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.

Do I really want to dig that deep?

I am taking a break from essay writing to write a little post. It has been FOREVER.

School is going fabulous. Thanks for asking. ;)

It's crazy how much reading is required when you are enrolled in 4 English classes and one History class. But, I do love it.

For my Writing a Personal History for an Audience class we were asked to come up with five events  from our childhood that we could write a five-ten page, SINGLE spaced, story about. The trick is that these stories have to be interesting to readers and you have to invoke all five senses in the writing. After we post our ideas the class picks what story they want you to write.

 At first I thought, sure, no big deal. Then, as I started actually brainstorming I realized how difficult this was going to be. thinking of a story from my childhood that is interesting, one that I am willing to share in depth, is not easy. I

I have spend weeks meditating. No seriously, I just sit on my sofa and try to remember my childhood in as much detail as I can. Man, how my brain hurts. I have been racking my brain trying to remember what happened that long ago.

A little over a week ago I dropped my two sons off with their cousin at a football game at my old high school, (GO JACKRABBITS!!!) Holy Moly. Driving down Southern Ave, seeing all of that purple and gold, (horrible school colors, BTW), I got the strongest sense of nostalgia. Yeah, I grew up in the hood, but man, did I love it. With the school song running through my mind "Carry on. . ." I stopped by good old Nielson's Custard, that got my taste buds reminiscing. I would not go back for anything, I was a shy teenager who was not the most comfortable in her own skin, but I do appreciate how lucky I was to have the teenage years that I did.

Later I got out the old photo albums. That was interesting, and remembered things that had long been forgotten.

Then...

My twenty year high school reunion is coming up. Yes, I am that old.  I have been inundated on Facebook by different posts/ and pics from my high school days. Great timing, because I needed the added inspiration.

After this last week of purple and gold, the stories seemed to write themselves. They are all documented and submitted. Now I am crossing my fingers, hoping for the story I want to write to be the story others want to hear. You never know.

Okay now, back to my essay on The Scarlet Letter, Can This Book Be More Melodramatic? Seriously, Hester should have ditched that town in chapter one and told Dimmsdale to stop being such a self obsessed weenie.

My Brother and I

High School 

Always a Princess 

Upholstery 101

As many of you know, a few months ago I purchased this old sofa on craigslist. The idea was that I was going to reupholster it then resell it for a profit.

That was when I was contemplating hiring an editor for my recent work in progress, (my novel). Everything is on hold for a bit while I am waiting on responses to submissions, so that means no professional edits for now.

After my sister and I finished the sofa, a friend of mine dropped by and told me, rather forcibly, that I needed to keep this sofa. It does fit in perfectly with my living room decor…. and who was I kidding, it was going to be imposable to part with the thing.

See, I had to keep it. 

Many people have expressed interest in learning how to reupholster. It really isn't hard, at least the way I do it. I am self taught so this is just my way. I am sure if you asked a professional you would probably do a few things differently.

So, for those of you who would like to get your feet wet, here is what I recommend.

#1 Start with something free. If you don't have a lot of money invested into the project and it doesn't turn out it won't freak you out, though of course it is going to turn out awesome. I recommend doing that chair you contemplated throwing away, or bench, ottoman or sofa.

#2 Whether it's a chair or something large like a sofa, for your first time pick a simple piece. Avoid tufting, (only at first, I LOVE tufting), or something with a lot of trim work, pleating or piping .

#3 If you don't like to sew, or don't know how, find a nice friend or hire someone to cover the cushions.  I have done both, but if I am good on budget I hiring it out. I can sew but I don't like messing with it.

#4 Buy fabric when you find it on sale. Fabric is EXPENSIVE. If you are not careful, it could cost you the same to recover a sofa as it does to buy a new one. Or, if you are careful it can cost you under $100.

#5 As far as fabric goes, your first time, pic a solid fabric that is sturdy and doesn't fray easily.

#6 for your first time go ahead and use a hand powered stapler, but if you want to continue, invest in an electric or air staple gun.


Now that you are ready, how do you get started?

#1 The removal. This is the part that I do not like. I don't care how nice the sofa was, when you take off the fabric it is going to be gross, dusting, yucky.

You can use a flat screwdriver and needle-nose-pliers to remove the staples or you can buy specialty tools for this at your local reupholster store.  Wear gloves or you will cut up your hands. I have man hands so I no longer care.

