What do you write?
Q&A with Shay each Sunday
Hello, those who read things. Welcome to my new series called Q&A with Shay each Sunday. Because who doesn't like a good rhyme? They’re as timeless as cassette tapes.
I’ll be posting one question and answer about myself, as a writer and human person, on Sundays…if you happen to care. And if you don't, well, no one asked. Just like nobody really asked me any of these questions, or they probably did at some point, but not at this exact moment—that was all me. It may seem absurdly narcissistic to conduct a Q&A all on your own—about yourself, however, anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a very look-at-me type of person, and when asked a question in real life, I typically freeze up or get nervous, compliments of social anxiety. Also, aren’t we like supposed to be part of a generation of narcissists? People just talk even if no one asked them, or ya know, they post it online even if no one asked them. That’s really what blogging is anyway. And since I have spent my entire twenty-eight years doing exactly the opposite of that I am now attempting to forge my place in the Internet community, and maybe give some answers without all the awkwardness attached, because to me there’s no better (and less daunting) way to do that than with written words. So, if you want to come along and learn about me and my anticlimactic life, oh and if you enjoy that reading thang (between Netflix binges of course (I think I have now watched ALL the Netflix shows)) this is the place for you to be on Sundays! And if you don't care that much about football. I don't, but I do quite enjoy managing my fantasy team—it’s just another reason for me to douse myself in negativity. Thank you in advance to my three to five fans. Here we go with question one.
Q: What do you write?
A: Whenever people ask me this question I always say, “Young adult, like for a teen audience.” This is true, but also, I’m twenty-eight and I LOVE reading young adult, and I don't just think it’s because I write it either. Who doesn't heart teen angst? (A lot of grown-ups, I guess.) Pretty much only people in the literary or booklover world know that “young adult” as a genre means for teens, because in the real world it usually means people in their twenties or something, though I don't feel so young anymore—or adult for that matter.
Usually after my “teen audience” answer people will then follow the question up with something like: “Like Twilight?” or “Harry Potter?” If I was any sort of outgoing person I might begin to educate them on the fact that: first of all, HP isn’t technically young adult. And second of all, these books don't like have the monopoly on all things teen. There is more out there than vampires and wizards—it’s called reality. Instead I say, “No, I don't write fantasy, I write more realistic stories.”
So, there you have it, just a girl grounded in reality while having conversations with make-believe teens in her head all day long. Stay tuned for her next Q&A!
