Shelly Stoehr Interview

In 1991, Shelley Stoehr had her first novel published by Doubleday.

Crosses seems as much a rebellion against the conservative 1980's as it is steeped in this time period in which Stoehr herself grew up. Stoehr was an avid reader and was aware of young adult fiction even as a teenager. Some of her favorites were the popular writers who helped shape the market for YA fiction throughout the 1970's. These included writers such as Judy Blume, S.E. Hinton and Lois Duncan. While the tragedies that befall Stoehr's "outsider girls" are more extreme than in books by these authors, they also share a striking similarity. Each of these women were published authors, with popular books before they were 30. Stoehr's books introduced new subjects to YA fiction, much like Judy Blume did, with a confessional frankness. Her protagonists, while rebellious, are not always loners and the bonds of friendship amongst rebellion are as strong as in Hinton's books. The horror elements of Duncan's work can also be seen with Stoehr as the readers are left in suspense for her characters often caught in a downward spiral almost beyond their control. The pacing of her books, short chapters and under 200 pages in length, keep them within the oeuvre of the Laurel-Leaf library and her predecessors. Still, Stoehr has something new to say. It is the hard edged nature of her books, stemming from reality, that gives a voice to a new generation and makes her the daughter that Blume, Hinton or even Duncan could never have imagined conceiving. I see her work following in this tradition of strong women writers whose work had a resonance to young readers. Stoehr's four novels were to the 90's what these writers were to the 70's.

I wrote to Shelley as a long time admirer of her work and she was kind enough to answer some questions for me.

In Crosses your character Nancy states "I didn't think of the replacing booze with water trick on my own, I read it in a book about a teenage alcoholic. That was my hobby, reading books about teens in trouble...I filled in the extra hours before bed with stories about drug addicts, anorexics and alcoholics." I was wondering if this reflected your own personal experiences as a teenager? Did you read a lot of teenage dilemma novels? And if so, which ones were important to you?

I loved to read as a teenager, and loved especially problem novels. As a creative youth probably already feeling stirrings of a mental illness to be discovered in adulthood -- I'm bipolar -- I was especially interested in books about people with mental illnesses. As a teenager, I remember really liking and identifying with Lisa, Bright and Dark. I also remember reading Sybil -- I didn't identify with that one, but I remember it because it was the only book my parents ever forbade me to read, because of the horrible sexual abuse Sybil had suffered. Of course, I read it even more eagerly!

Did these books inspire you in your own writing? Was your writing ever a reaction against these sort of books?

All of my books have been American Library Association "Recommended Book(s) for the Reluctant Young Reader", I think because I identified with and was inspired by the problem novels of my youth. I was very much like Nancy in Crosses -- both a cutter, and a disenfranchised, discontent, suburban teen. I drank and used drugs recreationally, but still did really well in school. In the first draft of Crosses, Nancy was to be Valedictorian, which I was in real life. I was strongly encouraged to remove that from the book because it didn't seem "believable" that a teen who smoked, drank and smoked marijuana could also be valedictorian! Anyway, the only books I ever reacted against were saccharine portrayals of teenagers with no problems... BORING! Crosses was called "A Go Ask Alice for the 1990's", and that was one of my favorite reviews, since the original Go Ask Alice had been one of my favorite novels as a teenager. Still, what I wanted to write was about teenagers who were multi-faceted, or unexpected, such as a drinker/cutter/smoker who was also super smart (Crosses), or a rich, talented kid who becomes a runaway/stripper (Weird on the Outside).

My interest in YA novels came about after I was a teenager. Like most teenagers, the books I read in High School were more "adult" titles. Who were some of the non YA authors that had an impact on you? Is there one book you can name that has a special significance to you?

I loved Stephen King most. Although I've never dabbled in writing horror, I did then, and still do, escape with horror and thrillers. As I mentioned earlier, I remember Sybil significantly because my parents forbade me to read it. I remember when I was in 6th grade, the school librarian punished me for reading "trash" when she caught me reading a book I only remember was called "Hell House." I told her that if she knew it was trash then she must have read it herself!

Do you think your knowledge of YA books compelled you to write about different topics that had not been written before? Did this make you want to write more about what some would consider to be "extreme situations". Or did the subject matter of your books just seem natural and honest to you?

