From Activist to Author, and Back Again
by Andrew J. Peters
Note: Suicide content warning
Writing fiction started out as something I did privately as an outlet for self-expression. For most of my career, I worked at an LGBT youth organization. I think that certain values have always been a part of my writing, such as a belief in the essential dignity of everyone. But when I used to sneak away to write, it was mainly a pleasurable escape from day-to-day realities that were hard to leave behind in the office.
It has gotten better for LGBT teens since I started as a social worker in the mid-90s, but at the time it often felt like a neverending battle against apathy, homophobia and outright ignorance. I remember distinctly an incident from early in my career.
A young man who was getting beat up at school because he wore make-up and “girl” clothes wrote a goodbye note to his mother and laid down on the commuter railroad tracks to kill himself. The community was shattered by his suicide, but it was a silent shatter. News traveled by word-of-mouth rather than the media. Suicide was a nearly untouchable topic back then. It still is to a degree. Add to that what everyone knew about the victim’s flamboyance and his suffering at school, and there was no news outlet that wanted to report on the story.
I was shocked that some weeks later, the young man’s school principal called me for advice on what to do to prevent such tragedies in the future.
The principal was so scared and embarrassed to be talking to an LGBT rights advocate, he was literally whispering on the phone. He said he wanted to change the attitudes of his students which led to violence and suicide, and he wanted to know how to do it without actually mentioning the words homophobia or gay.
The Seventh Pleiade by Andrew J. Peters (Bold Strokes Books, 2013)
I told him that I didn’t believe that could be done unless he named the behaviors he was seeing and the students who were being hurt. That principal agreed to visit another school where I was speaking about homophobia to see if he would be comfortable bringing me in to talk to teachers and students.
He showed up at my talk with his vice-principal and his superintendent. Afterward, I received another pressured and practically whispered phone call. The principal told me that my presentation was “too progressive” for their school community. He worried that it would be perceived as encouraging students to be gay and that religious teachers and parents would be offended. Over the years, my staff and I would hear from kids in that school district who were terrorized by bullying and feeling desperate and alone. Some even sent us letters through the mail because they were afraid that the phone number of an LGBT organization would show up on their parents’ phone bill.
That story has a bit of a happy ending, some fifteen years later. Well behind the national curve, that school now has a Gay-Straight Alliance, and due to state legislation in no small part, provides diversity training to teachers and students. LGBT students still face challenges, but some of them feel safe enough to be out.
Because of my work with teenagers, people ask me if I write about those kind of stories. Mainly I don’t. I’m a fantasy author. I write about young gay people, but I like exploring mythological worlds and I don’t think my work lends itself to the category of “issue books.” I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Some of my favorite authors like Peter Cameron and Shyam Selvadurai write about contemporary teens and their struggles growing up. Those kind of stories just don’t capture my personal writerly imagination as often.
When I embarked on writing for publication, I was happy to discover a community of LGBT YA authors and readers. Naturally, I was drawn to the activism in that community such as campaigns like the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia and #WeNeedDiverseBooks. When my hometown high school invited me to speak to students about my book The Seventh Pleiade, I talked about the broader world of LGBT characters in YA literature, and the relationship between cultural equality and political equality. Though I don’t write about the fight for social justice, I like to think that telling stories about gay boys becoming heroes against the odds helps teenagers feel better represented, and inspired in some small way. I like to think that maybe those stories can help a kid who is facing the nightmare of bullying and ostracism to persevere.
It’s an exciting time for LGBT YA. Book covers that depict same-sex affection are gaining acceptance among mainstream publishers. Young adult librarians across the country celebrate Pride month with displays and programs. Online retailers and e-books have made books much more accessible to young people who are coming out.
Still, there are challenges. Books like David Levithan’s “Two Boys Kissing” have stirred up controversy in parts of the country like Fauquier, Virginia where some parents wanted the book banned just this past spring. Getting LGBT-themed books into the mass market is still an uphill battle for authors and publishers, and there’s still a need for stories about the underrepresented portion of our QuILT-BAG community: people of color and transgender people among others.
I’ll continue to fight for LGBT youth to be represented in YA while supporting the organizations that make their lives better in the real world. And meanwhile, I’ll be quietly writing about the fantasy worlds that fill my imagination.
Andrew J. Peters is the author of The Seventh Pleiade and the Werecat series. He grew up in Amherst, New York, studied psychology at Cornell University, and has spent most of his career as a social worker and an advocate for LGBT youth. Andrew has written for The Good Men Project, YA Highway, La Bloga, and Dear Teen Me among other media. For more about Andrew, visit: http://andrewjpeterswrites.com or find him on Twitter @ayjayp or Facebook.
Guest Post from Author KE Payne
Originally published on the UK Lesfic website.
