A couple is united and their offspring survive. Goodness is rewarded. Writing for a young adult audience, I have placed this novel in the area of romance. In its sentimental forms, that genre is publicly derided and critically ignored. I do not want my readers to wile away their hours reading an impossibly glamorized romance. I respect the psychological needs of many readers for consistency and trust. There are many reasons for this including my responsibility to youth. I will not exclude love, personal growth, or idealism. Likewise, I will not breed fear and cynicism to appear sophisticated. I do not wish to paint agents of history as greedy, cruel, and barbaric, and others, women and people of color, as mere victims and safer when silent or in hiding.
My many questions as I write only partially involve how lovers unite. Young readers should keep an author’s head straight by addressing what matters and not oversimplifying. This is a log of challenges and questions: stylistic, thematic, ideological, and historical where I hope to work out an uncompromising path.
The image: James Audubon [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
