Dr. Zackary Vernon’s novel Our Bodies Electric is set in his hometown of Pawleys Island, South Carolina in the 1990s. It follows the main character, Josh, and his friends through their middle school years. In the novel, the boys do the natural thing of exploring their changing bodies while living in a conservative, religious town. Zack’s book is a slightly autobiographical coming of age story that is influenced by Walt Whitman's poem “Song to Myself” both in structure and content.
“I think I felt like a black sheep…I think a lot of teenagers feel that way. Luckily I had really good friends, so we were all kind of misfits together, and that made it bearable.”
In middle school, Zack started feeling different from his parents and in particular, people in his church. In our interview he explained, “I think I felt like a black sheep…I think a lot of teenagers feel that way. Luckily I had really good friends, so we were all kind of misfits together, and that made it bearable.” He also explained that writing this story helped him figure out why he and his parents clashed. Zack went on to say, “I think even people who have the best intentions can still do terrible things. I think our parents are often trying to be the best for their children, but they still have a lot of hang ups that they bring to their relationship with their kids.”
But Zack didn’t originally write Our Bodies Electric to be a young adult novel. His publisher told him it might be more accessible to teens if it was written from the perspective of someone their age, rather than from the perspective of a forty-something man who has already been through it. In the end, the message for young people is what Zack ended up being the most proud of.
Zack started writing Our Bodies Electric in 2019 and continued his writing and editing during the Covid-19 pandemic. This coincided with his tenure promotion to associate professor, which allowed him to dedicate more time to creative endeavors. He was ready to get back to his undergraduate education of creative writing. In my interview with Zack, he highlighted moments of struggling to move from academic writing to creative writing. But he wanted to write something that more people would want to read. Now, with his first novel behind him he is working on a sequel to Our Bodies Electric. The novel picks up in 1999 and follows a character named Chloe from the previous book as she navigates being a teen at the end of a millennium.
There have been many exciting things for Zack that have come from his novel. He has done several public readings and has more coming up. One of Zack’s favorite things to come from his novel is the creation of an essay in songs, which is published on Largehearted Boy. When I asked him what about the songs on the playlist he highlighted how the 1990s was the height of grunge, and as Zack says “...you have to have a Nirvana song in a mid-nineties novel.”
Written by Jacey Widner
Zackary Vernon signing copies of his book at the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, SC
Zackary Vernon signing copies of his book at the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, SC