… Her persistence on continuing to write many, many books, that’s, like, what’s gotten her here today, and I’ve just seen her grow as a writer,” Sawaya said.Īndrea Woody said that her daughter writes many stories from a male perspective and that she believes Woody is open to all ideas and relationships and is not judgmental of other people. “One thing that she’s always been is just persistent with her writing. ![]() They said it was amazing after seven years of rejection. Woody said that by writing a queer rom-com, they found their niche and received eight offers of representation from agents. They wrote the book in a brisk two months. Woody loved the escapism of queer rom-coms. So I decided to start dabbling in queer rom-coms, because I had determined at that point that maybe I wasn’t connecting to my books as much because I was writing straight characters, and I was not straight myself,” said Woody, who identifies as queer. I’m just going to write something that will make myself and the people around me smile. “I decided I’m just going to write a book for fun. Then in 2020, they decided to just write something for fun. The rejections, Woody said, really negatively impacted their perception of their self-worth. ![]() Woody went through many rejections over seven years before deciding to switch to writing a queer romantic comedy. They began sending query letters to agents, but it didn’t go very well. In 2013, at the age of 17, Amanda Woody said, they learned about literary agents and the publishing process. So a lot of people recognized the fact that she was very interested in writing. “In high school, she was voted something like most likely to become a writer when she was a senior. “I think she’s just been inundated with writing and how important it is,” said Andrea Woody. Woody’s mom, Andrea, said that as a teacher, she made her daughter write a lot, because she knew it was an area in which many children struggle. They recalled writing their first story in first or second grade and said it was a bit violent for their age, with a character pushing her stepsisters into a volcano. Like, since I was in first grade, that was the only thing I was good at, was reading and writing.” “I have always wanted to be an author, like, from the get-go. “I have been, basically, writing since I could pick up a pen,” said Woody. They currently work as a secretary in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at Wayne State University. Woody earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Central Michigan University. Woody, who uses they/them pronouns but also accepts she/her pronouns, grew up in Novi and graduated from Novi High School in 2013. … You are safe here (in Woody’s books) and you don’t have to worry about that here.” It’s not safe for them to explore these kinds of things. A lot of them are in situations where it’s not safe for them to be out. I really want readers to know that they are safe from these struggles in these pages, because a lot of them are not safe from these struggles in real life. People are not cruel to the main characters because they identify as bi or whatever. “I want my books to be sort of like a safe space for kids who may be questioning (their sexuality) and if they don’t know how their parents will react, because it doesn’t deal with that,” Woody said. While many queer books concentrate on issues around coming out, Woody said, “They Hate Each Other” doesn’t deal with issues of homophobia and hence provides a safe space for LGBTQI+ youth. She said the serious parts help to give the characters more depth than just an ordinary comedy. Woody’s best friend, Ashley Sawaya, who is also a Novi native, described the book as being “a lot of fun,” but said it does have some serious stuff as well. The book tells the story of two gay men who are seemingly opposites and who pretend to date each other to prove to friends they are incompatible, but learn that opposites do attract. NOVI - A Novi native and now published author has proven that dreams do come true with a lot of determination and perseverance.Īmanda Woody’s debut novel, “They Hate Each Other,” a young adult queer rom-com published by Penguin Random House, was released May 9.
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