@PagesUnbound

A young adult, middle grade, and classic book blog! Twitter account run by Briana: Tolkien, Doctor Who, medieval lit fan.

Joined October 2012
When Book Characters Do Wrong, They Seldom Make Restitution pagesunboundreviews.substack…
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In 2017, I published this post addressing the discourse of whether YA books should ever be set in college. People thought not. Today, I have people telling me it's normal and expected that a YA character would be in their 20s. pagesunbound.wordpress.com/2…
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must be living in the past because while I have NOTICED the influx of YA characters 19-22, I have still thought it was WEIRD, not an obvious/expected convention of the genre. I associate the "characters are supposed to be older than the readers" thing with middle grade, not YA.
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My school doing this meant I just didn't bother applying for additional scholarships. If tuition is $50k and they give you $40k of need-based aid, so you owe $10k, they take any scholarships off the $40k so you still just owe them $10k until you get over $40k in scholarships.
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Not sure why OP is quote tweeting me saying I suggested she should violate federal law. I am not saying it's her fault. Just agreeing that often when students "get a scholarship" they never actually get the money due to the SCHOOL's policies, and that's frustrating.
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The homework thing is interesting in the context that some parents write off their kids' poor standardized test scores as "test anxiety" but will believe their kid is struggling with understanding content if their homework is incorrect.
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I think AI tells are less things like em dashes and more things like inane details that are supposed to be "dramatic." I just saw a post about a toddler running off that claried the yard had no fence and "a driveway straight to the street." Yeah that's usually where driveways go.
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Every YA fantasy books sounds the same. You have to write like, "My midnight dark cloak was slung over my shoulders, slumped as if I couldn't bear the weight of the silky garment, and my eyes skittered to the rooftops where I'd heard a too-hoarse cough from a ravaged throat."
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It sounds like an exaggeration, but when I used to read more undergrad lit magazines it was seriously like: divorce, assault, suicide, divorce, depression, suicide. I can see how an instructor might want to challenge younger writers to expand beyond these topics.
... seriously? This from some "creative writing" course or other. I have frequently said that creative writing classes mostly serve to stifle actual creativity, and this right here is exhibit fucking A. Oops, used foul language, I get an F.
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One, if I were an instructor, I would get very tired of reading such dark stuff semester after semester. Two, the challenge might be realizing you can write something "good" and "deep" that isn't some cliche like, "I am an aging academic in a failing marriage ruminating on it."
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I know marketing is tough for authors, but 50% of the comments I get on Substack are, "Interesting topic. I have a book with similar vibes! Check it out here!" I have never checked it out because it feels like not a genuine interaction with my blog post.
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So it's looking like I will have to rebuild my channel which is devastating and I can't do it without your help. If you've at all valued what I do this is the moment I need your help. Please sign up for the patreon or make a ko-fi one time donation🙏 ko-fi.com/hallmarkiespodcast patreon.com/hallmarkies?utm_…
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I think someone just (derogatorily) accused me of being a literature teacher. Too bad for them that I'm not?
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He also accused litearture teachers of being obsessed with authorial intention, so I'm not sure what decade he's living in.
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