This may come off as sounding freaky, but Michael Crichton wrote in his memoir,Travels, that for him, writing was "channeling" characters, and I identified with that. When I write, it feels more like I'm tapping in to a character than creating one. My books are character-driven, so often when I sit down to write, it feels like I'm just writing down someone's story... on a good writing day, when I open myself up and don't try to "do" the writing myself. On a bad day, I try too hard to create, and the writing comes out fake. One of my problems lately has been trying too hard -- I think I've been reading too many books about writing. When I was younger, I never second-guessed myself, or the words that flowed out of me.I do look for characters that can survive extreme situations. Then I let the characters tell their own story. For example, I'm writing a book now tentatively titled, RealThin. At first, it was called Let Her Cry, and was about a girl struggling to deal with her bipolar mother. What came out was a girl who also has an eating disorder, and not only that, she throws up on camera, videos she uploads to YouTube as her screen personality, RealThin. I had no idea when I started this novel that that was where the character would take me.

In Crosses, 15 year old Nancy cuts, has sex, hitchhikes, drinks, does drugs, shoplifts, nearly gets raped and ends up in a psychiatric hospital. The series of events seem more intense than in the novels that follow. I remember that as a teenager, extreme situations appealed more to me than they do as an adult. Do you think this intensity comes from having written the novel at a young age? Also, do you still believe that presenting these situations in books for teenagers still has relevance?

I know it still has relevance because my fourteen year old nieces just read Crossesand told me it was "the best book everrrrr." I do believe teenagers have a passion for the extreme, for testing to the limits, and books that represent that truth of teenaged life affect today's teenagers as much as the teenagers of my youth. I have received more criticism by teenagers today for Crosses than when it first came out, but most of that criticism comes from Crosses being 20 years old. One teen critic wrote that Crosses was written at a time when teenagers were "just starting to use marijuana" -- LOL!

When did you begin writing Crosses? Were you studying writing while in college?

Crosses was first a short story I wrote for a writing class. I then wrote the novel and gave it to my writing teacher, Blanche Boyd, who told me it was terrible! I believe she said, "This is not writing." (!!!) I was so mad that I rewroteCrossesthat summer, and when I gave it to Ms. Boyd again, she was impressed that I made something out of nothing... then, I submittedCrossesto Delacorte Press's First Young Adult Novel contest. The contest judge told me that she liked the book, but it "had no ending," so I wrote an ending. I still remember the judge saying she was "not sanguine" about a rewrite, but she agreed to read it again. Although I didn't win the contest, Delacorte decided to publish my book! I was a junior at Connecticut College.

What aspects ofCrossescame directly from your own personal experiences? (of course you don't have to answer this if it's too personal) Do you think it was beneficial to be writing about a teenager when you were not far from your teen years?

I was a secret cutter as a teenager, and even into adulthood. Eventually, I entered a twelve-step program, and I haven't cut for several years now.Crossesis the book that is most like my actual life as a teenager.I think more young people should write YA books, but of course, when you're in college studying writing, you always want to write adult books. Problem is, you really don't have the life experience.

I was also curious if you set out to write a YA novel or was this a marketing decision when you (or your agent or publisher) were trying to sell the book. Do you always consider writing for a certain market or do you find that a block to creativity? Or in other words, when you write, do you think about a teen audience? Or are you writing for yourself and others with similar interests? Does this even matter?

I didn't set out to write a YA novel, but once I did, YA was all I wanted to write. At the timeCrosseswas published, YA was the field where you could be most adventurous as a writer. You could write about anything because YA wasn't expected to make big bucks back then. YA authors weren't dependent on the "bottom line" as adult authors were. That's all changed now, and I believe it has hurt the YA industry. There are less risks taken with subject matter.I still love to write for a teen audience -- my "voice" as they call it is distinctly teenager. I guess I'm very in touch with my inner teenager. Certainly I'm as emotional as one. In fact, I consider myself an "Emo" writer.I am curious how your work first got published?I enteredCrossesin Delacorte Press's First Young Adult Novel contest. I didn't win, but Delacorte wanted to publish me anyway. The publisher at the time was the same who'd first published S.E. Hinton'sThe Outsiders, which, btw, was the very first novel to be called "Young Adult".

What was your reaction to the popularity ofCrossesas a young author?

I felt like a rock star! My editor would take me out to fancy lunches in NYC, I got to speak at the NCBTA conference and librarians from all over couldn't wait to talk to me. I felt like I'd found my niche in the world.Did you have to deal with any of the criticism or controversy directly that a book likeCrossesmight bring about?I rememberThe Bulletin for the Center of Children's BookshatedCrosses, but most everyone else loved it.Crosseswas the first ever novel about cutting. I even got favorable reviews fromThe Village VoiceandSassymagazine.

Did having a popular, published book change your lifestyle at all? Did it provide you with inspiration to continue writing for this age group?

