Hi there. *casually leans against the jukebox*
You know what I love about the Young Adult fiction category?
The immediacy of the emotions. The urgency of everything. The freshness. It’s a
time of awakenings, a world of first experiences. Everything is shiny and new
and that is a beautiful thing.
Now take that main character and add a few years to her.
Give her all the freedom she can handle. Move her into her own apartment and
give her a crazy 9-5 job working for hippies. Or send her to college and
unleash the biggest crush on her Professor.
This is New Adult. Young Adult UNLEASHED. It’s still full of fresh, new experiences, but
now they’re all dipped in freedom. No curfews. No parents waiting up for your
character to come home, flashing the porch light and interrupting that hot
kiss. No more No’s when she wants to go somewhere, do something!
She is a New Adult, out on her own for the first time, with all the freedom in
the world –and a few more responsibilities. It’s one of the headiest, most
exciting times in our lives, and up until recently, some people didn’t believe
it needed to be a Thing. Some people still don’t.
We, The NAturals, call these people WRONG! NA is SO needed,
SO wanted, and has already existed for some time. I, myself, have been writing
NA since 2007, before I’d ever read a writing blog. Before I had anyone to talk
to about it. I WAS a NA when I started
writing it! Now that Publisher’s Marketplace has gotten behind us, people in
the industry who may have rejected it as un-sellable are now making grabby
raccoon hands at our manuscripts.
This is fabulous. Not because we can start writing it. But
because we’ve always BEEN writing it, and finally people are recognizing it.
Side note, New Adult is NOT just YA with graphic sex. I’ve
ranted about that at length HERE, and won’t repeat it here. If you’re
curious, go read.
Self-published, traditional published, we are here, we are writing
it, and we are here for you no matter your journey, or experience.
Who are we? I’m glad you asked.
Our bios are just to the side for more detailed information
on each of us, the women behind the curtain.
Our names are Sophia Bleu, Laurelin Paige, Melanie Harlow,
Lucy Stark, and Tamara Mataya.
We have some pretty cool features planned for this blog, but
rather than inundate you with what they are now, we’re going to get fresh with
you. Think of us as sort of like a way more fun pub(lishing) crawl centered on
NA.
NA is ALL about surprises, and staying on your toes.
NA. All the cool kids are doing it.
Why not do it with us?
;)
Tamara Mataya
Posts
I love everything about this!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, this is exciting!
ReplyDeleteYay!!! So awesome.
ReplyDeleteYay!!! So exciting!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this!!!
ReplyDeleteDifferentiating between YA and NA I think falls less with the setting and plot and more to do with the characters. In my experience (and reflection) NA age range, like you said does lack the boundaries set by parents, etc. but also I've found the problem solving is more developed. One of the best ways to write teenagers is to look at their approach to problems: because they've not had a lot of experience dealing with...well, just life actually the decisions tend to be knee jerk and immediate; when an adult would consider several options, teenagers act on the first (not always.) An character in the NA age range may have more life experience and may actually consider more than the first options. At least I think that's the best way to differentiate characters and ultimately NA and YA.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really great point, thanks for weighing in!
ReplyDelete