• Remove the legs and the underlining. 
• The back piece is next. Take a Sharpie and write the number 1 on the outer back. Then I label the top and bottom. 
• Next is the outer sides. Then I write two. On these pieces I label left and right, top and bottom. 
• I move on to the inner sides and back, then finally the bottom front. I continue to label the number in which I removed it. 

So, why do I number the fabric? Well, I number it because when I reupholster, I do it in the opposite order of how I removed it.  So lets say I numbered from 1-8, when I recover it I would start with number 8 first then go back to one.

Be very mindful as you remove the fabric, of how it was originally assembled. Every piece is different and so it will save you a lot of heart ache if you try to put it together the same way.

#2 The cut.  I then use the nastily fabric that I have just removed as a template to cut the new fabric. 

#3. The fun part. When stapling the new fabric on, make sure you pull the fabric extra tight because over time, like all fabric, it will relax. 

Lastly, give yourself a break. You will see flaws, there will be flaws at first. BUT, most likely only you will see them.  

Here are some pictures of my latest project. SO FUN!!!

Notice the nails? Yep you can tell this is hard work.

It matches my dinning room perfectly!!!! 

Jen, the Circus Lion

As summer has been winding down and school is beginning to wind up I feel as if I have been doing nothing but jumping through hoops.

This time of year is always crazy for me. My kids are anxious and needing to get back into a structured environment. I am ready for some structure of my own, too.

I don't know about all of you, but summers are lethal to my house. I have spent the last week digging through my kids closets, (being horrified by the horror!!!) throwing everything away I can. I am not a sentimental mom, so if my kids what to save anything from their childhood to give to their own children  one day they are out of luck.

Right now our days are filled with running to this school meeting for one kid, then another meeting for another.  I have been making sure the kids are up to date with their Dr. visits for shots and sports. I have an endless list of school supplies to buy (planing on being broke for the unforeseeable future). And, the fall is our crazy sports season for the kids so right now I have to get all of that ready. This is the time of year where I go, go, go. I pretty much live in my car.

Then there is my schooling. taking about hoops. It seems that ASU is struggling to believe that I have lived in Arizona for the last thirty years. Sometime today, I will be hauling myself and my kids down to the university to get that straightened out. But I am registered, and I have ordered most of my books. I am excited and nervous and a bit ill all at the same time. I go from anticipation to wondering what the heck I am thinking.

And like any lion that is asked to jump through hoops in this crazy circus, I am a bit grumpy. What I really want to do is sit on the sofa with a book.  Or better yet, write for hours on end.

I have been semi productive with my writing. This summer I did a total overhaul on my recent novel. After finishing this latest version I loaned it out to several teenagers…boys and girls. This was frightening. The one thing I know about teenagers, having two of my own, is that they are brutally honest. This is a good quality in a beta reader, yet, I was still nervous, (I didn't want to cry in front of a fourteen-year-old, which I knew I would do if they told me they hated my story.) It seems like I worried needlessly because the responses have been overwhelmingly positive. There really is something incredible about watching the eyes of a youth light up as they talk about your characters and your stories. I can definitely get used to this.  THIS is why I write.

So anyway, while I am waiting to hear back on submissions I am inching my way through the sequel. I am so busy with all of the hoops that this process is taking much longer than I would like. An hour here or there is not a fun way to write a novel, but I am progressing. (Sorry to anyone waiting to read part 2 because it may take me a while).

Sometimes you just have to trudge through and do what you can and call it good. At least that's my philosophy. I am ready to put a close on this summer chapter. It has been a blast, but all good things must come to an end, right?

Here is a few pics of the summer….

Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Yeah, flowers like this don't grow in Arizona.

Donut Falls. FREEZING!

Park City

White Mountains AZ

Snowed in!

Rockin' the roller coasters. 

Saying goodbye to the Bridal Vail Falls of my childhood

When I was a child my family went on many, many road trips. My father, who is now in his 80’s still thinks he needs to drive up to Globe (a three hour  trip) once a week.

My memories of these trips are all wonderful. I remember driving through Oak Creek Canyon in the pouring rain, being excited when we saw those dinosaurs on the way to Disneyland, and then there is the vast openness of the Navajo reservation between Flagstaff and Utah.

I love to drive. I am married to a non lover of road trips so we don’t do them nearly as often as when I was a kid, which is fine because my kids seems to have inherited my husband’s preferences to driving long distances.