What changed my lifestyle was my urge, almost compulsion to write -- a need I still have to this day. I started writing seriously (nearly every day for at least an hour a day) when I was a teenager, so writing was all I ever thought I'd do, though I did finish college as a dance major... I though writing would support me so I could dance. Turned out that back then, writing YA was not very profitable, though it was intensely rewarding. I've gotten letters from young people who say my book changed, or even saved, their life... doesn't get any more rewarding than that!

Crosses takes place on Long Island in Babylon during the 1980's. I am assuming you also grew up in Babylon during this time period. I grew up on Long Island in the 1990's and recognized some of the locations in the book such as the Sunrise Mall and also some of the musical references like the bands Lisa Lisa and Squeeze that are particular to this time period. I was curious about some of the less direct references to your youth in this setting. What were some things from popular culture that had an effect on you growing up?

I was into alternative music like the Smiths and the Violent Femmes. I loathed the more popular music or what I considered fake alternative, like Depeche Mode. Hanging out at the mall was a huge part of my teenaged years. Everyone was less safety crazy, and it was cool to hang out across the street from school at the designated "smoking island" to smoke. We could leave school during lunch in high school, and getting pizza locally was big. The beach in summer... Robert Moses beach had a bus that departed every hour. The town pool. Hiding out under the bleachers in gym class.

One of my favorite lines fromCrossesis when Katie asks, "What's life without risks?" and Nancy replies "The Suburbs". How was your Long Island of the 1980's different or similar to, say, Degrassi or a John Hughes movie?

Probably closer to Degrassi that John Hughes. When I was a teen, I hated John Hughes, felt it was a cop-out, unrealistic representation of real teenaged life. Everyone had great clothes and the story always tied up neatly. As an outsider girl, I couldn't stand Molly Ringwald, although I did appreciate Ally Sheedy.Funny thing is, now I have a Breakfast Clubtee shirt. I have all the John Hughes movies on DVD, and I've tried to get my daughter to watch them because as bad as I thought they were at the time, I think they're better than any teenaged movies made today. I mean, Lemonade Mouth is so fake, I want to blow chunks. It makes me think there may not be a place for my style of story today. My fave movie, btw, although it's for younger kids (though I love it as an adult), is Harriet the Spy.

What was the impetus for Weird On The Outside? Did you begin working on this book before Crosses was published?

I was just out of college and trying to make it in NYC. So both Weird on the Outside and Wannabe were inspired by that experience. NYC is tough to make work! Even when I was in my early 20's, it was very expensive. I bartended at a strip club. I learned that stripping was not as it was in movies or books. I met amazing women who were strippers to put themselves through school, support themselves as artists and writers... I wanted to give these fantastic women a voice. More so than with Crosses, Weird on the Outside was a hard sell. No one wanted to believe strippers were not sleazy or else really into sex and money.

Weird On the Outside is a book that works on many levels. On one hand it’s the story of Tracey’s coming-of-age and of becoming an independent woman. On the other hand, it’s a story of taking dangerous risks in order to achieve this goal. Do you see these things as going hand in hand? Is danger and risk an important part of self discovery?

I never thought it out before, but now that you mention it, I guess that I do believe that. Not that it makes it right. Dangerous risks are mostly just dangerous. However, taking risks is a catalyst for growth, and so far as danger goes, well, it can also be a catalyst, provided one learns from it. In my own life, I took way too many dangerous risks: cutting myself too deeply, hitchhiking… later, as an adult, drinking too much and not always knowing how I got home (yikes!). But I’ve come out alive, and with some wisdom that comes from experience.

Your female characters are often very intelligent but do not choose to set out on the paths their parents imagine for them. Would you categorize this as youthful rebellion or something deeper?

Definitely rebellion, although for me, it wasn’t constrained to my youth. I think it’s normal and healthy for young people to rebel. But eventually, one has to grow up some and start doing things for the positive effects it will have on one’s self, rather than simply to negate someone else’s expectations. Do you imagine that your characters continue to challenge themselves in these ways throughout their lives?I believe that my characters are strong women in the making, despite some poor choices made in their youth. So yes, I think they will continue to challenge themselves, and learn about themselves. I recently wrote a novel called Somebody’s Daughter, (a short story version of this as yet unpublished novel has been published in the YA anthology, Truth and Dare)… anyway, in Somebody’s Daughter, the main character’s mother is Nancy Keenan – from Crosses, all grown up. Nancy is a writer and a single mother, successful but struggling at the same time. Reminds me of me!

