boy oh boy

So, last night I lurked around and watched a chat session on Twitter (#YALitChat) that was based on the question: Why do men write YA?

Yeah. I wanted to see what people would say about that.

Maybe they'd have psychologists and stuff.

Maybe it would be like a Dateline NBC sting where I'd show up with a manuscript in my hand and some actor-playing-an-innocent-teen would slip out to get some reading glasses and instruct me to sit down and pour myself some sweet tea.

But nobody answered the question.

That's why I'm here.

To answer the question.

And have some tea (unsweetened).

Okay, coffee. Black.

First of all, maybe it's just me. Maybe if I had lots of hair on the back of my neck (ewww) it would be standing up, or if I were a rooster, the corresponding hackles would now be elevated. But I think there's an underlying implication in the phrasing of the question.

Why do men write YA?

Maybe the questioner didn't intend it to sound so... um... biased? As though men are violating some kind of evolutionary imperative... you know, the kinds that were addressed in the 50s and 60s on the other side of the gender divide when "experts" presumed to ask why women sought careers or avoided pregnancy?

So, here's the answer to your question:

Real men write.

We always have, going all the way back to the cave walls in Lascaux and Altamira.

The "YA" part is nothing more than cupboard space assigned by cupboard-space-assigners who think up taxonomic catchphrases which lower their organizational anxiety levels.

We write.

Human beings write. And we like to write about the human experience and people, or burials, sex, and animals we hunt and shit like that.

I know.

I'm too highstrung.

Maybe that's why I write.

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bridge to books

Update on room cleaning: Um.

As I've posted previously, the Bridge to Books people hosted a terrific event called YA in Bloom at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena on Saturday.

A note about Vroman's: It's a pretty amazing store. I've always wanted to sign books there, and this was the first time I got to do it.

I think on the Authors' Indie Bookstore Bucket List, Vroman's is right there with those other iconic bookstores (you know which ones I'm talking about) that I hope to one day check off my list. But, at least I got Vroman's done.

And it was, honestly, probably the most fun I've had at an in-store signing.

It was so fun that I decided to steal some pictures from the Bridge to Books folk and share them here on my blog (these photos are copyright Bridge to Books 2011... except the weird one).

Every author... well, probably every author... has been in a situation where they've gone to a signing event and there were, like, only two copies of his book there. Well, Vroman's had all my books there. It's really cool to go to an event where people are getting multiple titles signed. Trust me. It is... and it's especially gratifying to meet people who are fans of The Marbury Lens, so they pick up Ghost Medicine or In The Path Of Falling Objects, too.

So, I got to sign a lot of books. And I got to meet some very nice, enthusiastic readers, too.

And it was really fun to hang with the authors, too. At the signing table are: Jessica Brody, Katie Alender, me, Cindy Pon, Lisa Yee, and Nancy Holder. There were other authors present, too -- some of whom have debut novels coming out in the months ahead.

The swag bags they gave us had some kickass stuff in them, too. Among the goodies in the bag was a tattoo for Gretchen McNeil's debut, Possess, which comes out August 23. Who doesn't love a good demonic possession now and then? Anyway, Gretchen told me that if I put the tattoo on my right wrist (see below), it would protect against demons. I'm okay with that, but I was really hoping it would help clean my room.

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a return to the why chromosome

So, I know I kind of lapsed into the excitement of finally being allowed to spill my guts about two of the new books I have coming out, but I had intended to continue a couple of the thoughts I started to express on Sunday's post (a lonely YA reflection), which drew a number of intelligent responses.

Specifically, I was pointing out [okay, I'll admit it... I was whining] the under-representation of guys as writers, readers, bloggers, teachers, mentors, etc. when it came to advocating literacy, and, in the broadest sense, for the future of our kids.

One response to the blog pointed out that something changes in boys between young reader age and teen years, and another said that boy readers (if they're still reading) tend to skip past the teen section and go straight to the adult fiction in bookstores.

There are a lot of factors behind this: First, the teen section of the bookstore is... well... pretty girly. Listening in on the BFYA teens commenting at ALA, I got the sense that covers -- the first visual representation of what's available inside a book -- are tremendous factors in attracting or repelling potential readers (oh... there are lots of real academic studies that elevate this theory to "law" status).

Go look at the visuals in a typical YA section at a B&N -- or pull up their "Teen" page on the web.

Maybe I'm overly sensitive.

There's a good likelihood that I'm unique in my wrongness, but if I were a teen reader looking at the heavy overemphasis of feminine imagery (and thankfully "YA" sections didn't exist when I was a "YA"), I would think somebody was trying to tell me something.

Like, no boys allowed.

YA equals girl, swirling mists, and something dark and shadowy -- could be a tree, a castle, or something wearing a cloak (who the hell wears cloaks?).

