When writing, I think about message the theme, voice, and the work of my predecessors. With Mama’s Girl the message, the theme, is be careful. The novel starts in the morgue because I wanted the message to be stark. The message in this work is targeting young girls, but any reader can benefit from the theme, any reader can benefit from being aware of threats that are disguised and camouflaged attacks on one’s person. Teen girls are preyed upon from so many directions, and so many situations are not identified as malicious. So much “fun” ends tragically. The novel does not preach, “don’t do this” it says, “think about what you are doing.” I wanted the voice to be intimate; I wanted the reader to be part of the decision making; I wanted the reader to feel May’s victories and her mishaps, so I chose first person. I wanted the reader to think with May. While writing this piece, I thought about J. California Cooper’s work – how she linked family together through generations despite the present situation her characters were experiencing, I wanted to do that in Mama’s Girl. I wanted to show May accessing and using her family. I wrote Mama’s Girl because I had something to say to young women, because I wanted to give a young decision-making woman a voice, and because I wanted to give a nod to J California Cooper.
When writing, I think about message the theme, voice, and the work of my predecessors. With Mama’s Girl the message, the theme, is be careful. The novel starts in the morgue because I wanted the message to be stark. The message in this work is targeting young girls, but any reader can benefit from the theme, any reader can benefit from being aware of threats that are disguised and camouflaged attacks on one’s person. Teen girls are preyed upon from so many directions, and so many situations are not identified as malicious. So much “fun” ends tragically. The novel does not preach, “don’t do this” it says, “think about what you are doing.” I wanted the voice to be intimate; I wanted the reader to be part of the decision making; I wanted the reader to feel May’s victories and her mishaps, so I chose first person. I wanted the reader to think with May. While writing this piece, I thought about J. California Cooper’s work – how she linked family together through generations despite the present situation her characters were experiencing, I wanted to do that in Mama’s Girl. I wanted to show May accessing and using her family. I wrote Mama’s Girl because I had something to say to young women, because I wanted to give a young decision-making woman a voice, and because I wanted to give a nod to J California Cooper.
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