Beulah Land-A Young Adult Novel by Nancy Stewart

Violette Sinclair was always in my heart. She emerged almost fully-formed after the untimely death of my cousin Jill, who faced many obstacles as a lesbian teen. In weaving the narratives of these two powerful women’s lives together, I found they had a comparable tale to tell; one of torment, betrayal, and redemption.

I am speaking of my debut Young Adult novel, Beulah Land, published by Interlude Press, November 17, 2017. As the first year of publication nears, I'd like to revisit not only the book but the reasons why I wrote it. 

Violette (Vi,) Sinclair, a seventeen-year-old young woman, calls the Missouri Ozarks home. It is where her family has lived for two-hundred years. But Vi wonders how long she will stay alive in her own hometown. 

With help from her only friend, Junior, Vi unravels a mystery that puts her in conflict with a vicious tormentor, a dog fight syndicate, and her own mother. Vi's experience galvanizes her strength as she struggles to survive in a place where a person can wake up dead simply because of who she is.

It is my hope that readers find this book not only entertaining but uplifting, and hopeful. Violette is not a victim. She is victorious. But the journey from potential victim to victorious woman is harrowing and rife with many dangers. 

The manuscript won First Place at the State of Florida Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in 2015. The book, in pre-publishing, won two Five Star Awards (Foreword Reviews and NetGalley.) 

Diversity: The Magic Word in Young Adult Novels

“When I was growing up, I never saw a book cover or read a book about someone who looked like me.” 

Renee Watson

This heartrending quote came from a good friend and colleague of mine several years ago. She is an African-American woman, an educator and published author. My friend now writes Young Adult novels that include healthy doses of diverse characters, and she feels fulfilled by doing so.

The tragedy, of course, is that it took so long coming. And the question is, why? One of the more obvious answers lies in the publishing houses. Publishers, in large part, have traditionally been white themselves. There was a widespread belief that diverse books would not be marketable, thus the profits would suffer. Finally, though, as with the impact of television in the 1950’s, the Internet came into its own. At about the same time, a third-wave feminist movement occurred, and a growing appreciation for the need of diverse young adult literature took root. Happily, today, with organizations such as We Need Diverse Books and Diversity in YA, the concept and use of diverse characters is much more fully etched in the writing landscape.

Nancy Stewart

Diverse novels such as The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake and The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, legitimize diversity. These books give the characters flesh and blood, and heart, and humanity, not to mention a voice from which the reader can learn and grow. And if the reader is diverse him/herself, that person can be much the richer for having read the book.

If ever there were a time for Young Adult books featuring diverse characters, it is now. The rising culture of nationalism, brought on in large part by shifting populations worldwide, is allowing and validating groups of hatemongers in the United States and across the globe. Literature in general, and Young Adult literature in particular, has the power to combat such dangerous philosophies.

The future appears brighter in the world of Young Adult Literature. Publishing houses are much more open to giving diverse authors and their books the chance to be read. Librarians are buying the books needed by and for diverse populations. And teachers are recommending and reading these books to their classes. Diversity is truly the magic word in Young Adult novels.

Belleville Native’s Debut YA Novel was Sparked by Cousin’s Death

My Young adult novel, Beulah Land was published by Interlude Press November 2017. I am publishing the review from my hometown newspaper, the Belleville News Democrat (Belleville, IL.) I am grateful to Caitlin Lally, for the lovely review:

A new, young adult fiction book set in the Missouri Ozarks just hit store shelves, and award-winning author Nancy Rosenthal Stewart, a Belleville native, said she drew inspiration from her environment and her own life situations.

“All of us as human beings are just an amalgam of experiences — that’s all we are. Experiences really define who we are, I think, and who we become,” Stewart said.

For Stewart, growing up alongside her cousin and visiting Lake Taneycomo every summer were the experiences that sparked her first novel “Beulah Land,” which was released in November. The book revolves around the life of 17-year-old girl Violette Sinclair, whose family has lived in the Ozarks for 200 years.

