Young Adult (aka Paranormal Romance with Jailbait Protagonists)

It's been a long time since the last update. Let's pretend it hasn't. Let's pretend that the last post was yesterday and even now you are rolling your eyes at this next post, such a clear test of your indulgence, yet you will indulge me, purely for curiosity's sake. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I have a LOT of Works-in-Progress. A LOT. More than I care to confess to (mostly because it's disconcerting for people to learn that I have a symphony of voices chattering at me at any given time). Three of these WIPs have been the focus of my attention for the past few months, ideas for them popping up at the most inconvenient and most unexpected times, like when take out arrives and I have one arm extended offering money to the delivery person and the other arm laden with boxes filled with hot liquid items threatening to spill with any sudden movement. These WIPs are persistent in commanding my attention and I, helpless to resist the call, capitulate to their terms.

A brief conversation (on Facebook of all places) yesterday caused one of my stray ideas to resurface. Now, I write stories that are mostly considered fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, alternate history, and then some hybrids of two or more of the aforementioned genres. I have never taken on Young Adult stories though and consequently I had been toying with the idea of turning one of these three projects into a YA. The idea put aside at some point during the past few months, my conversation yesterday brought up the possibility of attempting it again.

I thought of the YA section itself. Once upon a time ago, there was variety. I remember having to go to the YA section to find new books by my favourite authors, authors like Tanith Lee and Robin McKinley. Now the body of their work, YA and adult, is mostly counted among adult science fiction and fantasy. YA staples (e.g. Robin McKinley's Beauty, Hero and the Crown, and The Blue Sword) are no longer found in YA. And why?

I wish I knew "why" exactly. There just doesn't seem to be anymore room in YA for diversity. I called the YA section "contemporary paranormal romance with jailbait protagonists" during this conversation. It was an accidental description, but I had a great many people who went, more or less, "right on," up to and including a YA-author (who writes contemporary paranormal romance with jailbait protagonists). Every stroll down the YA aisles makes me furrow a brow and mourn for the days when I could find sword-toting royalty and interstellar cultures there. It seems as if I am not alone in feeling that YA books have become homogenous and that, if you want anything different, you should go to the adult sections.

The best candidate WIP of mine to make the protagonists teen-aged happens to be a fantasy. A few creative nips and tucks should successfully handle the timeline to make thirty-year-olds no more than the age of seventeen. The basic storyline is as accessible to teen audiences as it is to adults. I could make it happen. But why would I? The YA market has shown that it wants vampires and werewolves and teens trying to take each other out and then hooking up for the prom. I do not think I will be attempting to write YA any time soon. I would rather stick to an adult audience that accepts and welcomes stories of all shapes and sizes.

Sorry, YA, I'm already going steady with someone a bit more mature than you.

It's Been Forever

I should be writing to tell everyone that I'm back on the writing-rollercoaster... but I'm not. I've been rewriting my synopsis and redoing my query to reflect the fun and zany world in which Candy Dish Syndrome takes place, but other than the mad scribblings in the margins of the notes I take at meetings, there has been very little new material flowing out of me. There's plenty there. I've just paused for a break. Soon those barricades won't be able to hold and I'll be a tsunami of creativity, but for the moment there are other pressing things. And I'm still doing writing work (as stated above), so don't judge me too harshly.

No, today, I am here to let you know about an impromptu and fun Q&A I did for author Thea Harrison's blog all about Men Reading Romance. She's posting one-a-day and they've all been interesting reads. Today, the 9th, is my day. So pop on over there and read about my view on sexism in genre fiction, my impression of the Rules of Manliness, and my aversion to purple floral book covers.

http://theaharrison.com/men-reading-romance-meet-valt/

The Hellish Holiday Month

November is over. NaNoWriMo is done (I finished at 50,259 words). NaNoWriMo was awful. Those 50k words shall never see the light of day. December is here, and with December comes the holidays. My holidays are always a bit dicey particularly with family politics, in-laws (no, not mine, thankfully), kids needing to be watched, and other variables which I will not go into. However, my December has started off with an epic bang for a number of cool things which happened in succession. To keep The Epic ever-lasting with a few of the other things, I won't speak of them for fear that I'll jinx them. One of them though can be shared.

A birthday present happened to coincide with needing to reward myself for finishing NaNoWriMo, and I ended up going to the city to see a show. I'm a huge musical theatre junkie. For those of you who don't know, Phantom of the Opera is my weakness. As of this moment, I've seen it 11 times -- 3 Broadway, 6 US Tour, 2 Her Majesty's UK. While I will not ever pass up a chance to go see it again, I have seen other shows -- things like Beauty and the Beast (I knew the little boy who played Chip at the time and his mom), Wicked, Scarlet Pimpernel, Billy Elliott, Mama Mia!,  and the list goes on. This time I saw The Addams Family Musical. I had not heard good things about it, but the man who starred in it as Gomez Addams happened to be my favourite actor ever. Mr. Roger Rees, Welsh native, Tony Award winner, man of film, stage, screen, and audiobook narrations, was there in NYC, and I had to go, to see him In The Flesh and admire his awesomeness from afar.

Only it didn't turn out to be as "afar" as I had thought....

I ended up meeting him, getting my picture taken with him, having him sign stuff for me. And he was delightful and charming and told me to "stay in touch." I consider this a successful and brilliant way to start the new month, a month which always proves stressful.

I am taking December off for writing unless I Simply Must. I've been digesting ideas mostly, following up on The Events of Awesome, and doing my darnedest to do as Roger Rees bid me and "stay in touch." My December is thus dedicated to other artistic pursuits.

The ideas have been flowing even if I am not writing right now. I've had a couple epiphanies regarding future projects or projects already in the works. Hopefully, come January, my ideas will be solid enough for me to write some good words. If not, well, I just spent November writing verbal diarrhea and I'm sure that I can do the same for January. It'll give me time to digest, to try to enjoy the holidays, and think about those all important things like queries and synopses. I don't think it's fair of me to expect agents to give me their time during the holidays when I don't want to give my time to anyone.

The Events of Awesome are still sort of vague and obscure. I wish I could be more specific, but I cannot be. And if anything comes of it, it'll take months.

My clothing line is still in limbo. I am waiting upon the receipt of a mannequin, Matilda, who has been a member of the family for longer than I've been alive. I'm also looking for a company to manufacture clothing labels. When these two things occur, I shall unleash my creations upon the world. Watch out.

In a creative/artistic attempt to "stay in touch" with Roger Rees, a thing I shall do with fervour, I have begun sculpting. It's not just any ordinary sculpture -- I'm making a picture frame for the photo of the two of us and then, along with a thank you note, I shall send it to the theatre. The show is running until the 31st of December, so I would like it to go out prior to Christmas, but that's going to be a nightmare. If I can finish the sculpture-frame in the next few days, fire it up, and then paint it before the 13th, I think I should be okay. If not, I won't be looking forward to the Post Office lines.

Not much else fit to type. Have awesome holidays, all, if I don't see you before then. I say "holidays" not because I'm anti-Christmas, but I don't celebrate Christmas myself -- well, my family does, but I don't. So have fun whatever you do. In the meantime, I shall have a spectacular Yule.