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Guys Read: Guest Post by Swati Avasthi on Getting the Male Voice Right

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Today’s guest post is brought to you by Swati Avasthi, author of the Cybils-award winning SPLIT. I’m extremely excited to have her talk about writing a male voice as a female. We’ve all read books written by females that try to capture the guy voice; try as they might, they don’t always succeed. However, Jace — the main character in SPLIT — is an authentic and real guy. There is little doubt she got it right and there is little doubt the appeal to both guys and girls on this title. Without further ado, Swati shares her insights on the process.

Whenever I was asked how I – a thirty-something woman – captured the voice of a 16-year-old boy in my debut novel, Split, I would answer that Jace’s voice came to me fully formed. Which is code for “I don’t know.” Jace’s voice certainly came to me easier than either of the two protagonists’ voices in my second novel – both teenage girls. Which seems counter-intuitive, right?

After all, I have been a teenage girl; a teenage girl who really didn’t have any boys in her life until she started dating at 16. A teenage girl who grew up in a mother-centered family, with two older sisters, and went to a high school where two thirds of my graduating class were girls. My cousins (both of whom had older brothers) would rush over and sink into a “real girl’s house,” tentatively experimenting with make-up and indulging in the Charlie’s Angels paraphernalia.

So, why on earth was it easier for me to write from a boy’s POV than a girl’s?

It is because writing isn’t really about what we know. It’s about what we can discover. It’s about using the imagination to chart our course through the unknown.

The power of imagination has been losing value on the stock market of ideas in this post-modern, post James-Frey, reality TV, search-for-credible-information age, where we focus on the writer’s background. We ask, “What standing does the writer have to write their fiction?”

An actor once told me that when he used his imagination to get into his character, he would think of a piano: We all have the same 88 keys. The variations are infinite, but the notes are all the same. You just have to think about what notes this person plays loudest in their lives.

We use our imaginations, our ability to empathize, in order to bridge the gap between the known and the unknown. We find the notes in ourselves that we don’t use and explore them.

So what makes one voice sound authentic and another sound false? Why did I have to work harder at capturing a girl’s voice?

As it turns out, Jace’s voice didn’t come to me “fully formed”, it grew through daily character exercises that pushed my imagination, that forced me to think of Jace in new and different ways. Book no. 2 has TWO protagonists, two characters and their voices to develop. It turns out gender differences had nothing to do with it, it just took me longer to develop both voices, and the truth is – there are no short cuts.

The question isn’t whether I, as a writer, have experience in the area. It is not about whether I am a teenager, or a boy, or an anything else so simple and generic. It is not about the depth of research, although that certainly helps. The question is whether I captured the heart of my character on the page. Have I found the character’s voice and have I let them speak, without flinching, and without manipulating them? Can my readers listen to the notes he is playing? If you can you listen to the rhythm, the flow, and the cadence, if you can imagine his life off the page with ease, then you have an authentic voice — gender differences be damned.

Leverage by Joshua Cohen

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When a book gives me a visceral reaction, I’m always a little surprised. Sure, there’s been more than one or two books that have made me tear up for one reason or another, but it’s rare to both cry and feel utterly sick to my stomach. I think I can count the number of those books on one hand.

And now I add Joshua Cohen’s debut Leverage to that elite group of books. This is one you need — need — to pick up and read.

Danny is a gymnast: he’s small, nimble, and he’s impressive as hell at what he does. He knows how the locker room works, too; steer clear of the football players, the track players, and go only to where his teammates have their space and everything will work out fine.

Kurt is the new guy in town. He’s been moved around more times than he can count, but now in the new school, he’s ready to just settle. He’s a football player and can probably best be described as a tank. He’s huge and he incites fear where he goes because of it. But Kurt’s a bit of a wimpy guy. At least, in comparison to his football teammates. Those guys define fear and power; Kurt is more laid back, less willing to jump into their coach’s offer of enhancing supplements.

