L.M. Davis's Blog, page 18

Nate and Miles Could Definitely be Friends.

I was reading old posts of my new favorite blog and I came across this post Against Tokenism.  Reading this and thinking about the recent kerfuffle over the multiracial Spiderman (I would link to some of the stuff, but I don't really want to give it any more credence/support),  I can not help but think [...]

I Could Name This Post Reverse Tokenism, But That Would Just Be Needlessly Incendiary

I was reading old posts of my new favorite blog and I came across this post Against Tokenism.  Reading this and thinking about the recent kerfuffle over the multiracial Spiderman (I would link to some of the stuff, but I don't really want to give it any more credence/support),  I can not help but think a little about race and multiculturalism in my own writing.

Like Jo Whittemore, I can not stand a token character of color. I would really rather not see a character of color in  a piece, if...

I Could Name This Post Reverse Tokenism, But That Would Just Be Purposefully Incendiary

I was reading old posts of my new favorite blog and I came across this post Against Tokenism.  Reading this and thinking about the recent kerfuffle over the multiracial Spiderman (I would link to some of the stuff, but I don't really want to give it any more credence/support),  I can not help but think a little about race and multiculturalism in my own writing.

Like Jo Whittemore, I can not stand a token character of color. I would really rather not see a character of color in  a piece, if...

Whose Afraid of the Big, Bad Mama: Meddling and Mercenary Moms (in YA).

Actually, I am kind of afraid of the Other Mother.

More than a year ago, I tweeted about this article in the NY Times:  The Parent Problem in Young Adult Lit.  Some of the more choice quotes include:

"Like the clownish adults on the Disney Channel or "Modern Family," the not-in-charge, curiously diminished parent is just sort of there, part of the scenery."

"The most memorable 'bad guy' had become, in many cases, the mother, matching in pathos what the wicked stepmother once conjured in...

It's So Hard…

…to say goodbye. 

I am probably the only person in the known world that has not gone to see the final Harry Potter movie yet.  (Ok, so maybe that is a bit of an overstatement but ,given that the movie has earned an estimated 168 million just this weekend, not by much.)  And here is the funny thing, I am not really rushing to the nearest movie theater to see it either.

Now, I am that girl who was at the midnight showings for movies 3-7 part one.  I pre-ordered my copies of The Deathly Hallows a...

To Be or Not to be…Violent That Is

So I have been wanting to post a new blog for a while.  What's a while, you ask.   Well, I had this idea for a blog for mother's day, so it has been at least that long.  It was a blog about parents in YA, so maybe I will post it for Father's Day instead.  (Two blogs in one month would be amazing though…perhaps even miraculous).  Today, however, I have something else on my mind.  I was reading this WSJ article  Darkness Too Visible, and it struck a cord, because it is something that I am...

Confessions of a Fantasy Writer…

I wrote my first short story when I was in the third grade, and, interestingly enough, it was of the fantasy/horror genre.  Even to this day–and it has been some years–I can remember exactly both what the story was about and what the process of writing it was like.

The story was about a young girl who hears a legend at school.  In the legend, a vampire family returns every year on Halloween to their ancient vampire home to feast on the inhabitants that lived there.  In the beginning, the...

Top Ten Lessons of YA Lit

Yesterday, while at a talk about significance of education in the 21st century, I tweeted that I think that writing is at heart about teaching.   If reading is a way to learn about new places, different experiences, and new ideas, then writing is in part a way of teaching about all of those things.

Considering that truth, I started to think about the lessons that young adult fiction has taught me over the years.  Young adult because it's what I write, of course, but also because the writing ...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone had a good holiday.  Mine was swell.

So, back in December, I posted this invitation over on the Facebook page.  So far, in the book signings and readings that I have attended, I have been introducing the work to the audience–so most of the folks who are there have not read it yet.  I love those audiences and all of these experiences have been great so far, but I also really want to talk to people who have read the book.  Judging from the reviews that...

Updates…Ramblings of a Writer with the "Block"

First, I have to stop making promises about when I will post things. Making those promises of late has generally meant breaking those promises.

Touring has been really great so far. I have had some really wonderful audiences that have contributed to some great conversations. I have some really great pictures from the events, but I am still in the grips of my technical difficulties. Have one more signing schedule before the holiday. Will keep an update on outings in the New Year.

I did...