Changing the Hes to Shes

The first novel I wrote had a boy main character and had race as a central theme. Like most first books, this one has a big place in my heart and it's always been a bummer that we haven't found a home for it. All of a sudden, someone is interested in it, although it will likely mean changing the boy main character to a girl and changing it from middle grade to young adult.

Does that bother me? Actually, less than you might think. I'm funny in that I really love revisions (first drafts are another story) and I don't mind changing things radically if it serves the story better - after all, in this day and age, you can always delete the new version if you don't like it and go back to the old one. So I'm basically starting on page one and changing the main character to a girl and it's working out a lot better than I thought it would once I made the mental adjustment. I've also discovered a few things, namely that a strong girl main character can be a skateboarder and can enjoy things that other girls might find disgusting. She can have a boy as a best friend and be a bit snarky while underneath being a bit insecure. The best part is that now other threads are wrapping up even more nicely than before - in some ways, it makes more sense going from Tyler to Taylor and I can write in a romantic thread that I couldn't do before (apparently, I can't write romance from a boy point of view).

And if I don't like it, there's always the Delete button.

Note to self: When youngest son says that his tummy feels funny, don't feed him pea soup right before bed. It's been a rough couple of days.

On this date: In 1963, four black schoolgirls are killed in Birmingham.