I don’t want to explain too much more of the plot, but I’ll say this much — this is a mean guys story. This is the story of what happens in the locker room when smack talk goes beyond talk and turns into an all-out physical display of power. The things that the leaders of the football team do to other boys is unimaginable and leads to consequences far greater than one can imagine. We’re not talking about a little hit or slap in this book; we’re talking lives. And their reactions are probably what made this book so difficult to get through without a few tissues.

As far as Danny and Kurt are concerned, the two of them play a key role together. They’re allies, despite not necessarily knowing that or acknowledging it after everything plays out. Both are fully fleshed characters, and Cohen gives them distinct personalities and voices. In fact, they’re so distinct, I noticed when there was an error in the ARC where one chapter heading was swapped with another (that is, one of them was labeled Danny when it was really Kurt and vice versa). Both characters are sympathetic, and their growth is well developed. As readers, we get to know the bulk of Danny’s story upfront; we know what he’s all about and what his motivation and drive is. Kurt, on the other hand, we don’t. Since he’s the new guy, we learn very little about him except that he’s got some real stories to tell. There’s something about him that aches, and we want to know what it is because it will play a huge role in how he reacts to his teammates and their actions. The way these details come together is smart, and it gives the same insight into Kurt’s character that Danny has. This technique lets us play along with Danny and dares us to draw conclusions alongside him. We have to learn to trust that his actions will be self-guided and not guided by the actions of his team.

Leverage is an important book about athleticism, about sportsmanship, and about the cruel truths that happen in a setting that involves extreme competition, alpha male syndrome, and most importantly, steroids. The football coach has let his athletes partake in the use of supplements to make themselves bigger, stronger, and more intimidating; worse though is that the coach supplies these supplements to his players. This lengthy book — over 400 pages — clips along at a rapid pace because there is so much going on, and as readers, we can’t help but hope for some sort of justice in the story. Danny and Kurt make us care. And we want to know what will happen to the coach, to the team leaders who ruin lives.

While I was emotionally invested and knew what was going on was about as real and honest as it could be (and I know this not as someone who has experienced this personally but who spent a lot of time with a guy in high school who quit the football team because of the bullying), I felt that the ending was a bit of a let down. It was the easy way out. Too obvious.

I kept comparing this book to Courtney Summers’s Some Girls Are and I think these two books are excellent (unfortunate, even) readalikes. The grit and honesty, as well as the unflinching look at power dynamics among teenagers is brutal. The biggest difference, I think, is that despite a couple of things that Danny and Kurt do that make them unlikeable, they are ultimately likeable characters. They come out ahead, and they have redeeming qualities.

Cohen’s Leverage will have appeal to boys who are and aren’t athletes, as I think a lot of the experiences in here will ring true in more ways than presented. This is a book for the boys; while girls will surely enjoy it, there is little doubt that boys will get this. There is a real sense of emotion here without it being an emotional story. The emotions are manifested physically, which is true to how guys process the big events in their lives. And I don’t think anyone will be intimidated by the length because it speeds along. There were times I had to put it down because the events were that powerful, but the lapse in time was short. I wanted to see the redemption, the reaction, the way the rest of the story would play out.

Don’t go in with expectations, since they’ll all be tossed. I had an event spoiled for me (by choice) but that didn’t even bother me. There were enough other shocking events in the story to keep me surprised.

Twitterview: Michael Northrop

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Welcome to another Twitterview/Giveaway installment here at STACKED. Today, we’ve got an author who knows a thing or two about guy reading. Michael Northrop is the author of the recent Trapped and Gentlemen. He’s stopped by to give us insight into his latest book, as well as his influences and inspirations. Looking for a go-to for guy reads? Look no further. As a bonus, one lucky reader will win their choice of either Trapped or Gentlemen to add to their own collections.

