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Fwd: Gay and lesbian characters, and pseudonyms
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From: Mekerr13 at aol.com <Mekerr13>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 16:39:22 EDT
Hi, We met once at Judy Blume's house --I remember where you were sitting--I am a great admirer of yours from way back. My first gay characters in YA lit--their sexual orientation was left up in the air, but not really--were Val Hoffman and Chloe Fox in "Hey, Dollface"
(Greenwillow, 1978). It was also my first book. I was 20 years old and had no idea I was breaking any rules or venturing into controversial territory--to me it was, and remains, a simple love story. My name was on it and I was thrilled, and it never in a million years would have occurred to me to have it any other way.The book recieved starred reviews everywhere and was banned all over the Bible belt . I was young, stunned, and proud. My third book (and second novel), "Second Star to the Right" (1981) was nominated for the (then called) American Book Award. It is about a girl battling anorexia, and I found myself in the company of fellow-nominees Beverly Cleary and Lloyd Alexander .I thought at the time how odd and sad
( and sick) it was that a mostly happy book about two teenage girls who fall in love was considered bad/indecent, whereas a book about someone with a life-threatening illness--one which at that time still had a stigma attached to it, evidently--was being lauded. There IS a point to this, just so you'll know! I worked as an on -staff writer at Random House for many years (they own all the copyrights and made a fortune) and was forced to use pseudonyms for the first 7 (I think) years, though I was extremely proud of the books I wrote there (for younger kids, 4-8). I would have been proud to have my name on them. Many of them were Sesame Street books, some of which were very personal and meant as much to me as my novels (the stories I tell are similar!) This is a long story, which I will spare you. But your e-mail--forwarded to me by a friend--reminded me of a funny incident I hadn't thought about for years. In 1980, a novel called "Early Disorder" (about a girl with anorexia) came out and was written under a pseudonym. Elaine Konigsburg, with whom I had corresponded for years (since the Mixed Up Files--I was 12 or 13 then) knew all about my personal history, and when this other book came out, fancied herself a detective and wrote me a very long and detailed fan letter for this book, which I did not write (and did not respect, but that is irrelevant). I adore Elaine and her books and have endless respect for her, so I don't mean to make this sound in any way negative! But I remember being horrified and writing back to her that I had NOT written that book, and that if I ever did write a book about anorexia, my name would be indelibly emblazoned on the cover. I thought of it because I was so amused at the time that someone would assume that a person who had written about gay characters with instinctual pride --and my parents, while stunned, loved the book--would want to conceal her (my) identity when writing about anorexia. I guess this is a TERRIBLY round?out way of addressing your question--!!--are there other YA authors who use pseudonyms (there are, but I have no idea what the reasons might be). To think of M.E. Kerr as a pseudonym seems ridiculous to me--you being such a long-standing forceful and inspiring presence as a YA author--I feel as though it has BECOME your real name, even if it didn't seem to start out that way. And I never for one split second would have thought you were anything but proud, as well you should be, of all of your books, name juggling notwithstanding!ME Kerr is very different than, say, Lemony Snicket, which is clearly a gimmick and meant to be one. You could never seem fake or less than proud, in any way, no matter what name you used.
Deborah Hautzig
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Received on Wed 26 Jun 2002 03:39:22 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 16:39:22 EDT
Hi, We met once at Judy Blume's house --I remember where you were sitting--I am a great admirer of yours from way back. My first gay characters in YA lit--their sexual orientation was left up in the air, but not really--were Val Hoffman and Chloe Fox in "Hey, Dollface"
(Greenwillow, 1978). It was also my first book. I was 20 years old and had no idea I was breaking any rules or venturing into controversial territory--to me it was, and remains, a simple love story. My name was on it and I was thrilled, and it never in a million years would have occurred to me to have it any other way.The book recieved starred reviews everywhere and was banned all over the Bible belt . I was young, stunned, and proud. My third book (and second novel), "Second Star to the Right" (1981) was nominated for the (then called) American Book Award. It is about a girl battling anorexia, and I found myself in the company of fellow-nominees Beverly Cleary and Lloyd Alexander .I thought at the time how odd and sad
( and sick) it was that a mostly happy book about two teenage girls who fall in love was considered bad/indecent, whereas a book about someone with a life-threatening illness--one which at that time still had a stigma attached to it, evidently--was being lauded. There IS a point to this, just so you'll know! I worked as an on -staff writer at Random House for many years (they own all the copyrights and made a fortune) and was forced to use pseudonyms for the first 7 (I think) years, though I was extremely proud of the books I wrote there (for younger kids, 4-8). I would have been proud to have my name on them. Many of them were Sesame Street books, some of which were very personal and meant as much to me as my novels (the stories I tell are similar!) This is a long story, which I will spare you. But your e-mail--forwarded to me by a friend--reminded me of a funny incident I hadn't thought about for years. In 1980, a novel called "Early Disorder" (about a girl with anorexia) came out and was written under a pseudonym. Elaine Konigsburg, with whom I had corresponded for years (since the Mixed Up Files--I was 12 or 13 then) knew all about my personal history, and when this other book came out, fancied herself a detective and wrote me a very long and detailed fan letter for this book, which I did not write (and did not respect, but that is irrelevant). I adore Elaine and her books and have endless respect for her, so I don't mean to make this sound in any way negative! But I remember being horrified and writing back to her that I had NOT written that book, and that if I ever did write a book about anorexia, my name would be indelibly emblazoned on the cover. I thought of it because I was so amused at the time that someone would assume that a person who had written about gay characters with instinctual pride --and my parents, while stunned, loved the book--would want to conceal her (my) identity when writing about anorexia. I guess this is a TERRIBLY round?out way of addressing your question--!!--are there other YA authors who use pseudonyms (there are, but I have no idea what the reasons might be). To think of M.E. Kerr as a pseudonym seems ridiculous to me--you being such a long-standing forceful and inspiring presence as a YA author--I feel as though it has BECOME your real name, even if it didn't seem to start out that way. And I never for one split second would have thought you were anything but proud, as well you should be, of all of your books, name juggling notwithstanding!ME Kerr is very different than, say, Lemony Snicket, which is clearly a gimmick and meant to be one. You could never seem fake or less than proud, in any way, no matter what name you used.
Deborah Hautzig
-
Received on Wed 26 Jun 2002 03:39:22 PM CDT