And anyway, since about 2000, we really don't want our boys to be creative, intuitive, and different, anyway... so why would we encourage boys to read and write?

We want them to be the same.

We need them to be standardized, so they can bubble in math and science tests that have only five possible correct choices (because the universe is like that, isn't it?) with a higher degree of bubbling-in fantasticness than boys in China or South Korea, or wherever boys bubble better than ours do.

In 2003, writing in Education Journal, David Taylor examined a pair of studies on boys and writing – what kinds of impediments interfered with boys becoming engaged as writers, and what were some possible routes around these roadblocks.

An overwhelming volume of evidence shows that, by the time they get into high school, boys’ achievement in writing falls behind that of girls. Much of it has to do with the representation of the culture of literacy, and its obvious gender bias, particularly during formative years when gender-role identities are becoming entrenched in the personalities of boys.

Look, I'm not blaming anyone for this specifically, and if you disagree with the gender-bias association in reading and writing during the teen years, then I wouldn't mind taking up that discussion.

It is a vitally important issue to address, too, since success in any area of academic curriculum depends on good writing and a developed degree of literacy.

Amy Corso, writing in The International Journal of Learning, identified a significant source of pressure on boys around the ages of 11 - 14 (backed up by Taylor's findings). She wrote that since boys at the secondary level face a tremendous amount of pressure to be socialized in manly ways, they naturally strain to separate themselves from people or pursuits they perceive as being feminine (like reading and writing). She writes, "Ultimately, these forces inhibit the student’s ability to participate in the creative process."

You know how tough and pressurized those years are if you're a guy, or if you've raised a boy through those years -- so if the prevailing culture is that "Teen Reading is Girl Reading," as evidenced through media, marketing, advertising, visuals on book covers, and even by the dads, brothers, writers, bloggers, teachers, coaches, librarians, book lovers -- MEN -- who (fucking don't) show up at literacy events for teens... well, we're not only going to lose boys as readers and writers, we're actually harming them.

Oh... and don't tell me "but boys don't read," because that simply is not true. Boys are, however, passively pushed away from reading "Teen" or "YA" books, and for some boys, that subliminal message can shut the door forever on the development of lifelong literacy and reading.

Unfortunately, as we're doing to the individual child, we're also "standardizing" educational culture, and it's not a pretty transformation. Class sizes are increased with less attention paid to high-achieving, creative, intuitive (because we don't want that) kids. And libraries -- the only actual place within a school environment where kids have unimpeded freedom to explore new ideas -- are being shut down.

Because libraries, like arts programs and non-formulaic or rubric-based creative writing, aren't going to help us out-bubble the kids in China and South Korea.

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two more offspring

Wait.

It's Monday, right?

I am not making much progress on the "and clean your room" assignment, and the family will be back from vacation in, like, three days.

That means I can do it on Wednesday.

So, this morning my UK friend tweeted me that she'd seen today's Publishers Weekly, and offered congratulations... and I was, like, oh... now I can finally say something about this stuff.

Here it is.

I have written (yes -- they are completely finished) two books that will be coming out from Simon & Schuster.

And that's not everything that I have going on right now, but I want to say a few little things about these books and this announcement.

First, I am very excited and nervous about working with David Gale at S&S. I'll admit it: I am afraid. Oh well, I'll get over it. I gave him some good stuff to play with.

Now, about the two books:

I guess a handful of people have read the first one. It's called Winger, and it's about a really smart kid named Ryan Dean (he's 14 and in eleventh grade -- something I kind of know a little about) who has a really tough time figuring things out (which is something else chillingly close to my heart).  And he plays rugby, too (Union -- the greatest game ever devised by human beings). There's a lot going on in Ryan Dean's world -- he's convinced the woman living downstairs is a monstrous witch, out to destroy his life (and she may be); he's desperately in love with a brilliant and independent-minded girl, but believes their age difference (she's actually 16 -- oooh!) makes her see him as some kind of "adorable" pet (and she probably does); and the guy Ryan Dean shares a dorm room with wants to kill him (definitely... he really wants to kill the kid). Oh... and he draws. So there are comics, diagrams, graphs, charts, an occasional haiku, transcribed telephone conversations, invisible iPods, and lots of other stuff that pop out of Ryan Dean's head and onto the pages of Winger -- which actually is funny, but it's sad and dark, too, because it takes a look at how desperately people sometimes want to fit in, when the rest of the world can only focus on the minute little elements that make outcasts of all of us.

Yeah... PW should have said that. But, they'd have to give up space for the description of the second book... which is called Once There Were Birds.

As far as I know, there is only one person in the universe who has read this book. So, basically, nobody knows much about it at all.

And there's kind of an interesting story behind it, too: I started writing Once There Were Birds as a short story for inclusion in that ill-fated anthology that I backed away from. I liked the story so much that I didn't want to cut it short, and I definitely didn't want to give it up to an anthology. So I turned it into a genre-bending kind of novel.