“Most summers, my family and I would spend a week or so in the Ozarks, and I just grew to love it. It’s just a wonderful — a bit rugged — place, but beautiful to visit,” Stewart said. “It really made a bigger impression on me than I thought it did at the time.”

Stewart said Violette’s character was influenced by the life of her late cousin, Jill. “My cousin was gay, and she had a very hard time growing up because ... part of the family simply did not accept her.”

Stewart said she began writing the story after her cousin died three years ago. “At her celebration of life party, the novel ‘Beulah Land’ came to me basically fully formed, it was like a Rubik’s Cube — ch, ch, ch, ch, ch — and there it was.”

According to Stewart, the main character needed to be placed in a difficult environment, and for Violette, that would be the rural Ozarks. “Authors always put their protagonist — hero or heroine — in the hardest place possible (to) give them so many things to overcome. So the Ozarks for a girl who is gay, that’s where she had to go.”

However, both the author and editor said Violette’s sexuality is not the main focus of the story.

“Though Violette Sinclair is definitely facing adversity due to her orientation … that’s not the point of what she’s trying to solve in this book,” Annie Harper, executive editor of Interlude Press, said. “What she’s trying to do is solve a mystery to save her family.”

“Vi, at the end of the day, is a wonderful, courageous human being, who just happens to be gay — it’s just one little facet of her life. The rest of her life is so much more,” Stewart said.

A publisher of LGBTQ fiction, Interlude Press has a young adult offshoot called Duet Books, through which “Beulah Land” was produced. Harper said it was important to publish the novel because of what the main character represents.

“She doesn’t just survive — she triumphs,” Harper said. “We don’t have enough stories about girls and women driving the story, driving the action, solving the problem, you know, without necessarily relying on someone else to do it for them.”

Stewart said she caught the attention of publishers after “Beulah Land” won an award in 2015 for being the top book in the state of Florida, where she currently resides. “Believe me, no one was more surprised than I was,” Stewart said.

While some may avoid the young adult section of the bookstore for one reason or another, Stewart said this narrative is not just for teen readers.

“The most important people to read it, I think, would be young people who are just learning about themselves; young people who are conflicted, perhaps, about their sexuality, but having said that, I would really like for their parents to read it, too,” Stewart said. “I really think it is a book for all people because it doesn’t just only deal with a gay girl — it deals with truth, and it deals with honesty, and it deals with valor.”

About the author

Just as Violette’s family roots run deep, so do Stewart’s. She said her family has lived in the Belleville area for nearly 100 years.

“I’m so fortunate to have grown up in the Midwest, with Midwestern values. I think that Belleville was a great place to grow up,” Stewart said. “I know that smaller communities sometimes get a bad rap, but I don’t feel that way. Belleville will always have a very warm spot in my heart.”

An alumna of Washington University in St. Louis, Stewart went into education and found herself at McKendree Universityteaching children’s and young adult literature when she began to consider writing as a career.

“During those years, I began to toy with the idea of writing, and over about a four- or five-year period it just became clear to me that I wanted to write.”

Stewart has published five children’s books in addition to “Beulah Land.”

Retail price for “Beulah Land” is $15.99. This and other books by Stewart can be purchased on Amazon, at www.nancystewartbooks.com or at Barnes & Noble.

Process-The Crux of Reading Young Adult Novels

The process of reading Young Adult books usually begins around the age of fourteen, when the Middle Grade phase of reading books for pleasure and/or in the curriculum wanes. Young Adult novels sparkle and shine for the older, more mature reader. Let the magic begin!

Young Adult novels can be found in many guises. From fantasy to dystopia to romance to historical fiction to…the sky, as someone said, is the limit. And perhaps even that is not the limit anymore with all the space opera options swirling around the reader.

A teenager, of course, should be the protagonist and preferably the antagonist as well. Adults are certainly welcome within the pages but should only be supporting characters and happily can be villains (as many adults seem to be villains within a teen’s real life.)

