My Guardian of the Two Worlds series is about a girl named Jane who is caught between trying to be a normal teenager and living a “secret” life of her family’s clan of fighting dangerous spirits.
But the most unrealistic thing about my books isn’t the anime-like martial arts and superpowers, or the Miyazaki-Last Airbender-esque spirits floating around. It’s that the teens communicate with extreme clarity and emotional vulnerability.
And it’s not just to “that one person who gets me” - Jane is open, vulnerable, and direct to her family, her friends, her romantic interests, and even her enemies. And whenever she isn’t, there’s some sort of issue or fallout that arises from it that is usually only able to be resolved by returning to open and honest communication.
I know it’s not “accurate” or “realistic.” I’ve been working with teenagers for years. But it is an intentional choice for them to do that because I want the characters to model what we should all strive to do in our relationships. I mean heck, let’s be honest, most adults don’t even communicate like that. But it would be better if we did.
My hope is that Jane - or at least how she handles her relationships - can be aspirational.