Monday, June 20, 2011

Guest Post: Tamara Rose Blodgett: Why Write YA with a Male Lead?

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jeremy for graciously hosting me on his blog!

Why Write YA Lit with a Male Lead?


Writing Death Whispers from a teenage boy's perspective wasn't difficult (my four sons and all their friends were fodder for the novel!). I fell in love with the idea of a fresh premise told from the male POV as soon as I had the story in my head.
Caleb Hart has the same problems all teens have except the pesky zombie-raising that rears its ugly head at the worst possible times. Just like everything in teen-dom it's about finesse, and that is a learning experience that he suffers through along with all the other fun puberty stuff. This is a novel about real teens in extraordinary circumstances. Many of the events that take place in this book challenge Caleb morally. I like putting my protagonist(s) under pressure from the beginning all the way to the end. Action and crisis are part of the reading pleasure (for me). I've heard other authors describe that they write books they'd want to read and when others love them too: bonus. That's what I did here: writing a book with real dialogue that teens actually use, lots of action and romance that unfolds naturally.
I don't write a “clean” or sanitized story where everybody comes from perfect families that robotically interact in an expected way, hence: my main character falls for a girl he's hopelessly attracted to that hails from a nightmare family. This strife is part of what makes the story's heartbeat tick-tock along. Caleb matures during the story, his experiences begin to shape him, he begins the journey of self-discovery, making decisions that will shape him into the man he will become.

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I love genetics but am far from expert. I did do enough research for the premise (DW) to be plausible. All three series' I'm working on and will work on have their basis in the “what-if” factor. [The] human potential is intriguing to me.
In Death Whispers we have a group of teens that are given a “booster” inoculation before high school that sends them down a slippery slope of power and choice. The Pearl Savage, (paranormal romance, publishing in June) addresses what happens when genes are tampered with and a group of humans become...other: bred to protect. Bloodsingers (Publishing in fall 2011) deals with a sub-species of human beings that balance the “food load” for the vamps and give the Were's a chance to become moonless changers. This rare group, Bloodsingers, are but a fraction of the human population and have a skill set that makes them as dangerous as the vamps and shifters. Finally, a group of humans that can fight against them on equal-footing because of evolutionary circumstance.
My hope [for you] while reading Death Whispers is (besides being wildly entertaining!) is some of the stereotypes will be debunked about boys. There are some things that will be stereotypical because they're simply true. Conversely, there will also be the moments when the reader's mental light bulb goes off with an “Ah-huh!” The girls are clever as well and not diminished one bit in their respective roles in the book. All the characters have flaws which makes the reading of it more real; that was the goal for me, a unique read that was entertaining, imaginative and resonated with all who read it. (And encouraging teenage boys to read feels pretty snazzy!)
Thanks for reading my stories.

Author Bio:

Tamara Rose Blodgett is a 'thinking-out-of-the box' paranormal enthusiast who believes there's a 95% chance zombies do not exist; but loves to write as if they do. I'm from Alaska and have worked as an online journalist in the past. I enjoyed writing, Death Whispers, and am hard at work on book two, Death Speaks, (pub. Aug. 2011). My paranormal romance, The Pearl Savage, is due to publish in mid-June. In my spare time I'm a [reluctant] serial-re-modeler, project-slave and big time, in-my-pants reader (surprise!). I do a great deal of day-dreaming about impossible scenarios and events, writing books to capture them in stories for you~ Side note: Gnomes should be exterminated.

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Thanks for stopping by Tamara. 


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2 comments:

Tamara Rose Blodgett said...

Thanks for hosting me, Jeremy~!

J.A. Beard said...

You're welcome.