Yep, I'm going there. Let's talk about New Adult

Recently, in my writing circles we have been talking a lot about the new genre New Adult. Which isn't abnormal because it really is what many in the industry are talking about.

So, what is it? Isn't that the million dollar question?

I first heard the term a few years ago. THEN, I had it described to me as novels in which the main character is between the ages of 18 to say… 25-30.

My first thought was that this is a fabulous idea. Why hadn't someone thought of it sooner? Those early adult years are really quite distinct. There are challenges that we face during those years that are specific to that time in our lives. So, of course it should have it's own genre.

I have even thought of writing for that age. As a student at Arizona State University, I sit on the sidelines to observe those who are in the thick of it.

My current work in process has a lead that is seventeen and a love interest that is in his early twenties. I have often thought that this story would make a great New Adult book.

Well, not exactly….. and here is why.

NOW,  what has been coming out labeled as New Adult is filled with explicit sexual content, abuse, and drug usage. In an article I read recently an editor stated that if you submit your book to her, and label it New Adult, she expects your novel to have those elements in it (sex, drugs, abuse, raw content). If it does not, she assumes you mislabel it.

Also, an interesting observation that I have made is that, a few years ago, when the New Adult market was primarily self-published books, most agents and editors assumed that this new genre was just a fad, that it wouldn't last long. Their reasoning being that New Adult still fits in the Adult category. (I even went to a conference a year ago where that view was expressed by a few agents). Now, with novels like Fifty Shades of Grey (where the main character is a college student) exploding, they are seeing dollar signs.

Sex sells. How many times have we all heard this? But still! I think we are selling this young group of adults short.

I am not naive. Like I said, I am a student at ASU, ranked one of the top party schools in the country. BUT, I still feel that this time in their lives is about more that just experimenting physically. They are here to learn… with their BRAINS, after all. Yes, they are finding out who they are, what their values are, and core beliefs. They can do this without partying there brains out and being promiscuous.

You hear that students! You will only get one body in this life, so you had better take care of it. In twenty years your body will be reprimanding you if you don't treat it well.

Okay, that was a major rant, but to my credit, these are the people I spend my time with, and boy do I think they are underestimated.

I asked several students in my American Lit class today what they thought of Fifty Shades of Grey. Only one admitted to reading it (though, I am sure others had but were embarrassed to admit it). She said she could only get through the first book because the writing was so bad. SEE! these students are smarter than we give them credit.

The truth is, it is easy to write a physical relationship. A B and C happens, which of course = Love. Wrong. What is hard, is to write a relationship between two people that is based on an emotional connection. One that is felt in the words they use, or the words they don't, and in the very air around them, not in the way their bodies react on a chemical level. These 18-25 year-olds are smart, they can handle a little depth. And depth doesn't mean a novel that plays out like a bad country song.

Having said ALL that, here is my questions… What do we do? Do we sit back and let these stereotypes take over this genre. Do we only offer these types of books to our younger readers? Or, do we try to change the definition of New Adult? Because, I think this genre might be here to stay.

Honestly, I don't know the answer. There are already exceptions to the rule, but are those exceptions able to make a difference? I don't know. What do you all think? I would love to get the take from an author who writes clean New Adult novels.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't offend. this is just my opinion, for what its worth.

My Muse has left the building

Oh, the pain! 

For the last few weeks I have been in a bit of a writing slump. It's not that I am having writer's block, because I have my story mapped out. The problem is I don’t have any motivation to sit down and write for hours on end.  

It’s weird because I do love to write. It’s fun. So why aren’t I doing it?

For the last few weeks I have sat in front of my computer and let my mind drift elsewhere. Not into my story as it should but drift to projects I want to get done around the house, books I want to read… etc. etc.

I have been in the middle of chapter five for weeks!

Finally, yesterday I decided that enough was enough. I needed to pinpoint what was wrong or I will never get this book finished. I have never experience this before so I wasn’t sure what was wrong now.

