How to be an Author: INSPIRATIONAL READING

One of the key conclusions I drew from my attendance at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference was my only competition is myself. If an author write his truth, remains authentic, then his voice is unique–one of a kind. Based on this insight, my vision of the writing community came into sharp focus. No matter how many published authors exist there is always room in the landscape for another unique voice. It became equally clear that while authors are driven toward their own success, they welcome others into the community, support each other, and draw inspiration from each other.

Looking to expand my world of authors from which to draw inspiration, I turned to the highly regarded Publisher’s Weekly. Their list of Young Adult Summer Reads included six books written by only one author, E. Lockhart, who I had read before, and only one other author, Elizabeth Alcevedo, with whom I was familiar. The rest of this blog explores these six authors, and why if you’re a writer, young adult or otherwise, you should draw inspiration from them.

“After a near-fatal family catastrophe and
an unexpected romantic upheaval,
Adelaide Buchwald finds herself
catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will
fall in and out of love
a thousand times—”

The above description of Again, Again is taken from E. Lockhart (also known as Emily Jenkins)’s website: http://www.emilylockhart.com Having read her 2017 novel We Were Liars, where she takes the reader on a brilliant journey through the lives of four friends on a private island, informed my decision to download the electronic copy of her new novel from my public library.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t as fortunate with Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land, but I was able to put a digital copy on hold and will download it as soon as it becomes available. Her website http://www.acevedowrites.com describes the book as a “dual narrative novel in verse that brims with both grief and love.” The story unfolds when two sisters, one in New York and the other in the Dominican Republic, learn their father’s secrets after he dies in a plane crash flying from one to the other.

“They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia.” This explanation of the title, Parachutes is found on author Kelly Yang’s website https://kellyyang.com The story revolves around a privileged girl whose parents in Shanghai decide to send her to a school in California, and her conflict with the daughter of the woman from whom her parents rent her room. While the digital version had two readers standing in line to download it, the hardcover had nobody waiting. Although state guidelines during the pandemic keep readers from entering the library, once the book becomes available the staff brings a copy out and sets it on a tray after the borrower texts they are waiting in the parking lot. Concierge service in the time of crisis.

Another book where I was able to retrieve a digital copy from my library is Rory Power’s Burn Our Bodies Down. A year after her debut novel Wilder Girls found its way to the New York Times Best Sellers list, she returns with a new book her website https://itsrorypower.com describes this way:

“Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along.

“But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.”

The two books on the Summer Reads list that I was unable to obtain through my public library were Jeff VanderMeer’s The Peculiar Peril: The Misadventures of Jonathan Lambshead #1 and Kacen Callender’s Felix Ever After.

According to his website https://www.jeffvandermeer.com, VanderMeer has been referred to as “the weird Thoreau” by The New Yorker. His blend of fantasy, science fiction and the new weird crosses a number of genres. With Peculiar Peril he wanders into young adult for the first time.

“even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after,” is the description of Felix Ever After found on Kacen Callender’s website https://www.kacencallender.com. Once I recognized the pronoun they refers to the singular St. Thomas born author, it didn’t take me long to gain an interest in their perspective of how to be an author. Kacen notes they often begin a story without any idea of where they’re heading (sound familiar?) So, a critical question emerges: What’s the point? It doesn’t matter what pronoun a writer uses to articulate a sexual identity, the question provides direction.

I hear you. Couldn’t I find a copy of Jeff and Kacen’s books at a bookstore. The simple answer is “yes.” But, part of the reason I wrote this blog is to inspire the reader to take advantage of a valuable human resource, the public library. I hope you do. In the meantime, if you’ve read any of these six books or another young adult novel you wish to tell our readers about, please leave your comments.