Well here we go (definitely late to the party, but oh well...)
Moon Dance ended up YA because that seemed the best way to tell it. I love YA and I love adult books so I write both. (Generally in the same paranormal romance or fantasy romance categories, but still...)
I start out with a concept or archetype and build from it like its the center of a tootsie pop when I design characters. It could be anything from thinking of a character I liked in a movie or cartoon and then analyzing them to see what quality from them I like best, to something totally random like "One look into his silvery eyes and there was great risk that you might lose your soul." *Anything* can set me off and running. And from there I build, build, build until I can't recognize where the original thing came from.
How much of me ends up in my work? A lot in rough draft or little details. I mentioned Pizza way too much in Moon Dance, but eventually went back and messed with that when I realized Sarena's favorite foods are french fries and cheese capaletti. I guess that for the detail work I'm not afraid to use place holders to get my plot down and then I go back and run through it all with a fine tooth comb once I know my characters like they are long lost relatives.
I see nothing wrong with girly YA. I see nothing wrong with YA for both genders. I see nothing wrong with boyish YA. In all truth, I think that diversity is the best thing to strive for and that all any author can do is tell the stories that he or she must tell. We all have our own voice, our own ideas, our own tales that are uniquely ours to share. I could no more write
The Hunger Games then I could
Romeo and Juliet. Did I like the book (and the play) -- yes. But they aren't my tale.
Stories are like eyes -- windows into the souls of their creators. Often our stories can say things that we couldn't consciously explain even if we tried.
As for the gum? Sure. I never turn down a piece of free gum -- long as its still in its wrapper.