If I did a Hollywood one-line pitch on it (which I suck at), I'd probably say the novel is a Western, set in Arizona and California, 200 years in the future.

Here's a more precise description of Once There Were Birds:

Barrett Woods, a boxer from a prison school for boys called Oconee, makes a “break,” and jumps a picking train sent on scavenging missions. He’s followed by a determined and talkative younger boy named Eliot Plum, who is stubbornly determined to stick with Barrett, despite the dangers they encounter. But Eliot is hiding a secret from the boxer – he’s actually the son of a bounty hunter who’s been sent to collect on Barrett’s escape.

Eliot is trying to prove something – to himself and to his demanding father. The boys’ journey west is simultaneously dangerous and filled with wonders the two have never seen. But Eliot must contend with his increasing dilemma: As he gets farther away from his father, Eliot’s betrayal of Barrett is eclipsed by a tremendous bond of friendship. 

So, Once There Were Birds includes action, adventure, a coming-to-grips kind of story about love and friendship, betrayal and forgiveness, and there's a little post-apocalyptic sci-fi, a little (ugh) dystopia, a good bit of cowboy slang good-old-fashioned Western, and no small amount of steampunk thrown in, too.

Oh, and I forgot to mention there's a love story between the boxer and the daughter of a conniving, self-serving man who tries to trick the boys out of the things they value most.

I really wouldn't know what sub-genre to put this one in. It's just a good, exciting ride.

So there.

That's part of what's coming up from me.

You can read the deal announcement in Publishers Weekly here.

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a lonely YA reflection

Okay.

Yesterday's YA in Bloom event sponsored by Bridge to Books was huge.

Trust me. Bridge to Books knows what's up. If you are an author, teacher, librarian, blogger, reader, or anyone in Southern California who's interested in improving literacy and getting more books into the hands of more kids -- and delivered by people who know and care about what they're doing -- this is a group to keep your eyes on.

I think everyone was a little overwhelmed by the number of people who turned out at Vroman's.

Now, let me talk about isolation.

You know, I have been left all alone at el rancho de drew and have to mope around doing all these dumb chores: feeding horses and dogs, picking cherries, watering stuff that isn't supposed to "die" (why can't we GMO lawns, plants, and livestock with zombie DNA so they never die?).

And don't even get me started about how I'm supposed to "clean my room."

Anyway... it's a rather isolated life up here where I live, which is good for writing -- even though I swear, I swear! I am not going to start on anything new.

So... yesterday. It was a blast. I got to sit with some of the coolest, funniest people you could ever sit by.

Okay, picture this. No... really... picture. This.

Me. Cindy Pon. Lisa Yee. Katie Alender. Gretchen McNeil. Nancy Holder. Jessica Brody.

Did I mention I was sitting there? And there was lunch involved. And really really nice cake.

Are you still picturing?

Let me help.

Well, I'll admit I stole this from Lisa Yee (I think it's rather obvious who took the photo). She stood up on her chair during lunch (a gymnast, that woman!) and pointed the camera out from where we sat. It looked like this:

And that's only part of the crowd.

Notice something?

You would if you were The Great Big Giant Me.

You would notice that there were, like 300 women present, and three or four guys. One of them is off camera below Peepy's ears. That would be me.

There's nothing wrong with this picture.

There's something very wrong with what isn't in the picture.

Guys.

Time to step up.

As writers, readers, teachers, mentors, and dads.

I've written plenty of posts (and included data from academic studies, no less) about the declining literacy rate among boys, and how a BIG part of the problem is the perception we "sell" to boy readers: that reading and writing are fundamentally feminine pursuits.

Just look at the picture.

So, I've got a few things to say about this (when don't I?), and a lot of it is going to come back around to a kind of mass-buy-in, self-fulfilling prophesy that MAKES boys into non-readers.

And that's an issue we can all do something about.

Speaking of issues, think about "issues" in YA. I heard some of them mentioned by booktalkers yesterday. Um.

Books that deal with issues -- at any age level -- are important because they help readers make connections between their lives and experiences and the rest of the world. Sometimes, those books are the only floatation devices available for kids who feel totally adrift.

The thing is, there are issue books for boys. Just not too many people talk about them, fewer know about them, and big brick-and-mortar booksellers won't allocate shelf space to them because... look at the picture.

Boys don't care about reading.

This is what we've been making real in America in the last 30 years.

And that's a pretty serious issue for everyone.

Oh... I'm just getting warmed up. There will be more on this subject.

And, Cindy Pon: you better believe I've been following your Diversity in YA movement, and I have to give you a LOT of credit for consistently having male authors and books dealing with guys presented on your tour (thought I wasn't lurking/stalking, didn't you?).

