tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post4600214236661559239..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: YAFiction - A Journey or a Destination? Anne CassidyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-24032746473614354252014-10-15T13:07:05.375+01:002014-10-15T13:07:05.375+01:00Great post, Anne -- really made me think about bot...Great post, Anne -- really made me think about both the reactions I get to telling people I write YA, and about my own teenage years which were neither better nor worse than other people's, and certainly neither better nor worse than earlier childhood. When I'm asked why I write YA, I often use what Marie-Louise suggests in her comment -- that it's the INTENSITY of it all that makes for good stories. I don't go in for fantasy and escapism at all, and I often think I'm glad I'm not one of my characters, but there isn't one of them who could have existed without keen memories of my own teens. Sheena Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13847659993713606837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-67104824990740627432014-10-15T10:35:07.211+01:002014-10-15T10:35:07.211+01:00Very interesting, Anne. I loved my teen years, des...Very interesting, Anne. I loved my teen years, despite the dark events that filled some of them, which is perhaps why I'm so drawn to writing for the YA age group. It such an intense age where everything matters so much. I tend to go for the escapism angle, which is also wish-fulfilment or at least trying out other paths, isn't it?<br />I've written about portraying teens in historical fiction today over at The History Girls, and as Sue Purkiss pointed out there, there's some overlap between our posts. Marie-Louise Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18006940874591015786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-85170166835333802652014-10-14T12:20:15.716+01:002014-10-14T12:20:15.716+01:00A thought provoking post! In the end YA is simply...A thought provoking post! In the end YA is simply a marketing tool isn't it? But your post made me think of Disraeli, quoted by Jane Gardam at the start of 'Bilgewater': 'Youth is a blunder'. And Jane Gardam is one of those rare authors who have managed to write YA novels and (almost) avoid having them categorised as such.Paul Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09499442738041701791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-46801702894218535022014-10-14T09:13:32.472+01:002014-10-14T09:13:32.472+01:00A really interesting post, Anne. But is part of th...A really interesting post, Anne. But is part of that attitude from adults because there wasn't any specfically YA fiction when we were growing up? The parents of today's teens didn't read YA because there wasn't any (or much), so there isn't any model. There are quite a few adults who are nostalgic about the books that filled teenage years - typically John Wyndham, Isaac Asimov, Tolkien, Kerouac, etcStroppy Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560035800075465845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-60566269125321283562014-10-14T09:04:01.853+01:002014-10-14T09:04:01.853+01:00I think you can have both escapism and 'real t...I think you can have both escapism and 'real teen issues' all in one. That's what I really loved about Lee Weatherly's book 'Angel'. At one level it's a seemingly standard sort of set up: a hunter of angels (who are evil) falls in love with his half-angel quarry. But what makes it different is that fact that their relationship is a very deftly handled treatment of ANY adolescent relationship. The young man and young woman are 'different species' in the story - perfectly reflecting how it feels for any couple newly in love. They are impossibly different, so how can they be in love?<br /><br />Sometimes I think you need the fantasy element to throw the mundane into relief, and show it afresh. And readers realise: Oh! But I thought I was the only one who felt like that.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-14634323880028745782014-10-14T08:48:46.547+01:002014-10-14T08:48:46.547+01:00What an interesting take on the subject! Mind you,...What an interesting take on the subject! Mind you, I still think there's a place for escapism. I remember asking a class about this when i was teaching. Some of them wanted to read books about people like themselves, but others said they didn't see the point of that - if life was difficult, they'd rather escape from it for a bit. Room for both approaches, I think.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.com