I did a Q&A on another author’s blog a while ago, and I was asked what one message did I hope readers took away from my books? My answer was short and sweet: I wanted readers to know that it’s okay to be gay, and that assertion was at the forefront of my mind when I started to write my latest Young Adult novel, Because of Her. I didn’t want it to just be a let’s run around and tell everyone how fab it is to be queer, I just wanted people to read it and realise that, hey, the world isn’t going to stop turning just because you happen to be gay.
Because of Her packs a lot into its 264 pages. My heroine Tabby is uprooted from her small town in the northeast of England and enrolled in an exclusive girls’ school in London when her father’s new job forces the family to move. Taken away from her girlfriend Amy, Tabby hates her new life in London and rails against everything and everyone in the hope that she’ll get sent back to the northeast. That is, until she spots the lovely Eden across a busy classroom…
Whilst battling her feelings for her classmate Eden whilst feeling guilty about Amy, Tabby also has to run the gauntlet of prejudice from Eden’s two ghastly friends Gabby and Beth. Thankfully Tabby has an ally in her new best friend Libby; of course good triumphs over evil in the end, but writing the book made me think about every school kid that’s ever had to fight against homophobia.
Because of Her by KE Payne (Bold Strokes Books, 2014)
Shortly after Because of Her was published, I read a review from someone that really made me stop and think. It was from a gay teenager who had just finished it and wanted to express how much reading it had helped her personally. She said she could identify with the heroine of the book, Tabby, because she too was at school and having to face the sorts of whispered comments Tabby faces because she was, as she said, “different from the other girls”. Although this reader wrote that she wasn’t out at school (Tabby is), her words, “I liked how I lost myself in this book and saw how Tabby faces her enemies. I really drew confidence from how Tabby reacted against the bullies” absolutely hit home.
Soon after I read the review, I received an email which was just as touching. It was from a reader in her late forties who told me she’d read Because of Her because she’d read my last novel The Road to Her and it had shown her that “YA books weren’t just for kids”. She told me she wished there had been books like Because of Her around when she’d been a teenager because she felt it would have helped her come to terms with being gay a lot earlier and, as she put it, “stopped her from living a lie for too many years”.
Both the review and the email struck a chord with me as I could genuinely identify with each one. To this confused teen growing up in the 1980s, lesbianism seemed stuck in the Victorian era; if we didn’t talk about it, then it didn’t exist. I had so many questions I needed answering: was I the only one feeling like this?Was it wrong? Was I going to hell in a handcart because I fancied Wonder Woman? Like reader number two, when I was a teen, I wanted to read books that would give me the answers to my questions, and those where I could identify with the lead character. I didn’t want to read about boy meets girl, or girl constantly being undermined by boy because she fancies him and he doesn’t fancy her back (yawn). And, just like the girl that wrote the review, I wanted to read books about what I was going through. I needed to read about characters that didn’t give a flying fuck what people thought about them; I wanted to read books that told me I wasn’t weird for being Team Bionic Woman rather than Team Bionic Man (I said it was the eighties, didn’t I?).
Most of all, though, through reading these books, I just plain and simple wanted to reassure myself that I wasn’t alone, because it sure as hell felt like it at the time.
It was only later when I was still trying to figure out what I was, and when lesbian fiction was starting to become more available, that I was able to devour the books I’d craved as a teenager. I loved them all, and drew comfort from them. I wished I could be the girl in the story; I wanted to be that confident lesbian who gave a middle finger to all those who didn’t understand. Those type of books are invaluable because they take you out of the real world, if only for a while, and place you into the type of world where you know you’d not only be comfortable with who you are, but where you’d also be accepted by others for who you are.
That was what I wanted to achieve when I first started writing YA novels: books that send out an important message to all ages, while still being the sweet, romantic girl-meets-girl stories I so wanted to read for myself way back then. In Because of Her, I wanted to show that with the support of others, you can overcome prejudice. If you believe in yourself, you can rise above the bullies and the haters and those that plain just don’t understand, and show that you are a better person than they are. My heroine, Tabby, does just that. She ignores the comments and snide remarks that she has to deal with every day at school and proves to herself and those around her that she’s a better person than they are. She’s honest to herself, doesn’t take any crap from anyone, and with the help of her friends, rises above the hateful whispers that follow her down the school corridors.
Because of Her, I hope, tells those reading it that they should never fall to the haters’ level,and that it’s the haters and the ignoramuses that end up looking stupid. If you can have confidence in who you are, and if you can continue to walk with your head held high despite everything, then the only losers will be those that choose to refuse to understand.
So if I can write just one book that a reader can identify with–whether you’re fourteen or forty– and take comfort from, then read again when they need the message reinforced that being gay is nothing to be ashamed about, then my job is done and the message is loud and clear.
Oh, and also that it’s most definitely okay to be gay.
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KE Payne is the author of five YA lesbian novels (365 Days, me@you.com, Another 365 Days, The Road to Her and Because of Her).
