Why did you choose your genre and why do you like it? (With Jonathan Friesen!)

Author Jonathan Friesen is joining us for panels this week. He writes the most interesting contemporary young adult novels. Today I'd like to tell you about his book, Both of Me.

It was supposed to be just another flight, another escape into a foreign place where she could forget her past, forget her attachments. Until Clara found herself seated next to an alluring boy named Elias Phinn—a boy who seems to know secrets she has barely been able to admit to herself for years.

When her carry-on bag is accidentally switched with Elias’s identical pack, Clara uses the luggage tag to track down her things. At that address she discovers there is not one Elias Phinn, but two: the odd, paranoid, artistic, and often angry Elias she met on the plane, who lives in an imaginary world of his own making called Salem; and the kind, sweet, and soon irresistible Elias who greets her at the door, and who has no recollection of ever meeting Clara at all. As she learns of Elias’s dissociative identity disorder, and finds herself quickly entangled in both of Elias’s lives, Clara makes a decision that could change all of them forever. She is going to find out what the Salem Elias knows about her past, and how, even if it means playing along with his otherworldly quest. And she is going to find a way to keep the gentle Elias she’s beginning to love from ever disappearing again.

Doesn't that sound intriguing? Click here to learn more about Both of Me on Amazon.com. And now, for today's panel question:

What do you like about the genre you have chosen to write, and why did you choose to write that genre?

Jonathan: Why do I like writing realistic fiction for young adults? There’s a certain cluelessness to YA lit. Characters often do the impulsive thing, the confused thing. Not because they aren’t intelligent, but because at seventeen, life is now and the benefits from hindsight are years away. Pains feel permanent. At least it did for me. Truth is, I spend a lot of my life feeling impulsive and confused even now. I just do a lot of pretending, as if I know what I’m doing. When I write realistic YA, I can drop the pretending. I can write what I feel. My emotions don't always make long-term sense, but they don’t need to. They just need to be real, which is a word I always use for my readers. They strike me as very real, much more so than I am.

Stephanie: There are a lot of things I love about historical fiction. I love the opportunity to learn about a different time and place. I love the pretty covers. I love exploring how people have always been people, for better or worse. But I think my favorite thing is the opportunity to say things about our society and our time in a way that does not feel as openly critical and emotionally charged because you’re really saying it about a different time/place.

Shan: I love watching teens ball up their fist and punch fear in the face. Regardless of the subgenre, facing down your greatest fear is a huge staple within YA. It’s inspiring for all ages of people to read, and I think it’s indicative of a generation of writers who want to see teens rise up above hardship and obstacle. Each author has their own way of doing this and the shelves speak to the great variety of passions and purposes within the population, but encouraging bravery is high on my priority list. YA fits me well in that way.

Jill: I write fantasy because I’m a creator of kingdom, the Map Lady. I love to create new worlds. I like to draw these new places on paper and imagine what they look like and what it might be like to live there. I like to figure out how these places are similar and how they are different from where I live. When I started writing, I didn’t choose the fantasy genre, but ultimately most all of the ideas I came up with fit under the speculative fiction umbrella. As it turns out, deep in my bones, I’m infused with the best kind of imagination. The magical. The otherworldly. I can’t imagine ever giving it up.

What about you, writers? Why did you choose your genre and why do you like it?