After a lot of self-reflection, I realized what was different now from when I have written books before. This is the first time I have seriously been looking for an agent/publisher. To be honest, this part of writing stinks. You have to have some extremely thick skin to handle the constant rejection. AND I don’t care who you are, or how great of an author you are; in this business you will be rejected left and right, whether it’s agents, publishers, or reviewers. If you don’t have a healthy dose of self-confidence cemented inside of your soul being a published author is not the right path for you.

It’s not really even the rejection that’s the problem; it’s the waiting to hear if I am rejected that is causing me difficulty. Its put me in kind of a funk.

What I need to do is compartmentalize, put my last book in a box in my mind and close it for a while so I can write. I need to stop checking my inbox for starters. This is hard when one of my goals is to send out a few submissions a week, so yes, I need to check my email.

Do you see the tough spot I am in? I want to be looking forward; yet, I have to look over my shoulder from time to time.

I am new to this. Before, I just wrote and bypassed the submission phase completely. That is no longer what I want. I feel ready to share what I have written. I need help. What do you suggest I do? Is it possible to write during the submission phase of another book? How do I get myself out of this slump?

My muse has gone on vacation and I miss her. 

To critique, or not to critique? That is the question.

I recently read an interesting conversation that was floating around on a Facebook group I am a member of.  The question asked was…

Do you write negative book reviews?  Do you give a book a bad review?

As writers we are in an interesting spot. We understand the blood, sweat, and tears that are put into a novel. We also understand how readers are bias depending on their own taste and experiences. Because of this I think we all hesitate to write something negative about someone else’s art. 

Several members who participated in this discussion mentioned that they never write a negative review. Most of those said they did not review books they didn’t like.

Others who do write negative reviews, (I found this interesting), said that a negative review gives validity to a book's reviews. They are more likely to read a book with a few bad reviews than one with only positive things to say. This shows the reader that people are reading the book, not just family and friends. fascinating!

As I thought about this, I found it true for myself. When I look at reviews and only see positive five stars, I naturally think that the reviews must not be authentic. 

I do read the negative reviews first. Looking for things that stand out that are a turn off for me as a reader, but also to see if this book is one I would be interested in. I do find more out about the book by negative reviews than the positive because in my experience they seem to be a bit more specific. For this reason, a negative review doesn’t necessarily turn my interest away.

As for whether or not I leave reviews, I usually don’t. My reasoning is a bit different. Writing is what I do. I spend hours a day critiquing… picking apart my own work. Because of this, reading another’s novel is not the same experience I had years ago. Now, more often than not, I don’t get lost in a novel. I usually find myself thinking about their word choice or their character’s development... or a hundred other things. For this reason, I feel that I am not the best person to write a review. I am not the average reader, and definitely not a non-bias one. So, I am not sure if what I may write is really applicable.

Though, there are many times when I do read something and think, Holy Moly this is amazing! Then, I review away.

These are my thoughts. As I have said many times on this blog, it is just my way of thinking, not right or wrong, just mine.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Are you a reviewer?

The start of a novel

This photo has nothing to do with the post. I am just shamelessly posting this pic of the Opera House in Vienna. Shameless!

Now that you have all admired the pic, lets move forward, shall we...

You have this idea in your head of what you think would be a really good book. It’s been rolling around for some time nagging you to do something with it. it's been keeping you up late at night and you need your sleep. I totally get you, right?  So, how do you get that story down on paper?

There are many different ways authors go about this. No one way is right. Lets just get that out of the way. Some free spirited, let the novel guide me, type people, just start at page one and then see where the novel goes. I know others who skip around in a novel, writing a variety of scenes then put the manuscript together in a start to finish format later.

Neither of these examples is me, though sometimes I wish I could let go and be that way. I like to keep things structured, or that's how I am comfortable writing.  Never in my writing have I had a character do something that I didn’t want him or her to do. This isn’t true for all authors. When I hear of this happening, something I do hear often in my writing circles, I think to myself, WOW! I would love to be in your head when that battle of wills takes place between you and your characters. I guess I am a bit headstrong so my characters don't stand a chance against me. 

