Guest Post: Kersten Hamilton (Author of Tyger, Tyger)

Guts and Gaps: Creating Male Characters

By Kersten Hamilton

Author of TYGER TYGER

I am a huge fan of the male gender. I have spent a lifetime studying guys – brothers, fathers, friends, a lover, and two sons. Like a field anthropologist, I have lived among them. After much up-close and personal study, I think that in our literary YA culture, we do not always give guys enough credit for what they are: male.

Sometimes, we write them as if they were large women with body hair issues. Or worse, accessories — pretty things with rock-hard abs to hang on the arm of a kick-butt heroine. Or, worse still, creatures who are smarter and stronger than the dumb, weak heroines they have fallen in love with.

Out of respect and admiration for the guys I love, I try to write honest-to-testosterone guys into my books. To be able to do that with integrity, I not only study guys in the field, I study books and movies by guys about guys.

Like Rocky, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. Stallone understood exactly how to create a male protagonist with a compelling and honest love relationship. Give them guts and gaps:

Paulie: [talking about Adrian] You like her?
Rocky: Sure, I like her.
Paulie: What's the attraction?
Rocky: I dunno... she fills gaps.
Paulie: What's 'gaps'?
Rocky: I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.

In Tyger Tyger there are three very different guys, all with as many guts and gaps as I could manage to write into them:

Mr. Wylltson, gentle, literary man, who loves his wife Aileen, a wild Irish girl. Finn, a scrappy street fighter who has no words to wrap around his feelings for Teagan. And Aiden, who is only five, but is trying very hard to grow into a man.

Each one of them is as absolutely male as I can make them, and therefore completely loveable.

I must admit that the kind of book that I like best has a romance between two strong characters, equally matched but delightfully different from one another.

Characters who have gaps. Who need each other.

Tyger Tyger is that kind of book.

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I loved each and every one of Hamilton's male characters, so it was great to hear her thoughts and feelings behind writing them!

Be sure to check out my review of TYGER TYGER here!

ALSO, to celebrate the novel's release, Kersten is giving away a Kindle e-reader! Check out the details here on the Teen Book Scene site and don't forget to collect the letter R from this post... you'll need it to enter!



Review: The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Title: The Education of Bet
Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin BFC
Pub. Date: 7.12.2010
Genre: Historical YA
Keywords: Identity Swap, Secrets, Gender Roles, Family, Romance
Pages: 192
Description (from GoodReads):
Bet is sixteen, very intelligent, but only knows as much as her limited education will allow. In Victorian England, girls aren't allowed to go to school.

Will is also 16, and though not related by blood, he and Bet act like brother and sister. In fact, they even look like brother and sister. And though they're both raised under the same roof, by the same kind uncle, Will has one big advantage over Bet: He's a boy, and being a boy means he isn't stuck in the grand house they call home. He gets to go out into the world--to school.


But that's not what Will wishes. He wants to join the military and learn about real life, not what's written in books.


So one night, Bet comes up with a plan. She'll go to school as Will. Will can join the military. And though it seems impossible, they actually manage to pull it off.


But once Bet gets to the school, she begins to realize the education she's going to get isn't exactly the one she was expecting.
 
THE EDUCATION OF BET took me completely by surprise! Before this novel, I'd never read anything by Lauren Baratz-Logsted, but I was intrigued by the description.
 
I found the lengths Bet and Will go to in order to disguise Bet as a boy entertaining. I was skeptical that Baratz-Logsted would be able to make this aspect of the novel believable, but I actually found it very convincing. I especially loved that there were adults at the school aiding Bet in her quest for an education.
 
It was inspiring to see Bet fight so hard for something she wanted... something other than a boy. Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance, but it was refreshing to see the main character so passionate about something else. It definitely reminded me how lucky I am to have the opportunity to go to school... with all the stress, homework, and insane costs, it's easy to forget that.
 
But wait! There's romance too! Which, honestly, I should have anticipated, but I really hadn't. It was interesting an interesting and memorable romance, since, during the development of the romance, Bet is still disguised as Will. Understandably, this leads to some awkward moments, but Baratz-Logsted did a wonderful job making their story believable.
 
Grade: A
 

Review copy provided by publisher.

One Question Blog Tour feat. Lauren Baratz-Logsted!

Today Lauren Baratz-Logsted visits The Hiding Spot as part of the One Question Blog Tour to promote THE EDUCATION OF BET, which was released July 12th! As the name implies, I was able to ask Lauren one question before she traveled on to her next stop at There's A Book!

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The Question

My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality?

