Donna Barker asked Michele Fogal:

How easy or hard is it to put your head into the mind of a teenage boy/man who is struggling to figure out his sexuality?

Michele Fogal Well maybe we should ask the young male readers whether or not the experiences I wrote down speak to them to really answer that question! It's my hope that the stories are relatable and heart filling.

For me, sliding inside of a character and seeing the world through their eyes is the most compelling and addictive part of writing. I don't think it has to do with gender or age; I think it has to do with having empathy for them. Most humans are struggling to figure out intimacy, on many levels, and these characters speak directly to my heart. I feel that being young and male means they need to be amazingly brave in order to really get close and connect.

I guess that's the long answer. The short answer is: getting inside any of the West Coast Boys characters is a joy and not the hardest part of the novel writing process for me.

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