On Fantasy

Duke Forest at Sunset

As much as I love California, I'm slowly starting to love North Carolina. It wasn't until this summer, when MLC and I would have the opportunity to drive around the area instead of staying in the Duke bubble on campus, that I realized I love being surrounded by forests. There's a certain age in this part of the country that California doesn't seem to have. The older houses still stand with the distinct air of the time period of its youth. The forests are the perfect backdrop for a story, whether supernatural thriller or urban fantasy.

Speaking of urban fantasy, I recently realized that my taste in books have changed drastically over the years. When I was younger, I devoured fantasy. Among my favorites when I was younger were Gail Carson Levine (my all-time favorite Ella Enchanted, The Princess Tales series, etc.), Tamora Pierce (Song of the Lioness quartet was my favorite), Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, Garth Nix's Sabriel series, to name a few off the top of my head.

Once I got to high school, I'm not sure what happened. I think there were probably a lot of factors involved. One, this was around the time that I found Francesca Lia Block, who is still fantastical in her own way but much more urban. Two, this was also around the time that Rogue and I became addicted to fictionpress stories, including Against All Odds by Myrika, Interrogame by Hate to Hope, and He Punks Me Not by Slideshow -- none of which are fantasy. Three, maybe realistic YA fiction was popular at the time the way supernatural is now. I don't know, since I wasn't really paying attention at the time, but now that I think about it I was reading books by Meg Cabot, Sarah Dessen and Ann Brashares -- all of which were stories about (somewhat) regular high school girls with regular problems.

Now that I'm in college, I think the only novel I've read for pleasure this year has been Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I still write YA though, not only because I'm still technically a teenager, but also because it's what I know. I know high school and I know how teenagers think. Adults confuse me. I think at heart, I am still very young and naive. I am just as drama-free as I have ever been, and so the only real drama I've witnessed is the drama of my teenage peers.

Though I don't particularly follow the YA market anymore, I'm still slightly attuned to what books are out there. Interestingly to me, the ones that keep popping up again and again have been urban fantasy or paranormal romance. I'm thinking of Wicked Lovely, Tithe, The Iron King, Shiver, and Hush Hush -- what's up with all the fairies, werewolves, and angels? It's as if once Stephenie Meyer's vampires crashed open the gates, all the mythical creatures ran off after them in a rampage.

I haven't actually read any of these books, but even if I had the time, I don't think I would. And I'm not sure if it's because my tastes have gotten more literary in the last few years. For some reason, I am just not interested in fairies, werewolves, and angels anymore. I think the ideal YA book for me would be one that still has some of the fantastical elements I loved when I was younger, and yet at heart, the book is still about probing the characters and their relationships. Even better -- if it was a character-driven, fantastical YA book that was a literary work of genius -- every word is picked for a reason, parallel themes run all across the book like the Tokyo subway, and people could spend ages dissecting the book and discussing its meaning -- I would snap THAT up in a hurry.

I've been following a lot of literary blogs in the last year, reading about the trends and whatnot. It's all fine and dandy, but I really don't care that "angels" are the new thing or that YA dystopia novels are trending. I feel it doesn't matter. In the end, you want to be the one who starts the trend, not the one who tags along for the ride. It doesn't matter if tomorrow all the agents out there are looking for stories about whirlwind romances with Fabio the Bogeyman because that's what's selling -- if I'm writing in hopes of latching onto the coattails of a trend so I can be published, then that's not really writing at all.

What I think is more concerning is if somebody starts the trend before you get a chance to do it yourself. It would be easy to complain bitterly that someone stole your thunder, but in the end I feel like you'll just end up wondering why you didn't work harder and write more when you had the chance.