Nic Stone was named bestselling author by the New York Times. Her new adventure, Odd One Out, shares one coming-of-age story from three different perspectives. She is from a suburb of Atlanta, GA and grew up among diverse cultures. Nic Stone spent time mentoring teens and strives to provide a platform for their voices.
RQ is proud to announce Nic as a featured author for “3 YA Stories @ the 2018 Miami Book Fair panel,” on Sunday, November 18th @ 1:00 PM, featuring T. Cooper & Allison Glock-Cooper, Maggie Thrash and hosted by David Levithan. Please RSVP here.
Odd One Out is a beautiful coming-of-age story about three teens exploring and empowering their sexuality by pushing their relationships to awkward boundaries. According to Nic Stone, she relates to all three characters. She has been coop, crazy over someone she couldn’t have. Her questioning experience was like Rae’s. Nic mostly relates to Jupe and her struggle with the label issue, the discomfort over her knowledge of stereotypes, and how embracing certain attractions could validate some of those stereotypes.
Nic’s life experiences inspired her writing. At the age of six, she had her first girl-crush. She spent the next few years oppressing her attraction for girls. Suddenly, she reached the stage where she felt comfortable embracing her feelings for other girls. However, she was confused by the labels and stereotypes assigned by mainstream society. In a way, “Odd One Out is a love letter to her teen self who needed to know that her questions were perfectly fine and, label or no label, she could like, love, be with whoever the hell she wanted to.”
Nic Stone is also inspired by the “dismissal of patriarchal and misogynistic standards of beauty” that Lena Waithe represents. Lena Waithe is a queer media icon, actress, writer, and producer. I personally love her collaboration with Master of None; a popular show on Netflix with Aziz Ansari. Another beautiful soul that inspired Nic is singer-songwriter Kehlani. As a teen, Nic struggled with labels and stereotypes but Kehlani insists in being her authentic self.
Every great book encounters a few obstacles and Odd One Out was no exception. There were a few struggles throughout the journey. As Nic searched to give Rae a voice, she realized that she does not embody her. Nic judged Rae for been a people pleaser and Nic could not relate to that. She learned to understand Rae’s character to work through the judgement.
Nic Stone’s sense of humor helped her through various awkward moments as a teen. She remembers the time when she tripped and fell hardcore in front of her younger crush. She still hears the laughter of the other kids in the background, including her crush. But that didn’t destroy her self- confidence. She got up and joined the laughter. One way or another, she got her crush’s attention.
The whole world should know that Nic Stone would like to be part of making a more equitable place for all of us and she will dedicate a book that will define economic inequality.
Learn more about Nic Stone here.
RSVP here to meet Nic Stone at the RQ presentation “3 YA Stories @ the 2018 Miami Book Fair panel,” on Sunday, November 18th @ 1:00 PM.