Born and bred in Bath – the English city, not the tub – she worked for the British government for fifteen years, which probably sounds a lot more exciting than it really was. Fed up with spending her days moving paperwork around her desk and making models of the Taj Mahal out of paperclips, she packed it all in to go to university, and graduated as a mature student in 2006 with a degree in linguistics and history. After graduating, she worked at a university in the Midlands for a while, again moving all that paperwork around, before finally leaving to embark on her dream career as a writer.
She moved to the idyllic English countryside in 2007 where she now lives and works happily surrounded by dogs and guinea pigs.
How Ideas Evolve
“Where do you get your ideas?” is a question that gets some pretty interesting responses from writers—but an even more important question is: “How do your ideas evolve?”
When you read a good book, it can feel like such a seamless whole that it’s easy to assume the ideas were there from the start. Sure the writer had to pretty up the words and put in some foreshadowing, move a chapter around, get rid of that character whose name no one can remember and all that, but the way we talk about drafting often makes it sound like the ideas were solid from the start.
My experience is that ideas evolve and to illustrate that, let me take you through the process of the ideas that became my new novel, Just Girls. Here’s the blurb so you can see how it turned out:
Just Girls by Rachel Gold (Bella Books, 2014) Out in stores the 23rd of October!
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Jess Tucker sticks her neck out for a stranger—the buzz is someone in the dorm is a trans girl. So Tucker says it’s her, even though it’s not, to stop the finger pointing. She was an out lesbian in high school, and she figures she can stare down whatever gets thrown her way in college. It can’t be that bad.
Ella Ramsey is making new friends at Freytag University, playing with on-campus gamers and enjoying her first year, but she’s rocked by the sight of a slur painted on someone else’s door. A slur clearly meant for her, if they’d only known.
New rules, old prejudices, personal courage, private fear. In this stunning follow-up to the groundbreaking Being Emily, Rachel Gold explores the brave, changing landscape where young women try to be Just Girls.
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Did I start with all that? Nope …
The first idea that came to me as a possible novel plot was the one about a cisgender (non-trans) girl coming out to protect a trans girl that she didn’t know. Originally, I thought that character was going to be Claire from my first novel Being Emily—that she’d go to college and hear this rumor and come out. That came to me while I was doing the edits for Being Emily in 2011.
Then I realized it shouldn’t be Claire for two reasons:
1) Claire is petite and it’s unlikely people would believe her as a trans girl due to their stereotypes of what trans women look like
2) Being Emily is actually set in 2008, so when I started writing Just Girls in 2012, Claire would be 20 years old, which is a little old for young adult
Okay so Plan B—create a character who was younger but who had met Emily and Claire, and through her friendship with them began to understand what it would be like to be a trans in college and to have that kind of rumor going around about you. That’s how Tucker came to be.
Being Emily (Bella Books, 2012), Rachel Gold’s first novel!
The second idea that was central to creating the book was really a set of ideas. In 2012 after Being Emily came out, I started to read a lot about transfeminism. I’d also been reading about women in science and the sexism they still face—and I saw how these ideas could be explored through the story of a trans girl student in a science field.
Plus I wanted to write about a trans girl character who was further along in her transition than Emily. I wanted to mess with the notion that a lot of people have that they can always spot a transsexual person—they really can’t. So I made Tucker a big-boned Midwestern cis girl and Ella quite a bit smaller. And she’s pretty, because lots of trans women are pretty.
And then the third central idea in the novel is that gamers who play together build strong bonds with each other and develop good problem solving and leadership skills. That idea had its roots in about 2007 when I formed a World of Warcraft guild that grew into a close-knit group of friends. And I wanted to take another look at the good aspects of gaming because I love gaming. In Being Emily it was subtle, but I tried to highlight how online gaming can let people explore themselves and express themselves before they can do it in “the real world.”
In Just Girls I wanted to take gaming fully into the real world with an alternative reality game and then play out the implications of having a community of gamers at your back. Because I’m a fan of Jane McGonigal and knew about her game, Cruel 2 B Kind (also developed by Ian Bogost), I decided to use that—but at the start, I didn’t know how the students in the book were going to change and adapt the game for their purpoes. It really is one of the best things as a writer to be surprised by your characters as they begin to evolve the ideas you’ve given them to play with.
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Raised on world mythology, fantasy novels, comic books and magic, Rachel Gold is well suited for her careers in marketing and writing. She also spent a decade as a reporter in the LGBT community where she learned many of her most important lessons about being a woman from the transgender community. When she’s not working on her novels, you can find Rachel online checking out the latest games.
Find Rachel on Twitter, Facebook, and her Website.
Order Just Girls now (you can even get an autographed copy!) or read the first two chapters.
The Magic of Rhyming Words (And the Agony of Titling Books)
By Juliann Rich
Choosing a title is one of the hardest parts of writing a book for me. Seriously, I’d rather write thirty additional chapters than one word or a few words for a title. TOTAL AGONY.