Pitch TRAPPED in 140 characters or less: 7 students stranded in their high school during a weeklong blizzard, no power, no heat… It’s like Mother Nature gave them detention.

What inspired TRAPPED? Too many nature documentaries as an adult, a lot of snowy winters as a kid, and a few blows to the head along the way.

And why THE BREAKFAST CLUB? The comparison is hard to avoid when you have mismatched teens stuck in a school. And why avoid it? Acknowledge it—it’s a classic!

So Scotty finds himself in a tricky situation during a snowstorm. What would you do if trapped in a school during snowpocalypse? Now, I think I’d handle it pretty well: I’ve seen EVERY EPISODE of Man vs. Wild. As a teen, I’d handle it about as well as Scotty.

If you were to cast yourself as a character in TRAPPED, who would it be and why? Speaking of which… I’d be Scotty. He’s v. good at sports & pretty good at school. I was the other way around but it’s the same basic idea.

How has your background in writing for publications like SPORTS ILLUSTRATED influenced your writing style? Journalism is great training. It teaches you that reality is inconvenient: People rarely do/say just the right thing @ just the right time.

What is your writing routine/how do you get yourself in the writing mindset? I write in the morning (morning person) all hopped up on caffeine and sugar & I do 1,000 words/day (give or take).

Best piece of writing advice you’ve received? I’m not sure it’s advice, exactly, but I copied the thousand words/day thing from Stephen King. He mentions it in On Writing.

Best of writing advice you can give? Read, including some books outside the genre you’re writing. You don’t want to be a Play-Doh Fun Factory (i.e. YA in, YA out).

Who do you think is doing some of the best guy-friendly writing in the YA world today? Scott Westerfeld. Of course, his stuff is also v. girl-friendly. That’s some good writing right there.

What three YA books do you think are essential guy lit? Well, it really depends on the guy, but I’ll give it a go: The Outsiders, Hatchet, and half a dozen issues of The Uncanny X-Men.

Tell us a bit about your forthcoming series with Scholastic that kicks off with PLUNKED. I’m doing 2 middle-grade sports novels. Plunked is up 1st: about a young slugger who gets hit by a pitch & loses his nerve.

When you’re not writing, you’re a bit of a cartoonist. Care to share a piece or two of your finest works? 1) Darth Vader vs. the Diabetic Jedi 2) Get Trapped!

Have any movies changed your life recently?
OKIE NOODLING! A doc. about people who catch huge catfish w/ their hands; a fantastic, folksy intersection btw the everyday & the extreme.

Share one of the most memorable moments of your teen years.

I got a concussion at football practice. Coach asked me what day it was. I said Friday. It was Tuesday. I think I was just hoping.

Want to win a copy of either TRAPPED or GENTLEMEN? Fill out the form below, and I’ll pick a winner around the 15th of the month.

Guys Read: Guest Post by Paul Vogt on Comics You Should Know

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Welcome to the first in our series of posts for Guys Read week. Today, Paul Vogt of The Hopeless Gamer joins us to talk about comic books — find out what you’ve been missing and what you can lead your rabid readers to. Your to-read list is guaranteed to expand.

