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November 13, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Why I Write for Teens, a guest post by Fisher Amelie

November 13, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS   Leave a Comment

There is not a more emotion filled age than when we are teens. The highs and lows of our daily lives give you the most dramatic feeling. One minute you’re on top of the world and the next. Well…

I don’t think I ever grew out of that. Not really. I mean, they say authors are a feeling bunch and I know this to be true but it also “feels” like I live the pain, the sadness, the happiness, the joy, the love of those around me with such intensity. I’m just “certain” that no one else could feel the same way. *wink wink*

Now, I’m not silly, I know that these emotions aren’t much different than what the average adult experiences but it seems those around me can control themselves much better than I. In these things, I am still a teenager. In these things, I relate so implicitly to them.

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I was made to write for young adults. Made for it.


The Sleepless Series, bk 1

It seems as though this market is saturated with the same stories of misunderstood girl meets understanding boy, or vice versa, girl falls in love with said boy and voila! Insta-book! Don’t get me wrong I love this Shakespearean formula. It works. It’s a lovely read but it’s not a lasting read, which is what I write. I write stories that stick with you because I write books no one else will write.

Impoverished Ugandans, orphans kicked out into the streets at eighteen, victims of child slavery…These are not topics easily broached. Nor are they subjects we necessarily want to read but, at the same time, they are problems with this world that we all turn a blind eye to, ignore, or are simply too busy with our own lives to wonder about. We figure, “the government couldn’t possibly allow these things to happen and I trust that they are doing everything in their power to prevent these atrocities”. But this just isn’t the case. In fact, the same approach our youth take to the problems of our world, our government has adopted as well and they need to know this.

I believe our youth are very capable of becoming world changers. I also write these stories, if nothing else, than to create that sense of awareness within them. 

The Seven Deadly Sins bk 1

But I don’t do it in an overbearing manner. My stories are first and foremost love stories but they move within a plot made of substance, which is exactly what our youth needs. There’s nothing more encouraging than a young individual discovering that their world is bigger than their friends, their school.

C.S. Lewis said, “The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more. Christians writing good literature.”  I find this quote so incredible because I discovered it after I decided that the world needs more books that inspire rather than instruct. Discovering deeper thought, deeper reflection, the revelation of a profound idea…these are fundamental character building experiences that have become such a rarity in today’s youth fiction and I want to change that. 

I love writing for teens because they are the new pioneers. If you point them in the direction of right, you will be astonished at what they can accomplish. 

About Fisher Amelie:
Fisher Amelie loves to be in love. That’s why her stories have the sappiest loves in them. “That’s how love should be. Sappy and dripping in happiness.”

Fisher Amelie is the author of The Leaving Series, Callum & Harper, Thomas & January and VAIN. She began her writing career as a copywriter for an internet marketing company wherein one of their client’s said, ‘Hey! You’re funny. You should write books’. Which in turn she said, ‘Hey, get out of here! This is the lady’s restroom.’ While washing her hands and the embarrassment from her face, she thought they may have had a valid point. So, she took the thousands of hours of writing stories growing up, tucked them into her pocket and began writing and writing and writing. Her books are recommended for mature readers due to language. From Inskslingerpr.

You can see Fisher Amelie at the Betty Warmack Branch Library in Grand Prairie, Texas on Sunday, November 17th at 3:30 PM.
website: http://www.fisheramelie.com

twitter username:@fisheramelie

 

Filed under: Fisher Amelie, Writing, Young Adult Fiction

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About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

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