A good title needs to communicate the core of the book, catch readers’ attention, and leave them wanting to dive in to see if the book fulfills its promise. Easy-peasy, right?
Wrong. It’s bloody hard to do well.
In fact, I thought I’d never figure out the title for the sequel to Caught in the Crossfire (originally titled in my mind as The Conviction of Jonathan Cooper – I know, I know…gag!). I waited for that magical moment when the perfect title would leap off the page and take a victory lap around my living room all through the year or so that it took me to write my second book, but that moment never arrived. So I decided to “pick” a title.
Juliann’s debut book, Caught in the Crossfire, (Bold Strokes Books, June 2014)
First, I tried on Fall Out. Nope. Too familiar. Too Schwarzenegger-y.
Then, Inside the Trenches. Better, but it still a titch too military.
After that I tried on Trial by Fire. I liked that…except the title seemed more fitting for book three (which was ultimately titled Taking the Stand and is coming out in April of 2015).
I tried on a few other titles and subsequently perma-erased them from my memory because they were so bad. I began to despair that electric shock of recognition, but the deadline to title the book was approaching and I needed to figure out what was tripping me up. I knew I wanted a phrase to keep with the sound of Caught in the Crossfire, but I was open to stepping away a bit from the military tone. So I spent some time analyzing my favorite young adult titles that are also phrases: The Impossible Knife of Memory, The Fault in Our Stars, Thirteen Reasons Why. The more I thought about these titles, the more I realized they succeed because they give readers glimpses not only into the books’ plots, but into the characters’ journeys.
Bingo.
My first attempts at titling the sequel had failed because they put the emphasis on the forces against which my main character, Jonathan Cooper, was fighting and not what he was fighting for. I realized I needed a title that would illuminate his heart’s desire, which had evolved since the first book.
In Caught in the Crossfire, Jonathan’s desire is to integrate what he believes are two conflicting parts of himself: being a Christian and being gay. He is able to explore the intersection of these identities with the help of two factors. The first is meeting Ian McGuire. With Ian’s support and strength Jonathan is able to face parts of himself that have previously been off-limits. Secondly, Jonathan is living in a bubble at camp. A Christian bubble, to be sure, but it is still time away from his family and friends which gives him the freedom to step out of the roles he plays in his day-to-day life. While there are external forces that come against him at camp, none are equal to the opposition he faces within himself.
But in the second book, all that has changed. The bubble of camp has burst. Jonathan has gone home and is now facing the challenge of integrating what he has learned about himself with his real life. The battle has moved from within Jonathan to the realities of his life: the home he shares with a silent mother and his private Christian high school where he has been outed and is facing social exile by his closest friends. I mis-stepped initially by focusing on the external battle in the sequel to Caught in the Crossfire where Jonathan is literally facing the fall out inside the trenches as he goes through a trial by fire. (Sorry. I couldn’t resist.) What I needed was a title that would strike at his heart’s deepest desire, which was finding a safe place in his real life where he could be himself.
But how to put all that in a title?
Luckily, I stumbled over a word rhyme one day when I was writing a blog post about the importance of creating space. Space to be real. Space to be different. Space to disagree.
Space…grace. Finally I experienced that moment of recognition, which was quickly followed by a moment of distinction. We occupy space, but we are given grace. And just like that the two threads of Jonathan’s journey merged in the magic of that word rhyme.
Over the length of two books now sixteen-year-old Jonathan Cooper, a gay Christian boy, has been seeking not only his identity but God’s love and acceptance of who he truly is. One day (quite near the title deadline) I envisioned Jonathan in the midst of his deepest desire and saw him on the battlefield of his life, pausing and praying for a safe space to be provided for him by God.
He was, I realized, Searching for Grace.
Searching for Grace by Juliann Rich (Bold Strokes Books, September 2014)
First it’s a rumor. Then it’s a fact. And then it’s on.
Camp is over and Jonathan Cooper returns home. To life with his mother whose silence is worse than anything she could say…to his varsity soccer teammates at East Bay Christian Academy…to the growing rumors about what he did with a boy last summer at bible camp.
All the important lines blur. Between truth and lies. Between friends and enemies. Between reality and illusion.
Just when Jonathan feels the most alone, help arrives from the unlikeliest of sources: Frances “Sketch” Mallory, the weird girl from his art class, and her equally eccentric friend, Mason. For a short while, thanks to Sketch and Mason, life is almost survivable. Then Ian McGuire comes to town on the night of the homecoming dance and tensions explode. Fists fly, blood flows, and Jonathan—powerless to stop it—does the only thing he believes might save them all: he prays for God’s grace.
Buy Searching for Grace on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bold Strokes Books.
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Minnesota writer Juliann Rich spent her childhood in search of the perfect climbing tree. The taller the better! A branch thirty feet off the ground and surrounded by leaves, caterpillars, birds, and squirrels was a good perch for a young girl to find herself. Seeking truth in nature and finding a unique point of view remain crucial elements in her life as well as her writing.