I’m here to talk to you about comic books. I grew up on the things, and they taught me how much fun reading could be. I learned about prejudice (the X-men’s mutants), critical thinking (Batman’s detective skills), and Christ-figures (All of Superman) as a result of reading comic books as a kid. I learned the definition of “uncanny” by the time I made it to third grade. As a media, comic books have followed me since grade school through high school and beyond grad school. All the while, I was maturing as a reader and comics were continuing to evolve as a medium.
Comics are a funny thing. Right now is a fantastic time to be reading comics. There’s a bit of a creative rennasaince in the industry even as book sales seem to diminish on a monthly basis. And then there’s the question of digital publishing. Comics are a unique medium in that they are usually endless serial stories where some have more than 40 years of continuity clogging up their histories. If you go to any superhero or comic, forum you’ll easily find pages and pages of discussions all asking the same question: where can I jump on and start reading comic X? The assumption here is that you have to read all of the Avengers or the Justice League’s enormous backlog of stories in order to catch up and start enjoying the stories being told today. Guess what? You don’t. You can jump in feet first (maybe with some helpful suggestions by yours truly – see below) and start getting a kick out of comics right away.
There are several routes you can take when starting to get into (or returning to) comics. Every Wednesday sees the release of new issues from DC, Marvel, Image, and many other smaller imprints and publishers. These single issues are often referred to as “floppys” and often get “bagged and boarded” by collectors. In other words, you read single comic issues as most people imagine them and then put them into storage. Alternatively, digital comics are quickly growing in popularity as digital distribution models continue to be discussed and developed by the bigger publishers. There are countless apps out there dedicated to making it easier to read comics on your ipad or smartphone.
Ah, but there is a third option, and it’s the option that your humble writer chooses on a regular basis. While you could have boxes and boxes of single issues collecting runs of your favorite titles, or you could jam your phone or tablet full of comic files, I prefer collected issues that resemble a book more than a magazine. I’m sure you’re familiar with graphic novels as a medium, and these are what I’m going to be talking about today. Technically I’m going to be talking about trade paperbacks specifically. The difference is in the formatting of the story. A graphic novel is a book that was put together specifically to be in a collected format and is released in the collected format primarily. A trade paperback (or TPB) is what you get when you combine a series of comics from a singular, or string of singular storylines. These can range from three issues to huge omnibus collections of 25 issues or more.
I wanted to come up with some suggestions for you to try out, but I’m doing my best to steer away from titles and books you might already know about. I could suggest Watchmen, The Walking Dead, Y: The Last Man, or The Dark Knight Returns, but where would the fun be in that? Instead I’ve selected some titles which would probably not be considered ground breaking suggestions from comic readers but would serve as a good introduction to some very broad genres of comics. My aim is also to provide some suggestions that you may actually be able to find somewhere other than on Amazon (such as your local library… maybe!). So without further ado, here are some comics to try out.