Well, you got me. The only answer I can possibly give is the same answer you gave: books. Whether reading them or writing them, books are my escape. When reading, I get to explore other worlds. When writing, I get to create worlds that others will hopefully want to explore with me. Really, I'm a one-note person. When my daughter is in school, I either write or read pretty much every minute from 7am to 4pm. One thing I do wish? That I could read the way I did when I was younger. By that I mean truly lose myself in a book. I can remember lying in bed at night with a new book when I was a kid, stopping every so often to fully visualize characters and settings to the point where it was as though I was living inside the story. As a result I still have a map in my mind of exactly what I think the Devon School from A Separate Peace looks like. But ask me to describe in detail the setting from a book I read last week and, unless the author's power of description was truly spectacular, I can't tell you a thing. So the escape is still there but it's a different escape than it once was.

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For more about Lauren and her novels, visit her website!

And be sure to check out some of the other questions Lauren's been answering... and what's coming up!

July 26: Christina/Insert Book Title Here: What advice would you give an aspiring author? HERE



July 29: Danielle/There's A Book: Recently, you mentioned that you have an absolute "love affair" with door stops aka Fat Books (BiblioBuffet's Writer-in-Residence). Having said this, knowing that you've written some "skinnier" books, and must have a few favorites of those out there...I'd like to ask what your top 5 "skinny" books are and none of them may have been written by yourself or a family member. HERE

Cover of the Week (5)

Cover of the Week is a weekly feature at The Hiding Spot, in which I share a cover that gives me that swoony feeling.

Title: The Mermaid's Mirror
Author: L.K. Madigan
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Pub. Date: 10/4/10
Plot:
Lena has lived her whole life near the beach—walking for miles up and down the shore and breathing the salty air, swimming in the cold water, and watching the surfers rule the waves—the problem is, she’s spent her whole life just watching.

As her sixteenth birthday approaches, Lena vows she will no longer watch from the sand: she will learn to surf.
But her father – a former surfer himself – refuses to allow her to take lessons. After a near drowning in his past, he can’t bear to let Lena take up the risky sport.
Yet something lures Lena to the water … an ancient, powerful magic. One morning Lena catches sight of this magic: a beautiful woman—with a silvery tail.
Nothing will keep Lena from seeking the mermaid, not even the dangerous waves at Magic Crescent Cove.
And soon … what she sees in the mermaid’s mirror will change her life …

I've heard great things about L.K. Madigan's first novel, FLASH BURNOUT, which leads me to believe that this story is going to be well written, but its really the cover art that has me interested.  Plus mermaids. Who needs more than that?

Review: Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Title: Princess Ben
Author: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Year Published:2008
Type of Book: Young Adult/Fantasy
Pages: 344

From inside cover of book:
"With her parents lost to assassins, Princess Ben ends up under the thumb of the conniving Queen Sophia. Starved and miserable, locked in the castle's highest tower, Ben stumbles upon a mysterious enchanted room. So begins her secret education in the magical arts: mastering an obstinate flying broomstick, furtively emptying the castle pantries, setting her hair on fire... But Ben's private adventures are soon overwhelmed by a mortal threat to her kingdom. Can Ben save the country and herself from foul tyranny?"

I first noticed this book as I was combing the shelves at the local Walden's Bookstore. I was surprised when I saw that it was written by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, who has written a couple other books, including Dairy Queen. Dairy Queen is also young adult, but isn't fantasy, so Princess Ben was totally unexpected coming from Murdock. I must admit, I was skeptical. I wasn't sure what Murdock's writing would be like as a fantasy writer. I was very impressed though. Princess Ben was an absolutely engaging read: fun, attentention grabbing, and satisfying. Also, the cover art was amazing; it was really eye-catching.

Princess Ben had some obvious main themes, but some I wasn't expecting as well. Magic and a fight against "evil" were expected. But there was a surprisingly well written love story as well. It some ways it was a typical coming of age story, but I wasn't bored by it at all. The magic element was fresh and interesting and Ben herself was immensely amusing.

My only negative comment about the book was that it was a bit rushed at times. When it comes to fantasy, I am more of an epic fan, so Princess Ben could have been a bit longer and it would have been great. I really would have liked to see further development of the love interest and a bit more exploration of magic. It was a bit too tidy for me perhaps.

Ratings (out of 10):
Plot: 10
Characters: 10
Writing style: 10
Romance: 8
Memorable: 9
Total: 47/50 (A-)

I would recommend getting this book from the library before deciding to buy it. I really liked it, but I'm not sure I would read it again. Or try to force anyone to read it because I loved it that much.