Juliann is a PFLAG mom who can be found walking Pride parades with her son. She is also the daughter of evangelical Christian parents. As such she has been caught in the crossfire of the most heated topic to challenge our society and our churches today. She is drawn to stories that shed light on the conflicts that arise when sexual orientation, spirituality, family dynamics and peer relationships collide. You can read more about her journey as an author and as an affirming mom on her website, juliannrich.com.
Juliann is the author of three young adult novels: Caught in the Crossfire, Searching for Grace, and Taking the Stand. She is the 2014 recipient of the Emerging Writer Award from The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival and lives with her husband and their two dogs, Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Ms. Bella Moriarty, in the beautiful Minnesota River Valley.
Follow Juliann on her Website, Facebook and Twitter!
Previous books by Juliann Rich:
Caught in the Crossfire, June 2014 (Bold Strokes Books)
Transcript: Gay YA Interview with Francesca Lia Block
In August of this year, we had the honor of interviewing Francesca Lia Block, author of numerous Gay YA novels including Weetzie Bat, first published in 1989, and our August Book of the Month, Love in the Time of Global Warming, and its companion, The Island of Excess Love.
The audio has already been released, and can be found HERE.
The interview below is between Francesca Lia Block and Victoria & Kathleen, admins of GayYA.org.
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V: Hi everyone, I’m Victoria.
K: And I’m Kathleen. We’re going to be talking to Francesca Lia Block today about her book Love in the Time of Global Warming. Hey, Francesca. Thank you for joining us.
F: Thank you.
V: Before we start, we’d like to talk a little bit about this book, and why we chose it for our August Book of the Month. Love in the Time of Global Warming is a post-apocalyptic story that follows the arc of The Odyssey. It’s led by a female protagonist named Pen, who is one of my favourite characters.
K: We chose this book for our August Book of the Month because having speculative fiction that has queer characters in it is extremely rare, and when they are there, they usually end up dying, and/or are very minor characters. Love in the Time of Global Warming is the complete reversal of this, in which, throughout the book, you come to realize that almost all of the survivors of the apocalyptic event they call ‘The Earthshaker’ are queer.
V: We thought that this was a really great contribution to Gay YA, and decided to choose it for our August Book of the Month.
So, Francesca, as you probably gathered from our Twitter, we’re both really huge fans of your work–
F: Thank you.
V: So if we break out into, like, dinosaur noises or anything, we’re very sorry.
F:
K: Okay, cool.
K: Our first few questions are about your book Love in the Time of Global Warming. The first thing we’d like to ask is, how did this story come to you?
F: So, I was trying to think of a kind of epic fantasy idea, and the first epic that came to mind is the Odyssey, which my dad used to tell me as a bedtime story, which I joke is maybe why my brain turned out the way it did, a little odd, but…[laughs] it was a little scary, and very fascinating, too, and it taught me a lot about story.
And anyway, I decided that I wanted to write a female protagonist, but using the…sort of general storyline, a few ideas from the Odyssey, and set it in Los Angeles, and add in things that had happened in my own life. So, mixing those things together, the alchemy of that is what created this book.
V: So, I just finished one of the ARCs that was sent of The Island of Excess Love.
F: Yeah.
V: And I really enjoyed it. And I’m really curious: is there going to be a third book?
F: Well, there was definitely, I was planning on it when I ended that one, because I have an idea for a third book based on the Iliad.
I was actually gonna base the second book on the Iliad but the Iliad is so much about wars, and the Aeneid has some other interesting–the Aeneid which the sequel that you just read, Island of Excess Love, is based on–has other things going on in it that I found very inspiring, so I picked that second, planning on doing the Iliad third, cause I want it to kinda work up to the big war at the end of the trilogy. And I left some threads hanging, on purpose. And, now it’s just about, you know, waiting to see what my publisher says about doing a third one. But I do have an idea, it’s outlined.
V: Awesome.
K: Alright. We want to know, what is the timespan of Love in the Time of Global Warming?
F: So, you mean, the time that the book takes place during? In terms of–well, I hope this answers the question. It starts around Christmas and it ends in spring. So, it’s a pretty short timespan. Is that what you mean?
K: Yeah.
F: Yeah.
V: Cool. So, one of the things that we already kinda discussed in the introduction is that most of the characters who survive this apocalyptic event are queer.
F: Yeah.
V: And that was so great as a reader, like, going through it, because at first, I thought it was just the main character, and I was like, well, this is great, but, you know, it’s just so great having the company of other queer characters in the book.
F: I’m so glad.
V: Yeah. So, I was just wondering, did you, like, discover one by one that the characters were queer? Or, did you know that from the beginning? Or, how did that happen?
F: You know, I was trying to think back on it. It sort of was organic. Ez and Ash, the two–the couple, guy best-friends, they’re a couple–they, I knew from the beginning that they would be. And then, Hex’s sexuality kind of emerged as I wrote. And then, Pen’s emerged around that.
