Those who have been reading my blog are aware that I have ventured into the world of writing a memoir. You may also know from some posts that I wasn't sure if I was going to go that way or try to write fiction. But eventually the notes I had written down on notebook paper sounded more like a memoir, so I decided to go that way, though I have fictionalized it a little.
The fact is I've often seen myself attempting a fictional novel, and just the other day, I emailed my story to a long-time friend of my mom, who emailed me saying what she thought and said I write well, and that she would like to see me to attempt a fictional novel. I told how I have thought of doing so.
On her blog tour last Friday, Stephanie Faris posted at this blog saying:
I commented saying how I do in fact read different genres, though not a lot of westerns and only some sci-fi, and said how I have wanted to attempt a novel but that having read a memoir I could relate to made me do one of my own. But now I'm trying to come up with ideas for a fiction novel. I asked if it was unusual to want to try writing fiction after attempting a memoir and she replied that it doesn't seem unusual at all. I guess some people choose to write all different genres. 
How would the idea of a YA novel set in the 1980s in an epistolary (diary) format sound? And with a male protagonist, even though I am a woman author? I've kind of found it hard to formulate fiction based around the current technology and I think kids today should see what it was like for those of us who grew up in the eras before cell phones, the Internet and such. What does anyone think?
Sounds like a FUN book! My stepdaughter is a teenager and she loves the 80s. She said many of her friends do, too. So I think younger readers would definitely love to read what it was like to be a teen in the 80s...just as I would have liked to read about what it was like to be a teen in the 50s when I was a teenager.
ReplyDeleteI too have gone back in time to sound more current. One thing good about the internet is you can learn about people because some post everything freely.
ReplyDeleteFrom what you have said, I thought of the book "The Cracker Queen" by Loretta Hansen. Being from the same town as her, I bristled at some of her stories. They were based on facts which were embellished greatly. However, her stories struck a chord with many and have sold well.
Areas that she exaggerated were the "chain gangs", moonshine and other Southern stereotypes. We have benefited from civil rights laws enacted in 1968 which target the Southern states. Many things she described disappeared about the time she was a child which was the seventies.