Malinda Lo

This post was originally published at GayYA.org. In my two young adult fantasy novels, Ash and Huntress, the main characters are girls who fall in love with other girls. I admit there’s something different about the love stories told in my books, but it’s not that they’re gay love stories. The difference is: in the ... More→

I have been doing a lot of interviews lately since Huntress was just published, and I almost always get a question along these lines: Did you have any problem getting your gay YA novel published? Have you experienced any homophobic backlash to your books? I always find these questions a little jarring, because from where ... More→

I grew up with music in my house because my mother is a pianist. Before we immigrated to the United States, she was a professional musician in China. After we moved here, one of the first things my parents bought was a little upright piano. I began having piano lessons when I was about four ... More→

I was recently talking to a writer friend of mine about a book she’s writing. I’d read the manuscript and given her some feedback on it, suggesting that she intensify certain themes, draw out particular threads, etc. Basic high-level (as in broad in scope, not focusing on grammar or punctuation) feedback about a work in ... More→

It’s been a little over a year since Ash was published (I can’t believe it! It went so fast!), and over the past few days I’ve been thinking about what I’ve learned in my first year as a published novelist. This post, then, is my long, navel-gazey account of those lessons. I did a lot ... More→

Over at Brooklyn Arden, editor Cheryl Klein has an interesting post about the elements of a great fictional romance. She pulls out 13 characteristics of a great romance, while acknowledging “the highly general, even stereotypical, gender roles” involved. One of the commenters (Nona) asked “How would the rules of romance change for LGBT characters or ... More→