So, I didn’t consciously go out to–to necessarily make them all, but they became who they are. They just sort of were born that way, and Hex and Ez are based on real people, so that is part of it, too, who are queer, and, y’know, and I think that…it…but it just sort of unfolded naturally, and I’m so happy to hear what you’re saying because…the book was sent out to some high school students to review, and one said, you know, she really liked it, but it bothered her that all four characters were queer. I mean, cause it was too much–
K: Really?!
F: Yeah. She’s a very conventional teenager, obviously. But I was like, well, wait! That’s not fair! I mean, in most books, all characters are straight! And maybe there’s one–you know? [laughs] So, what’s that about? You know? And I was really glad that my publisher was totally supportive of it, and it wasn’t even a question. It wasn’t even a discussion. So, I’m very happy about that.
V: That’s so awesome. I actually–okay, I wanna add in one thing. That I did not talk about before, but…your book actually sort of inspired me to start writing again.
F: Oh, I’m so glad.
V: Yeah, cause the book I’m working on right now, all the characters are queer.
F: Right.
V: And I was like, well, no one’s gonna wanna read this, or publish this, or anything.
F: No, I’m so happy to hear this, like, please write it. That, there…there needs to be that. And I think that publishers are much more open-minded about it now than when I started. When I started, I was lucky to have a publisher that understood, but it was rare. And now I think there’ll be a lot more acceptance for it. Plus, you know, the audience is there, certainly.
V: Mm-hmm.
F: And–I’m sorry, I just wanna add one thing–
V: Yeah! Go for it.
F: Most important piece for you as a writer and for anyone listening who is a writer is to write that story no matter if you think anyone’s ever gonna read it or not, because you have to write it. It’s so important. If I could leave one message to you guys all, like, that is what I would give for you, write it for you.
And it’s certainly important to connect to other people, we don’t just write for our own expression, we write because we also wanna be connected to other people, and feel that we’re less alone in the world, I believe. On a very deep, primal level, I think that’s why we do it.
And I think that even if you don’t get published in the large-scale way that you might want, and maybe you will–you not meaning you specifically, anyone–there’s still ways to reach readers and to connect to people through it. So, you’ve gotta write it. And the way you wanna write.
V: [dinosaur noises]
K: [laughs]
V: Dinosaur noises. Okay.
K: That is a fabulous message, thank you.
V: Okay, so, the rest of our questions are more about your work in general, and your history with writing. So, in all the time that you’ve been writing, what have you learned about it?
F: Hmmm. That’s a good question, and I think one thing is what I just told you, to write what you have to write.
I have students that come up to me often–not often–I have some students that come up to me, and they have a certain look in their eye, and they say, ‘I have this story, and I really wanna write it, and I really need to write it. But I don’t know if I can do it, I don’t know if I’m a good writer, I don’t know if anyone will like it, I don’t know if anyone will read it.’ And when they give me that look, [laughs] I know that they have something there, and they have to do it, and that I can help them shape it and give them the tools.
But…if you have that burning desire, for wont of a better term, to tell a certain story, you’re way ahead of the game. Even if you don’t have the tools yet to make it the polished story you want. So, starting with that passion, and if you’re not sure yet what that is, but you have an inkling toward that, really explore the things in your life, do some freewriting to really find what it is that you’re passionate about. It’s probably not too far below the surface.
I’m working with one woman now who’s had a story in her–she’s in her thirties, late thirties, and she’s had a voice in her head her whole life that was a story she’s wanted to write. And she couldn’t do it. And I just had her doing twenty minutes a day, every day, and emailing them to me, and all of a sudden in a week, this voice is getting down on paper because she’s allowing it, she’s giving it the time and attention and the nurturing it needs, and it’s emerging. And then later she can go and she can redo it and all that.
So, I think, write from that place, write from your heart and soul, and don’t be afraid–like, later in your career–so that’s how I would say as far as starting your writing. And also reading a lot, and finding a community to support you. Those are important. And then as you get farther into your career, I think, not to be afraid to grow and change. Because, for me, you know, I’ve been through so many, [laughs] this’ll be my third decade in this, you know, and I, I feel like I don’t wanna keep doing what I did before, I wanna grow, and change, and expand, and take risks. So I think that’s really important.
And the one-on-one relationships that I’ve developed with my readers are the most important thing that I’ve gained from this, and I think we have this idea that we’ll write this book and maybe we’ll get famous, and we’ll, you know, be known, and it’s not about being known on the big scale, or how many followers you have, or how many readers you have, or how much money. It’s the one-on-one relationships, and those will translate into success ultimately, but it’s more about the strong connection you make with someone else.
