I have been on this publishing journey maybe 15 years before I published. But what I do is the next story that I'm going to tell will be middle grade. I could be working on a thriller and no one knows. Are you making tracks to other categories right now?
They want to see a track record in a certain category. They publish in a category, they publish in a category, well, can you make a move to young adult? Can you make a move to picture book to women's fiction to literary fiction? Sometimes publishing can be a little inflexible. Mary: That's a really fair point, and I do think that sometimes people feel pigeonholed. So I just want to be true to the voices and true to the stories I want to tell more so than following anyone's genre. If a voice comes to me as a 30-something-year-old woman, that will put me in women's lit. So if I've written five middle grade novels and I'd get an idea or a voice comes to me and the voice of a 13-year-old that will put me in middle grade. And my ideal with that is I'm a writer that whatever voice comes to me, that is what I want to write. So I guess what I'm noticing it becomes what you first published as is what people want to categorize you as. So, I'm familiar with that category as well. But prior to being published in middle grade, I was also writing women's lit.
Leslie: Well, first, I absolutely love middle grade, and so to be called a middle grade author is an honor. Mary: So tell us about this reluctance to be put in a category even when somebody would see your two middle grade books and say, "Oh, she writes middle grade." What are you thinking with that? I said, "Well, do you want to be introduced as a middle grade author, just an author?" Of course, there's no "just" about it, right? So one of the things that I noticed right away is, though you have written these two middle grade books, you say on your website, "You know, I'm not so much a fan of categories," and that was one of the things I asked you before we got started. Twenty-nine forever is what I am, but your book, a little bit newer than that. And I did notice on your website, July 6th was your publication date, which is actually my birthday. And I'm just here to tell you what I know. And "Forever This Summer" is a sequel to "Love Like Sky." And I have an MFA from UNC Greenboro. And, also, my second novel, "Forever This Summer," which just published July of 2021. I am the author of two middle grade novels, "Love Like Sky," that was originally published by Disney Hyperion, and later sold to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Leslie: Yes, thank you, Mary, for having me and Good Story Company. Leslie, if you don't mind, can you tell listeners, readers, writers, our audience a little bit about yourself. Hello, this is Mary Kole and the "The Good Story Podcast." And today with me, I am so excited to welcome author Leslie C.
0 kommentar(er)
