tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6426953807579855451.post1473437645369939905..comments2024-03-08T01:46:51.187-05:00Comments on Sleuths, Spies, and Alibis: Fumbling for the Lights: Darkness in Mysteries for KidsW.H. Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06098532122691818369noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6426953807579855451.post-81502385978528542902011-11-02T21:30:00.864-04:002011-11-02T21:30:00.864-04:00Well said, Melodie. Love the idea of teens walking...Well said, Melodie. Love the idea of teens walking away with optimism intact. Thanks, Laura - it was actually a timely vandalism event because a rock had also been hurled through a window in the book I was writing; I'd just written that scene days before. That made it extra eerie.Diana Rennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00141038221046486655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6426953807579855451.post-78174438970575107072011-11-02T15:20:37.417-04:002011-11-02T15:20:37.417-04:00Great post Diana, and I hate that you had to deal ...Great post Diana, and I hate that you had to deal with vandalism like that, but love that it got you thinking about motive :)Laura Ellenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11460109672104491370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6426953807579855451.post-77288441105440409222011-11-01T20:20:14.935-04:002011-11-01T20:20:14.935-04:00Honestly, nothing is too dark for YA these days. I...Honestly, nothing is too dark for YA these days. I think the Hunger Games proved that. And the constant, 24-hour diet of violence kids are fed on TV. I don't think the darkness is the issue - it's more a worldview of hopelessness that can seep through. There's a reason behind why Jay Asher's 13 Reasons Why, about a girl who commits suicide, remains a bestseller in YA. The challenge is to write the real world w/o capitulating to it, to create a sense of hope, of purpose and love/faith so teens walk away with their optimism intact.Melodie Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04599091593083976703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6426953807579855451.post-31489840214590382322011-11-01T19:34:17.130-04:002011-11-01T19:34:17.130-04:00Thanks for the comment, Sarah! I have not read Chr...Thanks for the comment, Sarah! I have not read Christopher Pike; will put on my TBR list! Glad to know I'm not the only one who is at times in the dark about darkness. Oh, and creepy story, the fake gun in your stolen car! There's the seed of a mystery!Diana Rennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00141038221046486655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6426953807579855451.post-52621247830907278642011-11-01T15:57:15.625-04:002011-11-01T15:57:15.625-04:00That must have been really unsettling to discover ...That must have been really unsettling to discover the rock thrown through your window. I remember feeling vulnerable and dumbfounded when my car was stolen out of a gated garage at my old apartment building. I had so many questions for the thieves (particularly since the vehicle was recovered within 24 hours, with a fake shotgun in the back seat!). <br /><br />It's a tricky balance deciding how dark to go with MG and YA novels. You want realism but you also don't want to make the violence gratuitous. I liked your sentence, "Sometimes in mystery writing I feel like I'm constantly adjusting Venetian blinds, trying to get just that right slant of light." <br /><br />When I was reading Christopher Pike as a young teen, I liked some darkness because being scared was part of the fun of reading his books, but now that I'm older, and writing books for teens myself, I struggle with wondering how dark is too dark.Sarah Skiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18242496273739569661noreply@blogger.com