Author Diary Entries

182: Let people ENJOY things! (In defence of Twilight Instagrammers)

• Sagan Morrow • Episode 183

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Find out why Sagan got outraged at a random person’s Instagram comment when they were dismissive of a 30-something Twilight Instagrammer reading Young Adult novels, the POWER of the YA genre, why you should read what makes you happy, her opinions about referring to romance novels as “fluffy,” and more!

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You’re listening to the Author Diary Entries podcast — formerly known as Indie Author Weekly. I’m your host, Sagan Morrow, and this is episode #182.


This is another follow-up to episode #180, when we talked about labels and gatekeeping in romance novels — today, the big message I want us to takeaway is this: Do more of what makes your own heart happy, let yourself enjoy what fills your cup, and let other people enjoy what they want, too!


One of my favourite things on Instagram are a few creators who provide commentaries on the Twilight series — both the books and the movies. These creators will do short videos sharing their critiques and analyses of Twilight, answer people’s questions, and one of them even wrote a book called “Why We Love and Hate Twilight.” I haven’t read it yet but I’m looking forward to checking it out, because I eat that stuff UP. I’ll share a couple of the links to their Instagram pages in the show notes for you if you are the same!


(Sidebar, a book I read earlier this year is called “The Girl Who Was On Fire: Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games Trilogy,” and it was FANTASTIC and a collection of essays analyzing the Hunger Games.) 


I cannot tell you how much JOY that kind of thing brings me. Critiques and analyses of pop culture is kind of a hobby of mine, so I love that there are Instagrammers who so passionately share their thoughts about Twilight. 


Anyway, some random person left a comment on one of these Twilight Instagrammers’ posts, saying “this is so weird, you’re in your 30s, why are you reading Young Adult novels, take reading comprehension.”


OOHH. Nope nope nope. That commenter is so wrong on SO MANY LEVELS, and I want to take this opportunity to point to some of the many reasons why they are incorrect: 


#1 The Young Adult (YA) genre is SO POWERFUL.


There are a LOT of impressionable people reading those books. They often deal with very serious, very real issues, and are simply packaged in a fun or exciting or adventure environment. Which is really very clever.


YA novels address coming-of-age experiences, identity crises, grief and loss, relationships and communicating with people and setting boundaries, standing up for personal values and beliefs, helping people to learn more about themselves and who they are and what they want and their place in the world, how the society we live in influences our entire worldviews, and so much more.


And when it comes to these Twilight Instagrammers, they are dissecting our relationship as the reader to the Twilight stories and characters, which is another level to all of this! They point out the racism and sexism in Twilight, and that also happens to highlight the ways that racism and sexism are deeply embedded in so much of everyday life. 


I will also say that I am forever in awe of how authors do pacing in YA novels in general. I have read a wide variety of genres, and in my opinion, Young Adult novels are some of the best — if not THE best — at fast pacing and page-turning stories. It makes sense: They want to keep young readers engaged. 


When I read a book in a single weekend, it’s often a YA novel. I don’t want to put it down. That is a SKILL. Plus, YA novels are often really well-written. A book being in a specific genre has nothing to do with the quality of the writing itself. And that brings us to my next point…


#2 No genre or writing style is “better” or “worse” than another, and you can read whatever your little heart desires, my friend.


I see this a lot as a romance author — it’s very similar to the YA genre in the way that people will dismiss it as being “fluffy.” 


And going back to Episode 180 on this Author Diary Entries podcast, I think it’s really important that if you ARE referring to romance novels as “fluffy,” you’re also taking some time to explore or examine what you mean by it. Terminology like “fluffy” can be accurate if you’re talking about it in the context of “this novel makes me feel good, and I like the escapism,” whereas saying that romances are “fluffy” because they’re *devoid of substance* is simply incorrect.


Frankly, and maybe this is me being a little salty here, but if you think that there are “higher brow” genres and “lower brow” genres, or if you think that some genres are devoid of substance, then you need to improve your critical thinking skills and get a whole lot better at being able to read between the lines and learn how to analyze things. 


If you can’t get substance from a romance novel or a young adult novel, that says more about you than the book itself. 


