Monthly Archives: September 2011

Bloggers on Blogging: Jennifer Hubbard

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Jennifer Hubbard is the author of The Secret Year and the upcoming Try Not to Breathe. I first met Jennifer online as part of the 2009 Debutantes. Later I was lucky to be seated next to her at the Hudson Children’s Book Festival. It is through her blog, though, that I feel I have really gotten to know her as a writer. Like Melissa and Cynthia before her, she responded to my interview questions with the qualities that she brings to her blog: thoughtfulness and honesty.

MFB: When and why did you start blogging?

JH: I started blogging late in 2007. My main reason was that it seemed like fun. On a secondary level, I did think maybe I could network also. But the format really appealed to me: short, essay-like messages that you could post on your own schedule, with or without pictures, videos, links, etc. It’s quite versatile, which is why I think blogs are still around.

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Bloggers on Blogging: Melissa Walker

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In my quest to find my blogging voice, I interviewed Melissa Walker. Melissa is the author of several novels for young adults including the Violet series and, most recently, Small Town Sinners. She is also a new mom which makes me especially grateful that she was willing and able to answer my questions.

 

You may recall that Melissa was my example of someone who covers a wide range of topics in her blog, but does so with a consistent tone and style that I really admire. When you read her blog, you get to know her as a writer, a fashion journalist, and a person. Here she talks about how she came up with her style and approach.

MFB: When and why did you get started blogging?

MW: I started blogging in 2007 before my first book, Violet on the Runway, came out. I think the wisdom was that every author needed a blog, but I had no idea what to say... I floundered for a while.

 

MFB: You provide a showcase for fellow authors with your Cover Stories in which new and established writers share the story behind their covers. Where did the idea for this feature come from?

MW: Alea, who blogs at Pop Culture Junkie, asked me about my own covers, and when I told the story, I realized how much fun it was to explore. I wanted to ask other authors how much input they had and what they thought about their covers.

 

MFB: You also have regular features such as Win It Wednesday and Photo Friday? Do you find having set days like this helps to keep you focused and/or gives you structure?

MW: Yes, I like having that structure to keep me updating without rambling (mostly). It's freeform, but with enough structure to keep me on track.

 

MFB: What I admire about your blog is that you cover a range of topics while maintaining a consistent tone and style. Though your audience is large, it seems like you are writing for a group of friends, which gives it a very inclusive vibe. Was this a conscious choice or did it happen more organically?

MW: It's pretty organic because the idea of being myself was always there--I figured readers would find me or not, so I might as well be authentic and enjoy the conversation!

 

MFB: I am very timid about sharing private information, yet you are very open and giving. You’ve shared your gorgeous wedding photos, stories of your cats, and even a post-delivery picture (looking fabulous I might add). Are there ever things that you consider off limits in terms of your blogging?

MW: Yes, I actually keep quite a bit private and I choose what to share pretty carefully. I'm wary of sharing too many pics of June, for example. I feel like that's her choice. And I only share pics of family members who've said it's okay ahead of time. I'm glad I seem really open--I want to be open--but I do think about what I present. The cats don't mind though--they're fair game!

 

MFB: Do you have any advice for beginning bloggers?

MW: Really I'd just say be yourself. You'll find your people if you do it that way. No one wants to pretend to be someone else, it's too much work. Imagine you're writing for friends, and soon you will be doing just that!

 

Thank you, Melissa!

I have to say it makes me feel better to hear that Melissa floundered for a while. It gives me hope!

Bloggers on Blogging: Cynthia Leitich Smith

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In a recent entry, I explained some of my struggles as a blogger. I thought it would be helpful to talk to some of the bloggers who I admire to hear about their experiences and to see if I could glean any advice. So here is the first of my interviews.

from the website of Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Cynthia Leitich Smith is a prolific and highly praised author for children and young adults. Her work spans from picture books and other works for young readers to exhilarating YA novels such as the Tantalize series. She is also the author of the popular KidLit blog Cynsations — the go to place if you want to know about new books, new authors, and what everyone in the KidLit world is talking about. She very graciously answered my questions about blogging with the thoughtfulness and generosity her blog readers have come to expect.

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Update to the Last Post

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On her blog, The Swivet, Colleen Lindsay hosted one of the agents involved in the story I linked to, “Authors Say Agents Try to ‘Straighten’ Gay Characters in YA.” Joanna Stampfel-Volpe saw the novel described in the piece, and explains why she and her colleagues decided to pass. Indeed they did ask for the gay character to be removed, but not because he was gay:

The first bit of editorial feedback we gave was that they change the book from YA to middle grade, which would mean cutting most of the romance entirely (for both the straight and gay characters). The book included five character points-of-view (POVs). Our second bit of editorial feedback was that at least two POVs, possibly three, needed to be cut. Did one of these POVs include the gay character in question? Yes. Is it because he was gay? No. It’s because we felt there were too many POVs that didn’t contribute to the actual plot. We did not ask that any of these characters be cut from the book entirely. Let us repeat that, we did not ask that any of the characters in the book –gay or straight—be cut from the book. Also, we never asked that the authors change any LGBTQ character to a straight character.

The post links to a very thoughtful analysis and roundup of all subsequent discussions by Cleolinda Jones. She focuses in on some of the key issues namely: comments may have been misinterpreted, prejudice can exist without homphobia, and there is a subtle difference between rejecting a manuscript because you think the content is wrong versus rejecting a manuscript because you believe enough people think that the content is wrong that it won’t sell.

From my perspective, I sincerely hope that this was all a misunderstanding. That indeed the agents did not think the multi-POV was working (I’m getting a little weary of multi-POV myself), but did not make this clear enough to the writers. That they really were working to make it the best book possible (not necessarily the most marketable). Because the other two options are just depressing. Either this blatant prejudice exists, or Smith and Brown were lying.