This last week we did make it up to Utah for the 4^th of July. It’s been six years since we have made this trip. We seemed to have taken the Arizona heat with us since it was over 100 degrees there most of the week, yet, we still had a great time. My husband, who is a mountain man at heart, fell in love with the trails surrounding the city. He fished and biked, we all hikes, and picnicked, and had an overall amazing week with my Utah family.

On Sunday we decided to head down to Provo where the Bridal Vail Falls are. Now, these falls are what I remember of the Utah from my childhood. I hate heights, yet, I would be suckered intro riding the tram to the top. Living in the desert, one doesn’t see much water. I remember thinking the falls were the most beautiful things created.

Fast-forward seventeen years to last weekend. I couldn’t wait to show my kids these falls of my youth. We drove an hour and a half out of our way just to check them out. My husband had never seen them so he was game for whatever.

Then we got there… and I thought… this isn’t the right place. The tram was gone along with the restaurant that sat on the top of the cliffs and where there used to be a gift shop on the bottom there is now just a shack made of plywood.

This place was crowded with families that left their trash all over the place. I am all for families coming to spend time at the falls, that was what we were doing, but pick up after yourself, and keep an eye on your kids.

We were there maybe two minutes tops and then I was heading back to my car. No, I did not take any pictures. That is why you wont see any here. I am not going to lie, there were tears in my eyes, (and I was a bit angry).

I did remember hearing something about an avalanche the winter after I was last in Provo. I looked it up on my phone as soon as I reached my car and got all of the gory details. Apparently, it was the second time an avalanche took out the tram. It all sounded pretty devastating. I read through it and understood why the tram wasn’t rebuilt. But, why not the visitors center, why not replant some trees around the base?

I was in a bit of a funk all day. I felt as if something cherished from my childhood was gone forever. Then I started feeling old, (but that is another issue all together).  I have heard older people complain about the world changing. I had always rolled my eyes and thought they were just not progressive. Now, I think I get it. It is sad when something from your past is no longer there.

Anyway, sorry for the gloomy post.

This summer has been crazy, and I have been crazy busy. It’s definitely one of those monthly blog post’s summers. Busy is good. It means we have places to go, people to see, and memories to make.

Here’s to wishing you and yours a crazy busy summer too.

A change of plans

It is super late, but I have been crazy busy and I have not been able to post as often as I like, so, I am taking the time now before my eyes seal shut and my head hits the pillow. (Please ignore errors caused by exhaustion.)

I have been at a crossroads lately with my last novel. I have been editing like a mad woman, and finally got it to the point where I needed to make a decision.

For those of you who do not write or are not in the know, the publishing industry (thanks to sites like Amazon) have been moving in the direction of sell-publishing over small publishers… and for some, the "big 5" publishers. This puts authors like myself in an interesting situation. In the past, I have not thought twice about doing anything other than be on the hunt for an agent, (the first step to finding publication with the "Big Five").

But now. . . I am not so sure. There are many advantages to self-publishing. You have more control, and you don't have to wait. You also receive a larger percentage of the book sales, (if your book sells).

The down side is, if you are not diligent, the quality of your writing may not be what you really want out there representing your work. Also, you have to pay for your own edits, (and if I am going to publish I want the best editor I can find). You have to pay for the cover art, among several other things. The cost adds up fast. You also have to do all your own marketing, though, some say with publishers you have to do this now anyway.

About a month ago I sat down at my computer and weighed these pros and cons. I did not come up with a decision but I did decide to go ahead and find a professional editor to look over my manuscript.

All was going as planned. I had received the quote from the editor. After I swallowed down THAT number, I began brainstorming ways to pay for it without digging into our saving. I found this beautiful chesterfield type sofa on craigslist…. and I thought, hmmm, I can recover this and make a little profit. No, this won't cover the cost of the edits but it will put a dent in it.

I am going to be doing a full post on this sofa later. 

Then, half way through the reupholstering of the sofa something happened that had me rethinking my goals. (I will let you know if it turns out ;) ).

Isn't this just how life is. I have to be flexible, otherwise I may get whiplash. Especially in this journey to become published, so much of it is hard work, but a lot of it is being in the right place at the right time with the right people. A LoT of it is having thick skin and listening to what others are saying in order to polish your work.  I am still working on my little projects to pay for edits on my book, but now is not the time for me to have it professionally edited.

I am a girl that wants things NOW, but I am learning to wait for when the stars align. In the mean time I will be very busy making my novel the best it can possibly be and working my fingers to the bone tufting and stapling this sofa.

Wish me luck, and happy writing.

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?