(As an aside, I have a university degree in Rhetoric — basically a degree in critical thinking skills. And I’m just going to say it: You are being elitist if you think that some genres are better than others.)


Look, you do not NEED to read a book or a genre *for the substance*, and you do not NEED to search for the deeper meanings of a book or a genre — you can absolutely read young adult novels or romance novels WITHOUT reading between the lines and consciously connecting with the additional deeper messages in them. 


But just because you AREN’T reading them *for the substance*, it doesn’t mean the substance isn’t THERE.


It just means you aren’t paying attention to it. And again, that’s okay! You can read books for the pure joy of it, plain and simple. 


Which brings me to my next point: Don’t let ANYONE tell you that you can’t read what you want to read. 


I have always been a voracious reader, and I have read and enjoyed a lot of different books. I’ve read Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and Jack London and Jane Austen and Graham Greene, and enjoyed all of them — oof, that’s a lot of male authors — which are all considered more “prestigious” (I’m saying that with an eyeroll)... and also, I have read the Twilight novels countless times. The Mortal Instruments series, Shopaholic novels, Bridgerton, Ella Enchanted, those are super fun and highly re-readable! I’ve read all of those many many times. 


A book or a genre being something that captures your imagination enough that you re-read it says a lot about it. When you’re still THINKING about a book, when you enjoy revisiting it, that proves the power of it. The readability of it. 


And you know what, let’s go back to the fact that those “higher brow” authors I mentioned WERE mostly men — typically, when a person views one genre as better than another, it’s because it’s a male-dominated genre. It’s misogyny, plain and simple. We see this with the content of the Game of Thrones series compared to romantasy novels; people turn their noses up at fantasy novels that are written by women. The attitude is gross. And in my opinion, George R R Martin is not a better writer or storyteller. Honestly, I couldn’t get through the Game of Thrones books. Wasn’t my thing. But people will put his books on a pedestal compared to fantasy novels written by women. 


As an aside, we also see this when it comes to love stories that end in tragedy vs love stories that are comedies; comedy is often viewed as less-than, even though it is NOT easy to write. Comedic timing is an undervalued artform. 


#3 You are allowed to have personal preferences.


What makes a book or a genre “good” vs “bad,” or “high quality” vs “low quality,” is extremely subjective. But just because you don’t like a book or a genre, doesn’t mean it’s not worth reading or that it’s less-than other books or genres or that it’s unworthy of analysis. 


You are allowed to like what you like and have personal preferences, but don’t you dare tell someone else that they should only like what you like or read what you’re reading. How boring would the world be if we all existed in a vacuum and read the exact same things and never differed in opinion? Having constructive conversations about what we’re passionate about is one of the great pleasures in life!


(And I will also say, I am a huge fan of critiquing the stuff we love. Critiquing is not a negative thing; it’s fun and fascinating! That’s a huge part of what these Twilight Instagrammers are doing.)


To finish up this episode, I want to note something else about this random person who commented on the Twilight Instagrammer’s account: first, clearly it struck a nerve with me, and I just do not agree with what they said at all (and the way they went about it was just rude to that Twilight Instagrammer), but second, it’s really sad that this person doesn’t understand the joy in something like reading young adult novels. We can all benefit by doing more of what makes our hearts happy. It doesn’t matter what your age is; you can still enjoy whatever that may be — including young adult novels. 


It reminds me of what C.S. Lewis wrote in his dedication in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe… He said, “My dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result, you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C.S. Lewis.”


I’ve always loved that dedication, since I was a little kid and my mom read out loud the Narnia series to my sister and me (they're also such good books). 


Age is a number, not a dictation of what you can or can’t enjoy. May we never truly grow too old for fairy tales, for young adult novels, for romance novels, for fun and lighthearted stories, for the things that bring us joy in life. 


That’s a wrap on today’s episode! Find me on Instagram & Threads to share your thoughts on this episode — my handle is @Saganlives. As always, you can access the show notes and transcript of this episode at SaganMorrow.com/podcast. And if you are enjoying the Author Diary Entries podcast, please take 2 minutes to rate and review it on your favourite podcast platform. 


Thanks so much — I appreciate you!


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Sagan Morrow

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