The most important part of a Young Adult novel is this: The teenager/s should act like teens! And this is where the process becomes important, because growing up is just that. For the impressionable teen to mature, for new concepts and values to light up his/her brain, the truth must shine through. Of course, that truth can be dark, hurtful, even sinister. But truth must be there, on the page, in the very sinew and soul of the book. If it isn’t, the work will be a sham. It will be false and clearly a danger to the reader, who by virtue of his/her youth, is beyond vulnerable to what s/he reads.

My debut Young Adult novel, Beulah Land, tells the story of a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in the Missouri Ozarks. Part of the book deals with dark, hurtful, and sinister events. The protagonist, Violette Sinclair, is smart, and strong-minded, and gay. She and her best friend, Junior McKenna, navigate treacherous territory in the form of a dog fight ring, a corrupt sheriff, and Vi’s mother, who harbors dark and sinister secrets.

A coming-of-age story, it is my great hope that Beulah Land will not only sparkle and shine for the reader but will give insight, courage, and above all, integrity to all who read the book. And, of course, viva to the process. Once more, let the magic begin!

Beulah Land: Young Adult Novel by Nancy Stewart

How does a seventeen-year-old gay girl survive life in the Missouri Ozarks, where every day can be a threat to her existence? My debut Young Adult novel, Beulah Land, tells that very story.

Violette Sinclair, a smart, ambitious young woman, wants to be a veterinarian like her boss, Claire Campbell. She plans to leave raw and threatening Bucktown, Missouri as soon as possible and never come back.

Her only friend is Junior McKenna, the local high school football star. Together, they begin a saga that leads them through their rural world of family feuds, dog-fighting, and the very real threat of  Vi's being murdered. This is a place where someone who doesn't fit in could wake up dead.

Vi and Junior decide to do whatever it takes to rid Bucktown of Dale Woodbine. The tale takes the two on a journey of self-awareness, and personal growth, and ultimately, of redemption.

This book, in a real way, took me on a journey as well. It began after the death of a much-loved cousin who died too soon from a rare cancer. Although the book is fiction, there are threads of a family story woven throughout the pages.

My cousin was a lesbian and as such, was made to feel unworthy by some people in general and a few family members in particular, including her mother. At Jill's Celebration of Life party, the novel came to me almost fully formed. I began writing it the minute I returned home.

The book, in many ways, was cathartic to write. It led me down a winding path of childhood, through warrens of memories that I had not visited in many years. In doing so, I was able to see the past that had eluded me, and writing it brought it into sharp focus.

My wish from my heart to yours is that you enjoy the book and, if you pick up a piece of wisdom here and there, so much the better. Happy reading!

Young Adult Novel, Beulah Land Coming from Interlude Press, Fall of 2017

Please forgive me for posting some news dear to my heart!  My Young Adult LGBTQ novel Beulah Land is to be published by Duet Books, an imprint of Interlude Press in the autumn of 2017.  I am so delighted to be associated with this august and award-winning publishing house.  I know it is a fitting place for my book to have found a home. 

Annie Harper, one of the founders of Interlude Press, said she has for years recognized the need for fiction that the teen LGBTQ audience can relate to, yet emphasized the universal appeal of Duet titles. “Like all young adults, characters in YA books are discovering who they are and trying to find the courage to show themselves to the world."

Duet’s name is a play on Interlude Press’s musical connotation and, Harper explained, “also implies a little bit of innocence, as well as the love story theme. But that said,” she added, “we are putting out love stories that have an additional dimension to them. We are focusing on stories where romance serves as a catalyst for characters to discover who they are and show their authentic selves.

Beulah Land, according to the publishing house is the story of:

A courageous teenager fights for social justice, survival, and self-defining truth in the forbidding Missouri Ozarks

It is my hope the book will speak not only to teens but to all people who seek to find truth in their lives and about the world.