Nerds rule in local author’s debut
“Girls aren’t always allowed to be nerdy. And you don’t see girls really having each other’s backs”
No obsessive romance, no sexy vampires, no tragic deaths.
You call this a young adult novel? Who the heck does Anna Priemaza think she’s fooling?
“I’ve always been a pretty big nerd,” notes the Kitchener-born author, riding high on the success of her first book, “Kat and Meg Conquer the World.”
“I love playing video games and watching ‘Star Wars.’”
Nerds rule in the 21st century, so it seems logical that her book — which melds nerdom with mental-health issues, online gaming and female friendship — was voted one of Indigo’s top teen books of 2017.
“It’s about two nerdy girls who support each other,” notes the personable 32-year-old, who moved to Edmonton to attend law school, got married and found a job as a family and immigration lawyer. “I think that stands out because girls aren’t always allowed to be nerdy. And you don’t see girls really having each other’s backs.”
The book stems partly from Priemaza’s own life, growing up in tiny Linwood, Ont., where she watched her siblings play online video games, battled anxiety issues and indulged her flair for writing as editor of the student newspaper at Elmira District Secondary School.
But it was her Grade 1 teacher at Linwood Public School — fondly recalled as Ms. Speck — who offered the most encouragement.
“I recently found a bunch of old school journals,” confides Priemaza. “And there was a note that said ‘This is fantastic, Anna! You’re going to be a writer — you ARE a writer!’”
So why did she become an immigration lawyer?
“Writing was something I always dreamed of doing,” she concedes openly. “But I grew up being taught that you really need to have a stable career. I didn’t let myself even consider being an author.”
It wasn’t until a novel writing competition in 2010 that she decided to take it seriously, producing — in the years that followed — two novels that didn’t get published.
The third one — her first in the young adult domain — was the breakthrough that snagged her an agent and a two book deal with HarperCollins U.S.
“I thought of writing as something either you have the ability to do or you don’t,” she says of the publishing biz.
“I thought ‘I will either get published or not. I will either become an author or I won’t.’ But it’s not like that at all.
She pauses thoughtfully. “It’s much more like applying for a job 100 other people are applying for, and 50 of those people may be qualified.”
“My advice to aspiring writers is don’t think of it as ‘Do I have it or not?’ Think of it as ‘If at first you don’t succeed ... ’”
While a lawyer embarking on a career as a young adult novelist may not seem the most logical career progression, she notes there is a connection, however slight.
“My job as a lawyer is to tell people stories. Whether I’m presenting them to the immigration centre or courts, I’m really just trying to make them as compelling as possible.”
“But as a lawyer you want your clients to take you seriously and think of you as fairly mature.
“As a writer, you have to promote yourself as fun and youthful and up on various hip terms and concepts.”
She laughs. “It’s a funny balance to have.”
Mind you, it’s not as if she ever been one to blindly follow rules.
“I think my strongest trait as a writer is my characters,” she confides, confirming online reviews that rave about her book.
“If I read a book, I don’t care about what the plot is. If I find a character I love, they feel like real people to me.”
In “Kat and Meg,” that means young adult heroines who — in a break with tradition — come from diverse backgrounds, struggle with mental-health issues, live in Edmonton (of all places), aren’t obsessed with boyfriends and bond over a shared love of online video games and the gamers who play them.
“I think I write fairly naturally in a young adult mindset because one of my biggest hobbies is watching YouTubers who do video game playthroughs,” offers Priemaza, who finds her online pursuits offer a reassuring sense of community.
“I have been actively involved in fandom.”
As for anxiety, “it runs in my family. As someone who writes books for teens, it’s really important to me to be really open and honest about it.”
On the other hand, since one of her characters is black, it necessitated the enlistment of “sensitivity readers” to ensure her voice was authentic.
“Any time you’re writing outside your own experience you run the risk of propagating more harm than good,” notes the soft-spoken author. “But it’s so important to have diverse voices.’’
At the end of the day, she points out, none of these things matter as much as the book’s primary relationship.
“It’s a girl power friendship story,” she insists passionately. “There are little bits of me, but to me, the characters really come alive as their own people.”