| Interviews: Writing With Magic (1/2) | ||
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| by Shannon Maughan Weetzie Bat sees life through rose-colored glasses. Pink Harlequin sunglasses, that is. And what she sees is the "slinkster cool" city of Los Angeles shimmering before her - home of Graumann's Chinese Theatre, funky clubs on Sunset and the "cheapest cheese and bean and hot dog and pastrami burritos." Weetzie is the memorable creation of author Francesca Lia Block, and the character has been inviting readers to her bizarre, glittery version of la-la land for nearly ten years - ever since she appeared in Block's first YA novel, Weetzie Bat, in 1989. Block has subsequently written five books about Weetzie and her eclectic, eccentric friends, as well as an unrelated novel and a collection of short stories titled Girl Goddess #9. Her unique characters, fantasy-tinged plots and honest treatment of race, homosexuality, AIDS, abuse and other complicated subjects have made hers one of the freshest literary voices around. And although they may be controversial to some, Block's books offer readers an exhilarating escape to a world of color, style, magic and emotion they'll not soon forget. Long before she ever envisioned Weetzie, Block was developing her story-telling craft. "I think I knew when I was very young that I wanted to be a writer," she says. "I always loved to write. I loved poetry. I kept journals and took writing classes. And I read a lot. My dad read me fairy tales and Greek myths. I was very lucky to have parents who gave me lots of encouragement." Some of her favorite books from childhood were The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell and titles by Rumer Godden. Block grew up in the same L.A. that Weetzie loves and became hopelessly homesick for it when she moved north to attend the University of California at Berkeley. It was there that Weetzie came fully to life and Block's first novel began to percolate. "Of all my books Weetzie Bat was the most fun. I wrote it for my own entertainment and comfort at the time," she says. "I was in Berkeley and missing L.A. It was a respite from my difficult courses in college." When she finished her manuscript, Block sent it to respected editor and author Charlotte Zolotow at HarperCollins who enthusiastically offered to publish it. "It was my charmed book, in a way," Block says. The book received warm reviews and won lots of young fans, but it wasn't without its critics. Weetzie Bat lives with her boyfriend "My Secret Agent Lover Man," her best friend Dirk, and Dirk's lover Duck, for starters. Weetzie has a baby named Cherokee and this most unusual family takes in another infant, Witch Baby, who is left on the cottage doorstep. "There was some huff about Weetzie Bat," Block says. "It seemed to create a stir." |
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