How ironic that only days after I write a blog about having written only one girl book (Breathless) out of my 17 books, I find a message on Facebook from a guy who says Breathless was his favorite book in high school. So much for trying to label books “boy-friendly” or “girl-friendly.”

Yes, I have a reputation for writing “boy-friendly books,” and a former literary agent advised me to stay with this niche, which I’m still having fun doing. And yes, all but one of my 17 books have male protagonists and are about adventure, which boys tend to like better than girls.

But isn’t it great we can’t really package books with blue or pink ribbons? Breathlesshas a female protagonist whose goals are to lose weight and catch a guy. And it deals with how to handle an overly amorous boyfriend.

But hey, when I was in middle school I remember being mystified by how boys thought and what they wanted, and I sought out “boy books” in the school library (preferably when female friends were not around) to find out. And when my own son was eleven, I remember him reading Looking at the Moon by Kit Pearson (http://www.kitpearson.com/) that gave him insight into girls’ cycles. It gave us a lead-in to a facts-of-life discussion.

Anyway, as I’ll never tire of saying, girls read my adventure books too, and all my books have a go-for-it girl character, even if she’s not the main character. So even if librarians and marketing departments push my books as blue, I say they’re pink too. And that means Breathless, which I thought was pink, turns out to be blue too. As Michael took the trouble to tell me:

“My favorite book that you ever wrote was Breathless. I ended up reading it in high school as a book report and it was like the best book I’ve ever read.” – Michael, Elmira, New York

Breathless on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breathless-Orca-Soundings-Pam-Withers-ebook/dp/B0055FE3O4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426271703&sr=1-1&keywords=breathless+withers