Expected to Write for Kids

I have not told too many of my fellow teachers about my soon-to-be-published book, KILLER OF KILLERS. In fact, I've only told one or two. Actually, only one knows for sure. And she was excited and said she couldn't wait to read it. And so it was for the last couple months. Even when I told her that it was a men's fiction book, she said she still looked forward to reading it. And of course I said that that was great because women will like the book, too.

But then it happened. She said that one of the reasons she wanted to read it was to prepare herself for making it available to her students. Particularly male students. She went on to explain that it was great that there would be another book for them to read.

But then I told her to hit the brakes. I said to hold on a minute. I explained that this book was not for kids. This book was for an adult audience. I had to let her know that there was violence and even, shudder, sex in the story line. Not graphic violence and not explicit sex, but both were in there, nonetheless.

And she acted disappointed. As if because I'm a teacher I was expected to write for kids. I said that wasn't my objective to write for kids. I'm not a kid, you see, and my goal was to write a book that I myself would want to read. That's what I did. And now, I'm not so sure that she even wants to read it anymore. But I don't feel bad about that. I don't write what other people expect me to write. I write what I think is the best story I can come up with. And that's what I had in mind with all four of the books I wrote. The absolute best story I could write. And all four are books that I would want to read.

I believe that this is an example of being true to yourself. It's like living your life. As basic as that. You live your life to be true to yourself. If you don't, then you risk being a phony. A fraud. And you live a lie. Who wants that? Same thing with writing. I believe many authors sacrifice this aspect of themselves when they write. It's a sell-out, imo. They resort to YA or MG just as a means to break through that publishing barrier. Not all writers, of course. Some writers really have a calling to write YA or MG. It's who they are and that's great.

I'm sure that J.K. Rowling did exactly what she was called to do. Same thing with Stephanie Meyer. And Suzanne Collins. But so many others look to that as the easy road to publication. Whatever. If it works for them, then fine. But just because I'm a Middle School teacher doesn't mean my calling is to write for a middle school audience. Maybe I would if I was still a middle school student, or in the YA age bracket. But I'm past that stage now. I'm a full-fledged adult male. And I want to write books that will be read by an adult audience. I did. And I'm very pleased with the result. With all four books. And it's what I will continue to do. That's all.