Cynics have implied the latter, saying that Smith and Brown were just trying to drum up publicity for a book they were having trouble selling. Such a tactic exploits a real problem, and in doing so, minimizes it. And, as Malinda Lo’s number crunching proves, LGBTQ is indeed underrepresented in YA fiction: less than 1% of YA novels have LGBTQ characters.

So I think it’s time we take a step back from the particular incident, and instead refocus on the perennial issue in children’s literature: the lack of diversity. The problem has been identified, so now what are we going to do about it? Can it really be as simple as what Jones suggests?

publishers need to put out books about all kinds of people, and readers need to let publishers know that they will buy them. And they need to not let fear stop them, because YA saves, and kids need these books.

I hope so.

#YesGayYA

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Earlier this week Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith posted at Publisher’s Weekly about the difficulties they have had in trying to find an agent for their YA dystopia with a gay protagonist. Both are published authors with proven track records, yet when they tried to sell this piece the doors closed. One agent

offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation.

While on the one hand I was horrified, my mind couldn’t help but think of counterexamples of YA genre work with gay protagonists such as Hero by Perry Moore, Witch Eyes by Scott Tracy, or Ash and Huntress by Malinda Lo. I was curious what one of these authors would say about the challenges they had or had not faced while trying to publish LGBTQ genre fiction.

It turns out Malinda Lo has been asked this question so many times that she blogged a response. While she has had some negative reactions, she has mostly been fortunate in the level of support she’s received:

I know that homophobia still exists (especially in my personal life, see gay marriage situation), but in publishing, well … Commercial publishing in the United States is so gay-friendly it’s practically Gay Utopia. I mean, children’s book editors are, frankly, notoriously liberal! (Or else, open secret, they’re gay!) And they live and work in New York City, which is second only to San Francisco in Gay Utopicness.

Scott Tracey, too, has faced and responded to this question, as well as reacting directly to the article. While he did face agents and editors who wanted him to straightwash his characters, his book eventually found its proper home. He says:

It’s not a black and white issue.  Publishing is not completely homophobic, or completely supportive.  It varies, and it changes, and there’s no one standard for how things work.  It’s a business, and it’s a business run by MANY different people with MANY different beliefs.

If you want more books with LGBT content, buy the ones that are already out there. Show publishers that there’s profit to be made by investing in these books.

So while I think there are some egregious examples of if not homophobia then fear of homophobia in the children’s publishing industry — including Jessica Verday choosing to withdraw from an anthology rather than meet the editor’s demand that she make the gay love story a straight one — there are other examples of authors who have found success. I can only hope that these success stories will cause agents and publishers to redo their saleability math and realize that there is a market for LGBTQ fiction for teens and children. If you feel the same way, follow Scott Tracey’s advice and invest in these books.

 

What are you trying to say?

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For my grad class we are supposed to be “living the blogging life,” which means following, reading, and blogging ourselves (that’s right, you are currently reading my homework). As part of our blogging, we are supposed to be determining our purpose and audience. This has been something I’ve struggled with since I started.

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The Truth is Out There . . . But We’re Not Looking For It

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I’m back in class, which means I get to read all sorts of interesting articles and reports. This fall I am taking “Digital Writing in the Classroom” and we’re starting out with a hard look at how technology has or has not changed writing.

Our first text was excerpts from Jay David Bolter’s Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. My classmate, Sherry Brown, nicely points out that Bolter is misusing the word “remediation“, or at best redefining it to mean:

a newer medium takes the place of an older one, borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing in the older medium and reforming its cultural space.

What caught me, though, was a passage that was not even central to his argument:

Critics accuse the computer of promoting homogeneity in our society, of producing uniformity through automation, but electronic reading and writing seem to have had just the opposite effect.

He is arguing that while books tend to be bound (literally) around a given idea and perspective, technology unbinds information and thus offers a greater opportunity to explore different perspectives.

While I cannot take issue that such an opportunity exists, I doubt that it is happening much. Indeed a 2009 study found that people tend to avoid information that contradicts what they already believe. The more personal the belief (i.e. political or religious), the less likely people are to seek out alternate viewpoints. There are times when people do seek out opposing viewpoints, such as politicians who will have to defend their view, but 67% of the time an average person will stick to his or her point of view.

Now technology is actually making it harder for us to seek out opposing viewpoints. In his TED talk, Eli Pariser explains “filter bubbles” wherein search engines like Google filter out what they think doesn’t interest us. This is great when we are looking up local movie times, but less so when we are researching an issue.

As a librarian I feel it’s my job to help students to understand these filters — both within us and without us — and to teach them how to find information representing a variety of viewpoints (and, for that matter, facts vs. opinions). It’s getting harder and harder to do each day. And, if I am being perfectly honest, I am as guilty as the next person. While I try to see all sides of an issue, I definitely find myself lingering at sites that share my views. Jezebel tops my list of sites visited, but I don’t think I’ve ever visited a site by or for conservative women.

 

High School on the TV

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On the Media is one of many NPR shows that I really like, but rarely catch. This weekend I managed to catch four segments and they all interested me very much: one on the hype surrounding Hurricane Irene, two on retractions in scientific journals, and one on teens in television shows. Can you guess which one I am going to comment on?

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Big Sexy Body Image

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I’ve begun work at my new job. The first week was a series of meetings including a day on diversity. I was very pleased with how the diversity day was handled: no lip service here, instead we really dove into the issues of difference in our community.

For me the most profound meeting was about body image. Continue reading →