The Immortal Iron Fist Volume 1: The Last Iron Fist Story (Marvel Comics)
by Matt Fraction (writer) and David Aja (artist)
“…Tiger Scratch (Second Stance). Drunken Wasp Sting. Good Fortune Thunder Kick. Brooklyn Headbutt.”
Iron Fist is a classic example of a modern comic writer taking a classic 70’s superhero character and updating him for the 21st century. Iron Fist, also known as Danny Rand, is a living weapon kung fu master of the secret city Kun’Lun. Sounds pretty cheesy, right? I did mention it’s originally from the 70’s, but Fraction, with the help of Aja’s art, has taken the character in a completely new direction. In this relaunch of the title, he does a creative job of imagining a whole backstory to the character spanning centuries. It gives a truly epic feel to the character, and the revelation early on that Danny is the 67th Iron Fist is felt as a true revelation to the reader as much as it is to the character. It’s a street-level action comic right at its heart, and plays like a classy version of the 70’s mystic kung fu flick.
Iron Fist moves at a break-neck pace and ends up feeling a little bit like the original Highlander movie (you’ll have to read it to discovery how). Aja’s art is realistic without being too photographic. Its got just the perfect amount of illustration to really communicate the character’s thoughts and reactions. The story is complete on its own, but it also works as a very nice set-up for the rest of the on-going series and follow-up TPB volumes. Danny faces some tough challenges in this first collection, but hints of more living weapons (something unheard of before Fraction’s reboot of the character) and a tournament to the death just works to amp up the excitement of the series by giving it a real purpose and direction.
Astonishing X-Men Volumes 1 – 4: Gifted, Dangerous, Torn, Unstoppable (Marvel Comics)
by Joss Whedon (writer) and John Cassaday (artist)
The Thing: “Didn’t they come up with a cure for your kind?”
Wolverine: “You got a problem with mutants?”
The Thing: “I meant Canadians.”
General fans of genre television will recognize Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) while comic fans will equally get their interests piqued when they see John Cassaday’s name. I’ll be honest, I grew up loving the X-Men, but even I will admit that they can be too much for the casual fan to wrap their minds around. With more bizzare plot twists and a cast larger than a Pynchon novel, things can get complicated real quick. Astonishing clears that all away. Whedon knows his X-Men. You don’t need to know anything going into the book, and the chemistry between the team members is still going to be instantly recognizable. If you like any of Whedon’s shows, particularly for the dialogue, you can’t go wrong here.
Of course if it was just a bunch of good dialogue, it wouldn’t be one of my favorite runs of all time. The four volumes of Astonishing X-Men tells a complete story and gives all six team members very full, very satisfying character arcs. The plot focuses around a new villain (and eventually new alien world) that takes all the things that makes the X-Men great and makes them relatable. The character, an alien from a world created for the run, is out to kill all the X-Men since his people received the prophesy that an X-Man will one day destroy their world. Although the plots cover many different areas, there’s always the constant threat of this new alien menace lingering in the background. Cassaday’s redesign of some of the characters, specifically fan favorites like Wolverine, Cyclops, and Beast, are iconic and re-conceptualize the costumes to somehow be both serious and heroic in a classic superhero kind of way. By the time you get to volume 4, Unstoppable, you will be gripped by the story’s climax. You’ll both cheer and get tearful before the end of the story, and you’ll be loving it the whole time. You want a classic superhero team book? You’ll find nothing better than Whedon and Cassaday’s run of Astonishing X-Men.
Batwoman: Elegy (DC Comics)
by Greg Rucka (writer) and J.H. Williams III (artist)
Jake (Batwoman’s Father): “Who were you talking to?”
Kate Kane/Batwoman: “Hmm?”
Jake: “Transcript time oh-four-forty-two hours. Suit GPS puts you just north of Tricorner, at Lake Street. Just after you questioned Rush… Who were you talking to?”
Kate Kane: “That, sir, was the Batman.”
You don’t have to know that Bruce Wayne just returned from the dead (really, he did… sort of) to enjoy this one-shot Batwoman story. Kate Kane, the Batwoman, is possibly my favorite new character to be introduced in comics since I don’t know when. She feels authentic as a character in way that, regrettably, few other female superheroes can express. Sadly she’s such a new character that there really aren’t that many other stories out there with her starring in them, but Elegy offers a high enough degree of story crafting combined with the most talented and creative artist in the biz today that you will come away satisfied. Layouts and story-telling are two things you hear a lot about when talking artists, and J.H. Williams III is pretty much the king of both. Picture the Sunday comics with three to six panel stories per strip. A lot of mainstream comics still follow this formula, but the trailblazers try to tell a story through the use of their panel layout, often ignoring the confines of the box altogether. In Elegy, you get to see a master at work.
That’s not to say that Greg Rucka should be ignored. Rucka is known not only in the comic industry but also for his novels in his ability to tell a mystery. Elegy is really a story arc out of the Detective Comics title (where Batman first appeared way back when), and Rucka’s run on writing Detective is epic in its own right. Again, like the previous two titles, the villain in the story is original and self-contained to the TPB they appear in, and it’s a boon to the storytelling. Rucka can do anything with the villain in his story, especially when you compare her to classic Batman rogues like the Penguin or the Riddler. This freedom adds a natural layer of tension and excitement in the fact that she is much less predictably than the traditional villains. On a totally unrelated note, Rachel Maddow wrote the introduction for Elegy, so that’s gotta count for something, right?

