#Some authors leaned waaayy too hard into female biology and talked about like. periods and contraception which okay FINE but it FELT WIERD

[praise-the-lord-im-dead]

Speaking of female authors in YA, there were a few years in my teens when I actively avoided them, because I'd read one too many books that seemed like an adult woman was projecting her fantasies onto people my age in a way that felt really weird.

And, it actually made me super gun-shy of writing female main characters for a long time--I thought writing women meant writing like that, and I didn't want any of it.

#Some authors leaned waaayy too hard into female biology and talked about like. periods and contraception which okay FINE but it FELT WIERD #like. sure talk about cycles and fertility but maybe not in the same tone you would use to talk about repairing a truck? #other authors were just boy crazy and you know it's really weird to read a detailed description of teenagers kissing written by an adult? #anyway I read almost exclusively male authors (with a few trusted exceptions) for a long time #also graceling by kristen cashore personally betrayed me and I've never forgiven it