The title Weird On the Outside seems to describe more than one of your books. Usually your characters express discontent through placing themselves in situations that may prove harmful and have to do with drugs and sexuality. I relate to your characters because they hold nothing back and are honest in expressing themselves. Do you personally believe it is better to be weird on the outside than to be weird on the inside?

In Weird On The OutsideTracey never has any serious regrets about stripping which is atypical of the sort of epiphany usually seen in a YA novel. Instead, she learns not to feel shame.

I was curious how you relate the physical to mental health. Do you feel that movement such as dancing or exercise is essential to self expression? Can physical awareness and comfort in your body help to combat psychological difficulties?

Wow! Well said! I forgot how inWeird, the important thing is learning not to feel shame, not only with one’s body, but with one’s mental state as well. Tracey was ashamed of being really smart, but she isn’t any more by the end. She’s met people from many different walks of life, and discovered that deep down, we are the same, whether we’re weird or “normal” on the outside.

Did your other work as a massage therapist, dancer or choreographer help to contribute to some of the ideas expressed in Weird On The Outside? And if so, have these things also contributed to the creation of subsequent works?

Well, I was a dancer and choreographer when I was writingWeird, and I definitely learned a lot about becoming comfortable with my body, which comes through inWeird. Also, I worked with strippers, both as a bartender in a club and I even choreographed a piece for the opening of a club, and a piece on Howard Stern’s TV show… so I learned first hand that people are people, and also that women are powerful.

Do you ever think about what happens to your characters after the books end? For the most part, do you see your characters as survivors and being able to make-it in the adult world.

Yes, they are definitely survivors. As I said in an earlier answer, Nancy fromCrossesgrows up and becomes a mom and a writer. I am pretty sure the other characters, much like my readers, have grown up to be successful humans – meaning, maybe not rich or famous, but good, strong people.

Personally, your bookTomorrow Wendy seems very accurately placed in the time the book was written/published (1998). I was 19 when this book was published and not far from your characters in age. The book seems very “90’s” to me in the descriptions of both the fashion and the music specific to this decade. It also seems like this was a sort of transitional time or the end of an era. For example, computers and cell phones are not even mentioned. Do you think it became more difficult for “angsty” books like yours to be published in the YA genre in the following decade?

They’re still being published, it’s just the issues change a little, and the means of expression change. I’m still not good with a lot of texting lingo, but I do have a character in a book I’m writing now who is bulimic, and dons a disguise and throws up on YouTube.

How do you think publishing has changed?

Mainly, there used to be a lot of little publishing companies, and now there are multi-media conglomerates. In YA, you used to be able to take bigger risks and also be more artsy, and more fringe. Now the “bottom line” is stressed more. It pisses me off, but eventually these giant conglomerates are going to fold in on themselves like a black hole, and then the small publishers with vision will rise again. IMHO! Will realistic, gritty or “emo” books make a comeback in the electronic age?I definitely believe so. Or at least, I believe there will always be a place for “emo” books, because there will always be an emo movement, even if it’s called something else. On my blog, I call my readers “outsider girls” – they’re not in the mainstream, they’re not the popular girls, but they have something to say.

Will you write about new challenges faced by teens that relate to technology in your new work? Or would you be more comfortable setting your stories in the 80’s or 90’s so that you can draw from your own youthful experiences?

That’s a really good question, and I don’t know. I’m not a dinosaur when it comes to technology, but I don’t have an iPhone either. So far, I’m trying to write about kids who use technology, but its not the main issue for them. But who knows what I’ll be inspired to write next?

Well, I certainly look forward to reading your next projects! Thank you for taking the time to do this interview.

More info. on Shelley Stoehr can be found online atwww.shelleystoehr.com Photos of the author are courtesy of Shelley Stoehr.

NOVELS:

Crosses(Bantam Doubleday Dell/Delacorte Press: 1991, Laurel Leaf: 1993, 1998, iUniverse: 2003)*an ALA Best Book for Young Adults*an ALA Quick Pick*an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Readers

Tomorrow Wendy(BDD/Delacorte Press: 1998, iUniverse: 2003)*an ALA Quick Pick*an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Readers*A New York Library Best Books for the Teenaged 1998

Wannabe(BDD/Delacorte Press: 1997)

Weird on the Outside(BDD/Delacorte Press: 1995, Laurel Leaf: 1996, iUniverse: 2003)*an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Young Readers

SHORT STORIES:

Somebody’s Daughter(Truth or Dare, edited by Liz Miles, Running Press: May, 2011)

Troll Bumps(Love and Sex, edited by Michael Cart, Simon & Schuster: Spring, 2001)

The Book(Lost and Found, edited by M. Jerry and Helen S. Weiss, Tor Books: 2000)