All-Star Superman Volumes 1 and 2 (DC Comics)
by Grant Morrison (writer) and Frank Quitely (artist)
Lex Luthor (to Clark Kent): “You wanted my story ‘The Gospel of Lex’ and now you have it. There’s no deep psychology behind the struggle between Superman and me. It’s all very simple. How would you feel if someone deliberately stood in your way, over and over again?”
A lot of people don’t like Superman. A lot of people just haven’t read All-Star Superman yet. You hear a lot of complaints about how boring Superman stories are because he’s all-powerful. It’s basically the novelist’s equivalent to writing an interesting story where God is the protagonist. I have similar memories of Superman. I loved the Justice League as a kid, but I always liked the Batman side of the story much better than the Superman side. All-Star Superman is the story of Superman summed up in 12 amazing issues. All the distractions of the DC universe are stripped away and what’s left is the core Superman cast and basic dilemna of the Christ-like character. Instead of trying to explore a new angle, Grant Morrison, a modern-day legend in the industry, dives in head-first and tries to discover just how difficult it can be for the Man of Steel to save all of humanity.
Morrison and Quitely are well-known for their collaborations. You can pretty much put money on any random book with both of their names on it being solid gold. To me, All-Star is at the top of this list. It’s the purest form of superhero story-telling out there from any creative team. Where Astonishing X-Men gives the perfect team book, All-Star shows what the best superhero in the world is capable of accomplishing. Each of the 12 issues can be picked up on its own and enjoyed as a complete story, but you can feel the underpinnings of the overall theme shining through. Superman is dying. Superman wants to do as much good for humanity as possible before he dies. Go!
Tom Strong Deluxe Edition Volume 1 (America’s Best Comics)
by Alan Moore (writer) and Chris Sprouse (artist)
“This is Tom Strong. Please stay calm everyone…”
It would be downright irresponsible of me to not include an Alan Moore book in a list of comic recommendations. There’s so much to choose from (including the above-mentioned Watchmen) when it comes to Alan Moore, I wanted to stick to something that wasn’t too cerebral, too self-referential or “meta”, and something that could be taken on its own merits as a stand-alone story. Tom Strong also has the benefit of being a book of every genre. It’s basically Alan Moore’s creative playground. In this first hardcover collection you’ve got stories about futuristic Aztecs, parallel worlds, the Old West, super-sentient computers, Disney-style cartoon characters, and of course, Nazis. Tom Strong, the titular character is a super-scientist born and raised on a diet of pure pulp action. He’s a hulking man, but he invents technology like no one else. It’s truly a science fiction book in superhero clothing.
But like all these recommendations, Tom Strong has more to offer than fantastic, complex plots. Tom would be nothing without his family, including his wife, daughter, talking gorilla, and antique robot butler that practically raised him from birth (of course invented by his father). As silly as this all sounds (and you can bet Moore is challenging the reader’s assumptions by including them), each character is fleshed out with great detail. In fact, my only complaint in this first volume is that Tom doesn’t actually get that much screen time compared to the rest of his family. Comics are known for a couple of different subgenres within the overall superhero genre. You’ve got your lone street warriors like Iron First, your teams like the X-Men, but no sampling of comics could be complete without a proper family book. Think the Fantastic Four, and you’re on the right track. Tom Strong offers a lot of fun, original ideas, but at its core it offers a look at a super family trying their best to balance the common good with what’s good for the family.

Welcome to Guys Read Week!

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As anyone who has spent any time on the blog knows, I am passionate about guy reads. There is so much out there for guy reads, but so little is paid attention to it. To celebrate and highlight the great things about guy lit, we’re throwing a Guys Read week here at Stacked.

Stay tuned this week for book reviews, guest posts, and a resource list for those who want to learn more about the topic or those who are interested in good guy reading. We’ve got a giveaway, as well. We’ll hit on comic books, sports books, capturing the male voice, and much, much more. I’m excited by the variety of voices and stories we get to highlight this week.

Hop into the discussion and share your experiences and thoughts on all things guys read this week. Share these things widely and feel free to add your two cents. We’re open for discussion!