Today is one of the most exciting days in the whole MEN in YA event! Why? Because the absolutely fantabulous Rusty Fischer is stopping by for a Guest Post!!! And not just any Guest Post but the most excellent, brilliant and hilarious Guest Post EVER!!! :D Go ahead and read it and don't forget to tell me what your thoughts were in the comment section below :) And also - don't forget to enter the amazing giveaway! Thanks to Rusty we will have 3 lucky winners!!! :D
Guys, please give a warm welcome to our most fantastic YA Galaxy Defender, Rusty Fischer!
You Write Like a Girl: Or, How Being a Guy in YA Shapes My Writing
A Guest Post by Rusty Fischer, author of Zombies Don’t Cry
In my career choices, I have almost always been surrounded by women. I was a busboy for years, always surrounded by waitresses. Some were my age – I was never a waiter because I was too “shy,” and basically still am – but most were a few years to a few decades older.
It was always fun because they me under their wing and taught me that secret language of women. Whether they were talking to me or about men in general, it was fascinating to hear how they really felt, talked and acted. In many ways, they were just like me and my (adolescent) friends.
I was lucky to work with so many women growing up because it kind of dissolved that feminine mystique that a lot of guys I knew were intimidate by. But working with so many strong, smart, sarcastic women growing up – and you don’t know sarcastic until you watch a waitress play it up for a table of jerks and then come back to the wait station and dish on them – really helped me feel more at ease among them.
Later, in college, I majored in English (natch) and every class was dominated by the ladies. Graduating in the early 90s to find the country in a recession, I couldn’t do much with my English degree so I worked at a bookstore; again, major lady time. Then I went back to school to get my teaching degree and, surprise… more ladies! When I became a teacher, the faculty, the staff, the teacher’s lounge, all 90% female.
Finally I was hired away from teaching to work for an educational magazine, my first experience with publishing and writing for a living, and again: the staff was 85% ladies. So, while I’m no expert in feminine studies, I can say this: I’ve spent a LOT of time with women.
Fast forward to a few years ago and my decision to finally take the plunge and write my first YA novel. As I began combing my local bookstore shelves, looking for YA zombie fiction – it was a LOT harder to find back then – what I noticed right away was that I would often have to wind through several clusters of teenage girls to navigate the YA shelves. And me being me, I would listen to what they were saying, check out what they were reading, hear what they were gushing about, and why and… bam, it was busboy days all over again.
So as I sat down to write Zombies Don’t Cry (or as it was called then, Have a Nice Afterlife), there was never really any doubt that its main character would be a girl. And I never hesitated to write freely, openly and honestly in a female voice. (Or my version of it.)
Since then, I have written ALL female main characters with the exception of one male MC in Panty Raid at Zombie High. And even then, it felt “funny.” I dunno, like I was cheating or something. It was more work than writing my female characters because I had to keep checking myself, “Would a guy say that? Will guys believe this?” Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it and love “Toby,” the narrator of Panty Raid, but it just felt easier and more natural writing Maddy and Emily and Lucy Frost and the rest of my female MCs.
So, I guess I said all that to say this: I LOVE being a male YA author. I love that the very first review I read for Zombies Don’t Cry – I’m talking the very first one out of the gate – said, basically, “Rusty Fischer writes like a girl.” That. Rocked.
Not because I consciously sit down to “write like a girl” or because I tried to manipulate or trick readers into thinking *I* was a girl, but because it was a validation, of sorts. I’d found a home, a place where I “fit” and where my writing clicked and felt right and good and natural.
To me, what that reviewer meant was that once she started reading ZDC, she forgot who wrote it – guy or girl, man or woman, x or y chromosome – and just dug the story, the character, the voice, the language, the thoughts… the ride.
I dunno, I feel like I’m rambling because this is a pretty big issue right here. SO much of the YA genre is female-centric; most of the agents I pitch are women, the editors I work with are usually women, the reviewers and bloggers I can’t wait to tweet and Facebook with each day are lady folk and generally speaking my actual YA readers are girls.
Which isn’t to say that they don’t respond to male writers or male characters or even male MCs. One thing I love about YA is how sophisticated, diverse and accepting its writers, agents, editors, publishers, bloggers, reviewers and especially readers are; I think they’ll pretty much respond to anything done well, with sincerity and passion and creativity.
And really, those are the things I focus on most when I sit down to write; not what sex my main character is – or my readers are. But the story itself, the characters and the plot and the setting and how they all fit together, boys and girls. And, generally, when I “feel” a story being told to me by my crazy male brain, the voice I tend to hear it speak in is female.
Go figure.
So, those are my two cents about being a male YA writer. I hope I haven’t bored you!!!!
Yours in YA,
Rusty
Rusty, thank you so much for the excellent guest post!
I had a fabulous time reading both Ushers, Inc. and Zombies Don't Cry and can't wait to start Vamplayers! :)
I hope you guys enjoyed the guest post, for more information about Rusty Fischer and his books, please visit his website: Zombies Don't Blog or/and read my review of Ushers, Inc. or Zombies Don't Cry.
Huge thanks to Rusty for the exclusive MEN in YA photo! <3
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Thanks to the fabulous:
Rusty Fischer
I have one paperback AND eBook copy of Zombies Don't Cry up for grabs!
But that's not all!
I also have two eCopies of Ushers, Inc. to give away, too! :D How awesome is that!
all giveaways are INTERNATIONAL!!!!
To be eligible to win all you need to do is be a follower of my blog and enter through Rafflecopter below.
Ends: December 28th
