Well, here are a couple timely developments.
I had no idea this would be so conveniently unfolded, too.
First, I appreciate the comments here (and in other places) about Dystopian fiction. Actually, I wasn't surprised by the consensus as much as... well... kind of relieved.
I was secretly hoping that nobody would make the claim The Marbury Lens is Dystopian YA -- even though I've heard the connection in the past.
There are lots of reasons why I bristled at the labeling of The Marbury Lens as Dystopian fiction, and here are some of them:
1. You know I hate being boxed in. To me, the whole Dystopian trend creates a set of pre-established conventions and elements that constrain reader expectations and, unfortunately make a lot of people roll their eyes.
Are there such things as hipster readers? I think there are, but it's secret and most of them violate some of the key tenets of hipsterdom (and I do have a blog post written all about what hipster readers are -- and what they should be). Coming soon.
That's also why I hate the whole concept of YA as a label (my H8 YA posts started a cyber explosion last year), and why I've already thrown out the future-wrench-in-the-works concept of Stick being a Middle Grade novel with YA issues that's written, really, for adults.
2. Bigger than the boxed-in by expectation notion, to me, is the more important idea that, not only do I NOT want to be a part of something that's trending, no matter how cool it may be (sorry -- an obvious personality defect), but I always want to write stuff that makes people scratch their collective noggins, argue, and say what the heck IS this?
So, back when I was writing The Marbury Lens, whenever I was asked about what I was working on, I told some of my friends the following:
I'm writing a fantasy that isn't really a fantasy.
And, they were consistently, like, what?
But that was the only way I could explain what The Marbury Lens was to me.
So, on to the synchronously timely development.
Yesterday, a librarian friend of mine in Texas [Attention, Texas: I owe you. I do have so many terrific fans and supporters in that great state.] sent me a note, asking if I'd seen this most recent edition of Booklist.
I had not.
Well, not only does Jack and The Marbury Lens grace THE ENTIRE COVER of Booklist, but the magazine lists The Marbury Lens in its listing of the "Top 10 SF/Fantasy for Youth 2011."
Huge.
Love.
And, to be honest, if the trapezoidality of The Marbury Lens must be slipped into a very round hole, I'm pretty much okay with it being the SF/Fantasy hole.
Especially as opposed to the one labeled with the made-up "D" word.
You can see Booklist (and Jack) here.
6 comments:
Hmm. 2011? I thought I read it last year. Maybe I'm confused. Did it come out in January? That seems like so long ago.
The Marbury Lens came out in November, 2010. I know some author and pub-biz people will disagree with this, and I'm totally okay with that, but in some ways, November release dates put books in a kind of no-man's land (like Marbury), where they kind of get an unfortunate passing glance (if even that) at some major awards and lists that are influenced by readership and word-of-mouth... but it makes them eligible for SOME lists and awards for the following year.
That's one reason why the Best Fiction for Young Adults list, for example, is announced for 2011, but features books published in 2010.
Marbury is a baby: only six months old.
At least I'm not crazy. At least not on this one count.
And are you on a bus full of students or something? I was checking your Twitter feed and it's full of all kinds of hilarity.
TML is not on just one top-10 Booklist list--it's on two.
Best SF/Fantasy Audio for YA:
The Marbury Lens, By Andrew Smith. Read by Mark Boyett.
"Sixteen-year-old Jack and his best buddy travel to England, where Jack receives a pair of glasses that reveal a vision of the deeply disturbing wasteland of Marbury. Boyett infuses Jack with an impulsive adolescent cadence in this memorable production."
Yee haw! Congratulations, Andrew.
Anne
Oh, Anne -- I missed that one, but you're right. And I got such a nice compliment from Mary Burkey (who does the audio column for Booklist), congratulating The Marbury Lens for this month's Booklist kudos.
And Matthew... yes, I was tweeting from a bus full of recent graduates. The stuff from which future novels are made.
Labels are for boxes, and boxes are for shelves. I love the notion that a book should be allowed to live and create its own journey. Whether it's dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi, whatever - it's about the reader's experience.
When other writers ask me about my writing, it's almost like being in a chatroom: 25/gwm/michigan = 25/YArealsitic/Michigan and that's supposed to say everything about me that matters. Then I there's little need to explain the book.
Also, I (think I) know why you condone the labeling of TML as fantasy and that's because it's the broadest genre out there. It's almost all-encompassing.
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