For years I’ve been saying that I listen to her music because it helps
me get into the teenage mind when I write – most specifically, Zellie, because
I think a 16-year-old pastor’s daughter is definitely Tay Swift’s target
demographic.
I’m not her target demographic. I’ll be thirty-seven in May. I drive a
mini-van. When I was her age, Grunge music was all the rage. I have the flannels
and long-haired college radio DJ’ing ex-boyfriend to prove it.
The last time I confessed to enjoying girly pop music…the name Debbie
Gibson comes to mind. On the bus ride to school, Bill Ellis asked me if I liked
Bon Jovi or Michael Jackson better and I said I loved Electric Youth.
One tends to remember the most embarrassing moments in their life.
After that, I never admitted to liking anything that wasn’t Cool Guy
Approved – The Mighty Lemondrops, The Violent Femmes, Kate Bush, They Might Be
Giants, Blondie, The Cure, Uncle Tupelo, The Pixies, The Replacements. I genuinely
liked and like these artists.
But when I was home alone hairbrush singing in the mirror…I was all
about Showtunes, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Paula Abdul (!), Celine Dion and Mariah
Carey.
And forget New Country. That was like owning up to thinking it was okay
to marry your cousin.
Hence, there was a period of time where I kept all of my Faith Hill CD’s in Ani
DiFranco cases.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with liking Taylor Swift, or
Mariah or Faith – it’s just not me that’s supposed to.
But I do, and not in an ironic guilty pleasure sort of way.
I like Taylor because she writes her own songs and because she learned
how to play the banjo. She’s not the best singer in the world, but her
intentions are good, her words are heartfelt and she tells a great story.
She writes about longing and forgiveness, first love, passion,
heartbreak and getting your feelings hurt. I find her songs to always be in the
moment and I never doubt that she’s gone through the emotions she’s singing
about herself.
And that makes her relatable.
Who hasn’t loved someone that didn’t love them, or wished they could
take something back that they’ve said?
Who among us hasn’t wanted to ask our critics, “why ya gotta be so
mean?”
Plus, she basically called out John Mayer for being John Mayer-y in
Dear John and I think that’s something we can all get behind.
Change is my favorite Taylor Swift song, mostly because it’s loud and
rockin’ and makes me feel like I’m kickin’ ass and takin’ names.
Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, the Day of Sacrifice series, The Toilet Business - a collection of essays, and multiple short stories. She sometimes goes by S.W. Benefiel, but knows she's not foolin' anybody. Stacey lives in an orange house in Beaverton, OR with her husband and their two kids.
When I was a senior in high school, I was not the most popular girl in the world. On the outside, I was kind of a goody two-shoes. A girl who did everything right - joined all of the clubs, got straight A's, etc. etc. But on the inside, I was an awkward mess. I had no idea how to put together cute outfits the way some girls seemed to do effortlessly on a daily basis. My face was constantly broken out. I felt awkward in my own body, never knowing how to act in a crowd or get into the parties.
I found out later that a lot of the people in my school thought I was stuck up, but that wasn't the truth at all. In truth, I was painfully self-conscious. What other people saw as confidence, I felt as never-good-enough.
That's when my mother showed me an audition announcement in the paper. The Macon Little Theater was putting on Fiddler on The Roof, one of my absolute favorite musicals. I'd grown up watching the movie version of the musical and singing along, especially with the character of Hodel, the beautiful second oldest daughter who falls in love with the revolutionary and follows him to prison in Siberia. The moment I read about the audition, I knew I wanted that part. I didn't care that the theater was almost an hour away.
When I got to that audition and saw how many other girls my age had shown up, my self-doubt rose to the surface. But the second I got on the stage to sing, I was a new person. I was Hodel. I felt instantly transformed. I won the part and loved every minute of my time working on the musical. I met new friends that saw me as a true part of their group. I found new confidence each time I stepped onto the stage. I found a beauty within myself I hadn't realized was there. For the first time in my life, I had come into my own.
And isn't that something we all love about Young Adult fiction? Isn't that something we can all relate to? We've all felt awkward at some point in our lives, haven't we? One thing I love about reading YA is that we recognize ourselves in these young heroines. We know her pain. That gawky girl resonates with us. The heroine who doesn't yet understand who she is or what her true destiny is? She's just like us.
There's magic in that moment of coming into your own. Of suddenly finding that one thing that you were always meant to do. The one place where you suddenly shine. For Harper, the main character in my Peachville High Demons series, it's not until Book 5 that she truly comes into her own and realizes who she is and where her power comes from. It's a powerful moment, just like it was for me playing Hodel in that community theater production. I found a confidence that year that led me to take other risks. Risks like self-publishing and quitting my job to become a full time writer.
Do you have a favorite YA heroine that we get to see come into her own? What was one moment in your life where something suddenly clicked and you knew you had found something magical for yourself?
Sarra Cannon always secretly wanted to be a cheerleader. And a witch. Now, she writes about both. She is the author of the Peachville High Demons series, available now in ebook format. Sarra lives in North Carolina with her amazing husband and her teeny tiny pomeranian, Snickerdoodle.
