For years I’ve been saying that I listen to her music because it helps me get into the teenage mind when I write – most specifically, Zellie, because I think a 16-year-old pastor’s daughter is definitely Tay Swift’s target demographic.
I’m not her target demographic. I’ll be thirty-seven in May. I drive a mini-van. When I was her age, Grunge music was all the rage. I have the flannels and long-haired college radio DJ’ing ex-boyfriend to prove it.
The last time I confessed to enjoying girly pop music…the name Debbie Gibson comes to mind. On the bus ride to school, Bill Ellis asked me if I liked Bon Jovi or Michael Jackson better and I said I loved Electric Youth.
One tends to remember the most embarrassing moments in their life.
After that, I never admitted to liking anything that wasn’t Cool Guy Approved – The Mighty Lemondrops, The Violent Femmes, Kate Bush, They Might Be Giants, Blondie, The Cure, Uncle Tupelo, The Pixies, The Replacements. I genuinely liked and like these artists.
But when I was home alone hairbrush singing in the mirror…I was all about Showtunes, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Paula Abdul (!), Celine Dion and Mariah Carey.
And forget New Country. That was like owning up to thinking it was okay to marry your cousin.
Hence, there was a period of time where I kept all of my Faith Hill CD’s in Ani DiFranco cases.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with liking Taylor Swift, or Mariah or Faith – it’s just not me that’s supposed to.
But I do, and not in an ironic guilty pleasure sort of way.
I like Taylor because she writes her own songs and because she learned how to play the banjo. She’s not the best singer in the world, but her intentions are good, her words are heartfelt and she tells a great story.
She writes about longing and forgiveness, first love, passion, heartbreak and getting your feelings hurt. I find her songs to always be in the moment and I never doubt that she’s gone through the emotions she’s singing about herself.
And that makes her relatable.
Who hasn’t loved someone that didn’t love them, or wished they could take something back that they’ve said?
Who among us hasn’t wanted to ask our critics, “why ya gotta be so mean?”
Plus, she basically called out John Mayer for being John Mayer-y in Dear John and I think that’s something we can all get behind.
Change is my favorite Taylor Swift song, mostly because it’s loud and rockin’ and makes me feel like I’m kickin’ ass and takin’ names.
Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, the Day of Sacrifice series, The Toilet Business - a collection of essays, and multiple short stories. She sometimes goes by S.W. Benefiel, but knows she's not foolin' anybody. Stacey lives in an orange house in Beaverton, OR with her husband and their two kids.
Her website is: http://staceywallacebenefiel.com
Senin, 05 Maret 2012
Hey, Laura Pauling here. First time posting on the blog! Glad you're here.
The other day the secret agents at YA CONFIDENTIAL posted some Youtube videos. Go take a look. I'll wait. Scary, huh? But maybe not so hard to believe. I know lots of grown up girls who ask the same question.
I can't help but remember my daughter dancing around the house, the yellow crinoline skirts of Belle swirling at her feet. She was pretty fickle for a three-year-old princess for two minutes later, she transformed into Cinderella and then Sleeping Beauty after that.
Thankfully, girls grow out of the princess stage. But I'd say that on the inside, no matter how hold we are, each of us, as girls/women want to be loved, want to feel special, want to feel beautiful. But I say that beauty lies not in how we look but in how we act and what we stand for.
And for that reason, I love finding kick-butt heroines in the books I read.
Every Tuesday we go to the library. Over the years of scouring the bookshelves; and more recently, virtual shelves, I’ve figured something out.
Girls rock.
Girls are smart. (Hermoine)
Girls fight in battles. (Hunger Games)
Girls survive being the outsider. (Open Minds)
Girls taste the salt air as their pirate ship crashes through the waves. (Dust of a Hundred Dogs)
Girls face the wilderness to find their loved ones. (Untraceable)
Girls play football. (Dairy Queen)
Girls plan and pull off giant art cons. (Heist Society)
Girls solve mysteries while discovering their special powers. (Beautiful Demons)
Girls survive isolation. (Shatter Me)
Girls solve mysteries up in space. (Across the Universe)
Girls fight to be who they want to be. (Become)
Girls can figure out why their best friend died. (The Liar Society)
These girls are beautiful.
Those are the kinds of stories I love to read. Those are the kinds of stories I love to write. Girls of any age in action. Figuring out who they are. Dealing with life. Fighting for their friends and family. Or even their lives. (And hopefully having a bit of fun at the same time.)
It was nice to meet you! Say hello in the comments and tell me about your favorite heroines in books you like to read. What do they fight for? Where do they find their beauty?
Then, head on over to YA Confidential for the cover reveal of my debut YA novel, A Spy Like Me. Yay!
Then check out my blog to read the first two chapters and enter to win a pre-order of Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig and an ebook of Watched by Cindy M. Hogan.
And if you'd like, sign up to receive an arc of A Spy Like Me, and/or participate in the release day in May!
