Public Service Announcement: a Word about Ethan

Hey!

Welcome to another blog post, in which I will try to write down everything in my head in ten minutes before the baby wakes up and demands milk and then I end up typing with one hand and it goes so slowly that I get frustrated and say words a mother shouldn't and then give up on the whole damn thing.

So! Let's get to the point while I still have ten fingers for the keys (or eight fingers and two thumbs.)

Some people think some things about my book suck, like the kind of sucking you have to do to get one of those little balls out of the bottom of your Japanese tea. (Boba...is that the name of that tea that has the little jelly-like balls at the bottom? It was popular when I lived in NYC. Hmm...but it might be Chinese. Not Japanese. Sorry that I don't know which. If you'd like to write a comment telling me I suck for that, I completely understand.)

These people think certain things about my book suck for various reasons, but one I've heard a couple of times is that "You are So Undead to Me" is full-on ridiculous because the character of Ethan doesn't act like a teenage boy. He's too mature or sensitive or blah blah these people say. Now....these people occasionally have other bad things to say, but usually I just ignore those things because:

1. It's not classy to address the critics and I try to keep it classy despite the fact that I use the word "suck" a lot and sometimes curse at inappropriate times.

2. People are entitled to their opinion and free speech rocks and I don't want to be a Hater or an Impeder of Free Speech.

3. People who don't understand that a pom pom squad and a cheerleading squad are NOT the same thing--and want to bitch at me for calling cheerleaders by a stupid name--are clearly beyond redemption and not worth my time or wasted breath.

4. I'm busy and have diapers to change and wash. (Yes, I cloth diaper! So I can help save the Earth! and Money! Yeay Earth and Money!)

But in this specific instance, I felt the need to respond to the critics, as a public service to my younger female readers. I've done my share of dating in the past (some might say more than my share, but they are Haters and Impeders of Exploration. You have to explore your options before making any choice, but most especially the choice of a Life Partner) and I know of what I speak when it comes to boys.

Many boys reach their peak maturity at around 16-19 years of age. This isn't to say they won't get smarter or more experienced or that their personalities won't change over time, but the maturity, the sensitivity, the ability to really care about another person (or not) is going to be there by the time they reach that age. Yes, they're more likely to make dumb choices when they're younger (aren't we all?) and let someone special slip through their fingers (haven't we all), but I've known eighteen year old boys with the sensitive souls of old men and thirty two year old men without the sense to come in out of the rain or the compassion to care that their steady date has a horrible cold with a raging fever and can barely walk a straight line, let alone get herself back to her apartment on the subway all by herself.

So don't despair. There are Ethans out there--sensitive, caring, confident guys of all ages who will make your heart go pitter patter for reasons other than their studly exteriors. (Though those are nice too and I don't think it's shallow to appreciate man-beauty. God made man-beauty for us to appreciate.) Just because you're stuck dating teenage boys (I'm assuming because you're a teen yourself), doesn't mean you have to settle for the creeps who roam in packs and act like idiots.

The End. (The last half of this was typed one handed, as baby woke up as I had feared. That is how committed I was to this public service announcement)

Stacey Jay