Because, at its most obvious and elemental level, diversity begins with gender.

Come on, guys.

Let's say we're 50% of the population.

Look at the picture.  I'm not asking for half -- I wouldn't really want to lose my table mates, but maybe just a few more footsoldiers to prove that guys write and read and love books?

Time to represent for the benefit of our sons.

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a bloom, and the culture of standardization

Happy Bookstore Day.

That's not all.

I needed to add something to what I said yesterday about "grownups" who read, and Young Adult literature, since I'm going to be talking today with a bunch of smart people about books and stuff. And eating cake.

Young Adult literature not only represents an opportunity to catch glimpses of things that lie between the stark fringes of the extremes, but, as an art form (and I'm going to go rinse out my mouth for using that term because I really don't like how condescending and pretentious it sounds) it serves as an expression of a set of cultural values which have not yet been diluted and constrained by bubble-in number-two-pencil tests.

And that's another underlying sentiment that echoes loudly enough beneath the text of all these recent pieces assailing the current state of literature: The specter of Standardization.

The most vocal champions of the all-or-nothing, I-know-what's-good-for-everyone, black-or-white movement are also those who believe that standardizing our youth will allow us to rise up and conquer all our enemies lurking in the shadows, because once kids all think exactly the same and can bubble in standardized math tests with the exact same levels of proficiency, we will arrive at Happy Future Land.

So, naturally, their faith in the religion of standardization is going to bleed over into the arts as well.

Kids, put down your number-2 pencils.

Break them.

Go outside.

Okay.

So... Today is Bookstore Day, and I'm going to be at Vroman's in Pasadena with some amazing authors and book people.

I will bring goods.

And nothing that requires bubble-in contemplation.

Here's all the info on YA in Bloom.

Hope to see you in Pasadena.

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only bad grownups read YA

I'm going to confess to something.

And it's not what you think.

My confession is that I wrote this blog post ahead of time.

Yeah, I blog just about every single day... and every day I just make that shit up in the morning.

Even the comics, which I usually "draw" in my head while I'm not sleeping at night, which is why they're disturbing.

Anyway, I wrote this ahead of time because I went to a concert last night, to see one of the best American bands out there. So if this post is not about New Jersey post-punk rockers Titus Andronicus, then you'll know I wrote it in advance. Which is something more than a paradox.

I just wanted to say that since November of 2009, I have written four novels.

Some people call them YA.

I don't really care what you call them, unless your definition of YA makes them something that they're not.

Which is also something crueler than a paradox.

The first of those novels is Stick, which will be published on October 11, 2011. (I've already told about how I wrote that novel for NaNo in 2009). The other three I can't talk about yet.

Two of the three have already been sold to a major publisher (I believe I'll be able to talk about their titles, publisher, and everything else about them in the coming week), and the third is on submission.

I work hard.

All told, it's a bit over 360,000 words, and a bit over a year and a half.

And that's finished stuff, not drafts.

One of these days I'm going to see how these real writers pitch ideas and dig themselves holes to fill in ahead of time.

So I was thinking about why "grownups" read YA.

I think it's because YA is tougher, more challenging, to read than a lot of adult lit.

Good YA gets to do lots of stuff that adults (and adult lit) don't get to do, and for this, it has quite an appeal.

Like the milestone "young adult" marks in our lifetimes -- the better literary embodiment of that developmental phase is all about challenging rules, resisting convention, and experimenting with consequences -- all things "grownups" avoid, or, at best, have learned to disdain in exchange for the assumption of their role as designated driver for the SUV of Society.

But there's something else going on here, too.

And I believe it's rather noisily expressed by the shouters who've been pumping out the latest baseless, emotional, and ill-supported salvos of critical assaults on fiction for and about Young Adults.

It's easy to crank up the heat of contention when you base a 1000-word essay (if you'd call it that) on a universe of extremes: It's either/or, light/dark, pure/profane, good parenting/book banning -- because, quite obviously, if you're for one, you're against the other.

Right?

It's almost easier to buy-in and be functional if they can convince you (as the band writes) that "the enemy is everywhere."

Are you with us or against us, kid?

Maybe some of us are still stuck in that why-does-it-have-to-be-one-way-or-the-wrong-way mindset that accompanied that rebellious, self-exploratory Young Adult stage of maturation.

And there's something great to be said for that perspective, too.

You have to be open to middle roads and unafraid of detours, and tolerant of the great spectrum of hues that really exist between the fringes of black and white.

People who read YA -- and it doesn't matter how old they are -- get that.

Okay.

I'll confess again.

I actually did write this piece this morning (running on 2 hours sleep).

My wife and kids have just left for a week's vacation, leaving me to mind the ranch in solitary isolation.

The enemy is everywhere.

Party at Drew's house.

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