New Adult is on the brain as I drag Laura Howard, author of The Forgotten Ones, kicking and screaming into the Madame's lair and get her to talk about...
3 Things That Make the New Adult Genre Different
About Laura Howard
Laura lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.
Allison O'Malley just graduated from college. Her life's plan is to get a job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She doesn't have room for friends or even Ethan, who clearly wants more.
When Allison's long-lost father shows up, he claims he can bring her mother back from the dark place her mind has sent her. He reveals legends of a race of people long forgotten, the Tuatha de Danaan, along with the truth about why he abandoned her mother.
And you can also be entered to win a copy of The Forgotten Ones:
And....go!
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I can’t go an hour without seeing some kind of discussion about the New Adult genre.. This is great for me, because I write in it.
One of the biggest controversies I’ve seen is Why New Adult? Why not just Adult or Young Adult?
Here are my thoughts on this ongoing debate, summed up nice and tidy into a list.
1. The Voice -- All writers have a unique voice, no matter what genre they write in. I also believe this is true in genres. Young Adult literature usually features a simple language that is easy for younger readers to understand. Simple doesn’t mean it is unintelligent. This clear language is carried into the New Adult genre.
2. The Issues -- The issues for teenagers, such as (but not limited to) first-time crushes and bullying get bigger as they get older. Just like they do in the real world. But for the twenty-something, life is much different than for the thirty+ crowd. Independence, and what to do once you have it are the trademarks of New Adult.
3. The Content -- Authors are able to expand the topics that in Young Adult are forced to “fade to black”. While many industry “experts” claim it’s Smut Fiction, that’s quite false. That’s way too much of a blanket statement. It’s more about the tension that goes along with sexuality than the actual sex. It’s about forging lasting relationships and not just skimming the surface.
New Adult has a lot of book lovers excited about reading again. New mothers who had traded their books for diapers are now finding that nap time is the perfect time to get lost in
a book.
a book.
It’s not just for new adults, though. At a book signing I attended in Boston this month, there were thousands of readers -- ages ranging from 16- 76 waiting in line to meet the authors. Not surprisingly, the longest lines were for the New Adult tables of authors such as Colleen Hoover and S.C. Stephens.
What are your thoughts on the New Adult genre?
Great guest post!
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