Sunday, May 4, 2014

Sucker Literary Magazine Blog Hop

I'm up on the Sucker Literary Blog hop!

I was tagged by the wonderfully talented Jesi Lea Ryan. I won a copy of Jesi's YA paranormal novel, Arcadia's Gift a while back and we became fast friends! I can't recommend her work enough, so here's where you can find it... 

Check out Jesi Lea's blog hop post!

So, here are my answers to the Blog Hop questions about one of my many WIPs

1) What am I working on?

Let me pick from the list of various books I'm currently working on... How about Date Shark #2? Maybe that's a bad choice since it doesn't have a title yet, but oh well. Book 1 in the series will be released later this month on Ma 13th, but I'm already busy planning out the second book, in which readers will step away from Eli and Leila's story and get a look at the world of Guy Saint Laurent. BTW, his name is pronounced "Gee." It's French and he gets really annoyed when people don't get it right. 

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

New Adult is a fast growing genre, but there seems to be a few misconceptions about the definition of the genre. NA does not mean explicit content in and of itself. Many NA books do have adult content, making them 18+, but not all of them. Mine included. As many of my YA fans know, it don't write about sex and my characters rarely use bad language. My Date Shark characters do fall int he NA range, but the focus is on their personal struggles, not what goes on in their bedrooms. 

3) Why do I write what I do?

I'll admit that I'm nervous to switch genres and start writing for adults. That doesn't mean I'm abandoning my YA readers, of course, but I wanted to make the switch because I think good clean romances have a place in the market. Personally, I don't like that hitting a certain age as a reader means you have to trade sweet romance for ones filled with explicit content. I think that's why so many adults still read YA, because they don't want all of that. My teenage nieces read a lot of my books. Eventually they won't be teens anymore, but I still want to be able to give them books I feel comfortable having them read. 

4) How does my writing process work?

My writing process has changed drastically over the last few years. I used to be a pantser through and through, but I don't have time anymore to rewrite huge sections after writing myself into a hole, or change my mind about a story aspect in book 3 and go back and redo sections to accommodate that. I still don't love outlining, but it's become necessary for me to at get a basic outline down on paper before I start writing so I don't waste time. I'm still happy to let my character take the lead and make changes when necessary, but it helps to know their end goal before I let them take the reins. 

So, who's next? Check out these awesome authors next!