Before I even start a project I always map out chapters and characters. I want to make sure I don’t get struck somewhere, not knowing where the story should go next. This way I never have to deal with writers block, a very real thing. Can you imagine writing forty or fifty thousand words and then getting stuck having no clue where you were going. Yep, it happens to authors all the time. I even know of some who actually scrap what they have written. My heart aches just thinking about it. 

I also write scenes in order. Why do I do this when I clearly know what happens at the end when I start on page one? The anticipation to write those juicy scenes keeps me moving forward everyday.  Due to the anticipation I write very, very, quickly. I am an instant gratification girl, so I like to hurry to get to the resolution. I write in the morning, 4 to 6 hours a day. It usually takes me two months to write a complete first draft. It is always error ridden and a bit flat with plot holes, but that’s what revisions are for… and those take me at least a year before the book is readable. Sounds like work right? It really is. I am so glad my day job is in my home or there is no way I would be able to write. Even then, my house looks like a bomb went off when I am writing. I except it as the trade off and thankfully my family is very supportive. 

So, today I sit in front of my computer with a novel that needs to be begun. Yes, it has been nagging me for months and I can't put it off any longer. This for me is one of the hardest parts in the writing process. The chapter sketches are done and I feel confident that this book is going to be fun to write and even more enjoyable to read.  That being said, putting the first chapter down is a bit of an overwhelming thought. It takes a lot of concentration to write a novel… headache-inducing concentration, I often am forced to take a nap after a morning of good writing. I kind of have to psych myself up to begin. I also know that once I cross that start line it’s going to be an intense roller-coaster ride until I reach THE END.

So, wish me luck. I have bought my ticket and its time to board the ride.

Who Invited the Lady to Class? A Reflection On a Semester Past.

You know that moment when you realize you are no longer categorized with the young… Yeah well I had that moment last semester. I was taking my last math class. Now it’s important to know that math is one of those subjects that loses translation somewhere between the instructor's lips and my brain, I blame my ears… they're relatively normal but useless when I need important information.  Anyway, I was taking this math class, and for the first time I was required to use one of those scientific calculators.  Now, back when I was in High School, those things cost a million bucks, and only the smart kids in classes like calculus were required to use them, incase you were wondering that wasn’t this girl. Needless to say, at the start of the semester in question I drove to my neighborhood CVS and bought my very own for $14.99, boy, have they depreciated in the last 17 years or so. The only problem was, you need to be an Engineering major to know how to use the dang thing. I spent my first week in class shaking my head, wanting to do nothing with the contraption but throw in out the window, or at my condescending professor.  

This leads us to me being old. Well, there I was, standing outside of my class, minding my own business, waiting for the professor to arrive to open the classroom. I had my cute Roxy backpack on, my Rocket Dog sneakers and even a pair of jeans, distressed in all of the factory created places. 

I was thinking, “yeah, I fit in here, I’m cool.” That’s when I hear a couple of girls talking about our class. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but, I was bored just standing there in my awesome jeans. They were saying how they felt sorry for this “lady” in class. I think to myself. Hmm, I wonder who they are talking about. I scan the other loiterers looking for this “lady”. Never once did I think of myself as this lady, I am not a lady, I'm a girl, right? THAT”S when I hear the rest of their conversation and realize the “Lady” in question was this Lady, ME! It gets worse. Apparently they were feeling sorry for me because I didn’t know how to use a calculator! Hello, mortification! I am not only old but worthy of pity. The pity the young feel for the old for being old. Old! 

Needless to say, after this incident I left my distressed jeans at home, well, most of the time. I kept the battle with my calculator between the two of us, and I slowly but surely grew accustomed to the fact that I am no longer in my twenties.To be honest this last realization was a bit of a relief. I have been twenty and you couldn’t pay me enough to go back. I earned these thirty-six years and I choose to keep them, thank you very much. So move over youngsters, there’s a Lady in class, (who may on occasion struggle with calculators, MLA citation,  excel,  JSTOR, etc...) and she is proud of it.