouns: I use the pronoun the character identifies as at the point [...]

When I approached Mark Probst, owner of Cheyenne Publishing, about releasing a young adult book for charity, I did so with no clear idea of what to expect—only a vision of the end result as my guide. To my delight, Mark was enthusiastic: if I could organize the authors, he would take on the book at Cheyenne. Just the one snag. Organize the authors. If you work in the arts, you’ve heard it before: “Will you donate your time/talent for … ?” Now it was my turn to ask, with nothing but a pretty-please and assurance that they [...]

I was having a conversation with an author whose first book comes out next year, and he was worried that his book, written from a female point of view, wouldn't be well received because he's a man.  We got onto the topic of writing gay characters and having gay protagonists, and he said something that echoed exactly how I felt before my debut in 2010.  He didn't want to be labeled a "gay author." I didn't write Oliver Travers, my horny, teenage narrator from The Deathday Letter as heterosexual because I was worried about being a gay author, [...]

I recently read Ask the Passengers by A.S. King. Before I’d even finished, I knew it was that book for me ― the book I wished I’d had as a teen. The book that would have validated what I was feeling at that time in my life. It would’ve shown me that it was okay to spend time figuring out my sexuality, that I didn’t have to define myself by someone else’s rules. That it was acceptable, even good, to think outside the lines when it comes to identity and where you fit within a community. YA books [...]

Recently, fellow author and friend, Brigid Kemmerer and I were discussing how we’ve both gotten some reviews on our books that included something along the lines of: “I hadn’t realized there was gay material in this book. I wish I had been warned.” Warned. Okay. Right-o. Nevermind everything else in the book that should be a lot more astonishing. There are people who are unhappy because two people of the same gender locked lips. This was particularly puzzling when it happened to me with HUSHED. When review copies went out, the blurb went along with it. The blurb [...]

by: Shaun Hutchinson  Books have come a long way when it comes to gay characters.  About A year ago I read John Donovan's book, I'll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip.  Written in 1969, it was one of the first, if not the first young adult book to deal with the issue of homosexuality.  When I finished, I found myself underwhelmed.  I'd expected more. The themes were danced around but never addressed.  I'm not even sure if they used the word "gay" at all. But I tried to put it into context, imagining how a kid [...]

Q: Which is worse, being called a ’nigger’ or a ‘faggot’? 1. Rehearsal was late that night, 10 pm on a Saturday night in Georgetown. I had only one line in the play, but I didn’t care. It was fun to see the play come together, the actors, and the scenery and the special effects. Prospero and Caliban and Ariel came to life on that haunted island now inhabiting the school auditorium. The sodium yellow lights spilled onto the night-time scape of Georgetown at night, its red brick sidewalks, and antique shops.  I went to the bus stop [...]