I have met so many amazing people through, through writing. So, you know, staying open to that, reaching out, making connections, working hard, it’s hard work, it’s exhausting. Don’t give up, never give up with it, you know, if you feel–we all feel at times like we wanna give up, that’s when you have to restore yourself, that’s when you have to find support, you have to find your people to hold you up, you have to find things that inspire and enrich you. Yeah. And those are some things [laughs] I’ve learned.
V & K: Thank you.
K: Our next question: Weetzie Bat was published in a time when Gay YA was not really a thing. What obstacles did you encounter with that, and did you get any backlash? How has that changed over the years?
F: So, I kind of snuck in the back door, it was like…YA at the time was such a small–really, smaller–field. There weren’t these giant contracts for a lot of money, and movies being made. So, you kinda got to do what you wanted, and I had a publisher that encouraged it, and I just kinda did my thing, in a small-scale way, and I was appreciated by the librarians, and by the sort of cult readership, but…there were some bannings in some places, but I didn’t really heard much about it, cause I was sort of sheltered from that, and I’m living in L.A., and doing my thing, and I just didn’t really feel it. Although I knew it was out there, and it has been on banned book lists.
But what’s really surprising, and sort of terrifying, is that that was in 1989. So in 2007–I don’t know if you know about this, I just posted today about it, cause I was remembering it–there was a big…fuss about Baby Be-Bop, which is the fifth book in the Weetzie Bat series, Dangerous Angels, it’s a tiny little very innocent coming-out story about Dirk, Weetzie’s best friend, who’s gay. And not only was it petitioned to be banned in a small town in Wisconsin, but they actually wanted to burn it.
V: Oh!
K: Whoa!
F: So. Public burning. Yeah.
V: Wow.
F: I mean, that’s how bad. And there were people ranting on YouTube about it, like, these very scary rants. And it was pretty…kind of…just…horrifying to me, really. Because, 2007? You know? So, it’s still there, but mostly, I’m pretty sheltered from it, and I ignore it and I keep writing. But it’s good to be aware that it’s out there, and what we’re up against.
K: Cool. Thank you.
F: Oh, and I will say one thing, too: The librarians are the reason that it survived, cause they fought for me. And they are my saviours, they are…I’ve found so much power from that community, it’s really great.
V: That’s awesome.
V: Okay, so, sort of on the subject of Weetzie Bat, this is a question we got from @queeryoga on Twitter.
F: Yes.
V: Have you ever rethought having Weetzie wearing headdresses, as it is very culturally appropriative?
F: Yes. So, that question comes up, and it’s pretty…it’s painful to me when I hear it, because I certainly meant no disrespect, if anything the opposite, when I wrote that. I did write it in–it was published in ‘89, actually was writing it in 1986, and I had never–if I had heard questions about that from…anyone, really, I wouldn’t have put it in. I put it in, I guess, quite naively. Yeah, if I were to republish it and I had the choice to change that, would I maybe tweak it? Yeah, probably, if I had that ability.
If there’s a movie, which we’re working on, I’m certainly gonna make sure that that’s not anywhere in the movie. I’ve done Pinterests with some visuals, and I had one somebody posted with, you know, a feathered headdress, and someone else wrote me a very kind note, explaining why that was insulting to her, and to the community, and I removed it. So I’m certainly…the last thing I wanna do is offend or hurt or wound anybody in that way, that’s horrible to me. So, yeah, I…if anything, it came out of some naivete at the time.
K: Alright. The next question is, is there anything you have wanted to say to to your readers?
F: [laughs] I have a lot. I say it to you guys all the time on the Internet, but…I really…well, that thing I just said is, I think it’s important for anyone, [that question] about the cultural appropriation.
But on a bigger scale–I’m glad you gave me the opportunity–on a bigger scale, you know, this is gonna sound so corny, but I love–I love my readers. I love them. Everyone I meet, through my work, shares similar worldviews, and emotional…sort of, understandings of the world, and I just feel really lucky to have met these people, and I feel a lot of love for them, and they’ve…they’ve supported me in ways that I can’t even begin to thank them for. I mean, I have had such support on so many levels. So. That’s what I wanna say.
V: [laughs] Cool. So, what’s next for you?
F: I have, let’s see…so, a lot of things going on at once. I’m teaching, I’m waiting for two books to come out; one is The Island of Excess Love, which comes out this month, it’s actually out, I think. An adult book called Beyond the Pale Motel, which comes out next month, which I’m actually working on a screenplay of that as well. I’m working on another adult book called Pain: A Love Story, which is kind of working out some issues with it, but it’s the main thing I’m focusing on. And I’m also still working on a Weetzie Bat movie. And trying to take care of my kids and take care of myself in the spare time. [laughs]
K: Sweet!
V: A Weetzie Bat movie. That sounds amazing.
F: Yeah! Can I make a little plug for that?
V: Yeah.
K: Yeah!
F: So there’s a movie called Little Birds by a director named Elgin James, and I highly recommend it to anybody who’s interested in the Weetzie Bat movie and that’s all I’ll say right now.
