YA Pride

Sometimes You Just Outlast It

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00June 7th, 2017|Categories: Guest Blogs, Writers on Writing|

Pride Month Blogathon: Day 1 - Introduction to Pride Month Blogathon by Brent Lambert Writing this makes me a bit sad because I really wanted better for all of you. I hoped that by the time I got the courage to tell this story that it would be antiquated and an experience that felt too far removed for any teenager of today to really be able to grasp. Unfortunately, I hoped too much for the future and we are where we are. And now instead of looking forward to my story being a relic, I find that I [...]

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Introduction to GayYA’s 2017 Blogathon

By Marilla|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00June 6th, 2017|Categories: Archive, Readers on Reading, Updates and Announcements, Writers on Writing|

What. A. Year. I began planning this blogathon the week after the U.S. election. Over the past six years, our blogathons have focused on general love of LGBTQIA+ YA, but this year, I knew that that would fall short. I was personally seeking something more, something that would help me grasp the world as it is now, and I figured many of our community members would be as well. This year, our blogathon explores two major themes: intergenerational conversation and the role that story plays in resistance, resilience, and joy. Over the last year, I’ve been struck by [...]

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Call for Volunteers: Content Team Members

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00May 5th, 2017|Categories: Archive, Updates and Announcements|

We're looking for 2-3 new volunteers to join our Content Team! Content Team Member Content Team members keep GayYA going by formatting posts before they go up and scheduling promotional tweets on Twitter. Help broaden our readership base and enable our community members find posts relevant to them and their interests by promoting our content and making our posts look awesome! Typically, 1-4 posts are sent to each Content Team member per month. (Exceptions include months without posts, and month-long blogathons.) Posts will be sent to Content Team members at least 72 hours before the post goes up; the post should be formatted [...]

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Interview with Ashley Herring Blake

By Nita|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00April 28th, 2017|Categories: Archive|

When I read Ashley Herring Blake's How To Make A Wish last year, I knew it would become one of my favorite contemporaries of 2017. It's almost Sarah Dessen-ish in feel, with an openly bisexual protagonist named Grace you just can't help but root for. Throw in messy, complicated family dynamics and a gorgeous setting and you've got an absolutely wonderful book. I'm so thrilled we got to ask Ashley about How to Make a Wish, and I know you'll enjoy her answers about this wonderful book. Be sure to get it when it comes out Tuesday! What inspired you to [...]

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Getting it Right on the Road: Positive Aro Representation in Travelogue

By Marilla|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00February 26th, 2017|Categories: Archive|

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Series: Day 5 by Ben "Books" Schwartz Let’s be honest: there’s not a lot of aromantic representation out there in the world of fiction. Here and there, though, on the fringes, aro characters are starting to show up, and every time I encounter one, my soul does a little dance of joy. As aro characters do appear, hopefully they’ll be good ones, represented thoughtfully, in ways that reflect the fullness and complexity of what it’s like to be aromantic. Aromantic representation is hugely, wildly important. I myself am agender and aromantic, but it took [...]

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Finding the other story: disentangling love from the narrative

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00February 23rd, 2017|Categories: Guest Blogs, Readers on Reading, Writers on Writing|Tags: Aromantic|

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Series: Day 4 by Natalie Ritter (i) While considering all the ways I could approach writing something worthwhile about how being aro and reading stories intersect, I was reminded of an instance in a speculative fiction creative writing class I took in undergrad. When it came to sci-fi and fantasy, it quickly became clear that, in this entirely white and mostly male class, there were “rules” that my classmates expected (and almost demanded) of sci-fi and fantasy stories. In a sense, there was a “contract” that these readers brought to this genre, and they were [...]

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Aromantic Headcanons and Making Room for Friend-shipping

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00February 22nd, 2017|Categories: Author Guest Blog, Readers on Reading, Writers on Writing|

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Series: Day 3 by Claudie Arseneault You know how ships go. Two people interact and have great chemistry, and suddenly fandom is all over them. They have a ship name that’s a mash-up of their two names, your tumblr dash is filled with them kissing and holding hands and being cuties, and the wild headcanons and alternate universes just keep coming. And why not? Look at them get along. They’re just perfect for each other, right? Here’s the thing: perfect for each other, for me, does not systematically mean romance. My experience of fandom [...]

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The Myth of Arospec People and Loneliness

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00February 21st, 2017|Categories: Guest Blogs, Readers on Reading, Teen Voices|Tags: Aromantic|

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Series: Day 2 by Ruairi There was a horrible moment in realising I was aromantic where it hit me for the first time that the majority of my life plans had gone out the window. Where I'd been taught there should be experimentation and heartbreak and marriage and a happily ever after, usually with some flowers or flowery language involved, I suddenly realised I didn't want any of it, really. All these experiences, these plans, these expectations for the rest of my life didn't feel right. And it was terrifying. I assumed that my life [...]

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Mistlands Launch + Aromantic Representation in Webcomics

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00February 20th, 2017|Categories: Book Lists, Guest Blogs, Writers on Writing|Tags: Aromantic, asexual, comics, webcomics|

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Series: Day 1 by Laya Rose I’ve recently launched my webcomic, Mistlands! It’s about an aroace half fey girl from a small New Zealand town who suddenly gets herself and her friends caught up in the world of the sidhe – up until now she’s only ever come into contact with smaller harmless fey. It’s a combination of some of my favourite things: faeries, LGBTQIA+ characters, and the New Zealand landscape. This story has been in the works for a couple of years and I’m so happy I’m finally starting it! I’d never really [...]

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Introduction: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week Series

By Vee|2020-03-28T13:40:14-05:00February 20th, 2017|Categories: Archive|

During our Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week series, we want to use our space on GayYA to support AroSpec voices. Last year, we decided to host Awareness Week Series over the various LGBTQIA+ Awareness Weeks throughout the year. Though we hope to include everyone on the site at all times, we wanted to dedicate a concentrated space to people from a specific community to talk about how they’re represented in YA. The response from the community was phenomenal– we got to feature many fantastic and thought-provoking posts, and watched as the community fostered some nuanced discussions via our identity-centric Twit Chats. [...]

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