V: [laughs] Cool.
F: [laughs]
K: Alright, our last question is, what would you like to see happen in Gay YA? Where should it go next?
F: Oh, I just think more! You know? Just more, more stories, no one hesitating to write their story because they’re concerned that there are too many gay characters, just a fearlessness and a acceptance, and a openness to it. You guys probably know much more than I do. What do you think is sort of missing in that field, in terms of what needs to be written about more? Or, what should writers be focusing on, do you think?
V: Do you wanna go first?
K: Sure, I’ll go.
K: I would personally say…well, quite a lot. I think just generally more. I read a study recently that said, I think about 1.4% of all books published in 2013 featured queer characters of any kind.
F: Oh my God!
K: Yeah.
F: That’s so–really?! Ugh!
K: Yeah!
F: That’s so shocking to me.
K: I know. And…yeah, that’s just last year.
F: Yeah.
K: And also, I guess, authors not being afraid to write diversely queer characters, if that makes sense?
F: Right. Yes.
K: I see a lot of gay characters and lesbian characters, which is cool, I identify as lesbian, but I would definitely like to see more…just other orientations, you know, bisexual people, transgender people, intersex, you know, everybody, everybody needs to get their share. So, that’s what I would say.
F: That’s great.
V: Yeah.
V & F: And–
V: Well, do you wanna–?
F: No, go ahead.
V: Okay.
F: [laughs]
V: Mine’s sort of the same. I…first of all, I’m gonna agree with you on just saying ‘more’, because I think whatever books have queer characters, they have something to offer. And I think there’s going to be problems with all of them, and things that would be like, ‘Well, I just wanted to see this in that.’ So I just think the more we can get, the better it is.
F: Yeah.
V: But I also, I want to see more, like…diverse orientations. And well-done ones, too, like there’s so many books with like, bisexual characters, and they’re, you know, they’re seen as like, these manipulative, or, you know, just kind of…not great characters. And you’re like, why, why is that a thing?
F: That’s interesting. That’s a very fascinating topic, actually. Yeah. Like, what does that say about–I, um…I want to ask you guys one more thing, sorry to turn it on you guys but–
V: No!
K: That’s cool.
F: I wonder if writers who are not queer are afraid to write queer characters because we don’t wanna get it wrong or offend anybody. And I just think that’s an interesting topic to open up, because, for instance, with Weetzie Bat, which–every character in Weetzie Bat is really a caricature. Weetzie Bat isn’t a fully three-dimensional…I always used to draw pictures of her, she’s like, one, you know, she’s…two-dimensional. She’s a little cartoon, almost, and sort of all of them are. And, other books of mine, it’s not that way at all.
But in that book, people said, you know, ‘Oh, you have this Native American character,’ and, you know, is that cultural appropriation, how you write that character? So then I think, ‘Maybe I better not write them.’ Now, it’s not true with the gay characters in that book, I’ve never heard any questions about that. But it’s never affected me. But I do wonder, like, what would you say to a straight writer who wants to write that but maybe feels a little afraid, even though it’s…like with me, it’s very much a part of my life. It’s not like I’m writing about someone I don’t have any connection to, these are people in my life. But, so…do you know what I’m saying?
V: Mm-hmm.
K: Definitely.
V: Yeah, I would say, just…I would say, write it. Definitely write it, but…do your research, too. And not just research on like, GLAAD, or, you know, those kind of places. Although those are good places, I think you need to extend it to listening to what queer people are saying. I know especially, there’s a lot of that on Tumblr.
F: Yeah.
V: And there’s other places, too, but I think Tumblr is actually a great place to find that. And so, I don’t know if that’s like a ridiculous thing to ask of people?
F: No. I think that’s great.
K: Yeah.
F: Very concrete, cause it’s not just–when you say ‘research’, that can–as you say, that can be very cold and not–you know, but Tumblr, you’re getting the real opinions of people directly. And just encouraging people to talk to each other and understand each other, and…empathy. Which is really, I think, why we write. Cause we want other people to understand us, and we wanna understand other people. Ultimately.
K: Definitely. I would also add to that, as research: ask your friends. If you have queer friends, don’t be afraid to ask, and social media is great for that nowadays, too. Even, probably, if you messaged somebody, they’d be cool with it, as long as you’re respectful about it, cause…not everybody asks that kind of thing.
F: Right, that’s great, yeah. Thank you.
V: Well, I think that’s all the questions we have. Thank you for taking time to talk with us. We really appreciate it.
F: No, it’s my pleasure, you’re so delightful, in the true sense. [laughs]
K: Aww!
F: It really made my day, thank you.
V: Thank you.
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Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum award, the Phoenix award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association to the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find her on Twitter, Tumblr, and her website, FrancescaLiaBlock.com.
Love in the Time of Global Warming was GayYA.org’s August 2014 Book of the Month. You can find our guest review here.