Well I don't have many followers, but I do get page views so I figure someone out there is reading this!
I've been working really hard on my work in progress, a coming of age romance called Discreetly Yours,. Yes that's right Discreetly Yours,.
Discreetly Yours, follows seventeen year old Claire Laroux from her home in San Diego California where she is on the cheer and dance team, to Oregon where she is simply the new girl. Following her father's tragic death Claire becomes an orphan and goes to live with her deceased mother's sister, Susan.
A stranger to her mother’s sister, Claire is brought into
her aunt’s home with open arms, but when she begins to have feelings for her
aunt’s step-son, Claire fears that the secret romance could land her on the
street.
Austin Moreno is kind, generous not to mention gorgeous and a soulful poet. When a class assignment over the weekend reveals that he has a secret loss of his own, Claire is stunned. The revelation whispers
to her in the corners of her mind, threatening the feelings she holds for him
in her heart.
*Warning*
The following story contains mild language, mild sexual situations and
addresses mature situations. It is not recommended for readers under the age of
16.This story contains situations and incidents that may be
disturbing to some readers such as the consequences of teen sex and a pregnancy
which ends in loss. There is a trigger warning for anyone who may have
experienced something similar.
To be honest, I don't know if I should publish this for young adult, or coming of age, or maybe just publish it as adult literature? I'm torn, don't want to categorize it incorrectly. But then again maybe I'm over thinking it.
I mean, I remember being 15 and reading Stephen King's The Stand not to mention all of the steamy romance novels I snatched from my mom's bookshelves! I am not going to pretend that teenagers do not drink underage or have sex or experiment with drugs. I know they do because I was a teenager not very long ago, and so were you, and you know that teenagers, just don't change much. While I wasn't a teen who had sex or did street drugs, I did have friends who did. I had friends who experienced teen pregnancy, these things are real. They happen. Pretending they don't will not make them go away. Oh well I suppose that is something to worry about closer to time to publish it huh?
Well, I'm off to write some more, I'm making a big goal of 6k words for today.
Hey! keep your head up, tomorrow is Friday! =)
Discreetly Yours,
Mari
Don't get hung up on genre. You'll find an audience of real people, not categories ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ben. I came across a blog the other day that was reviewing a YA book that was borderline erotica. It was set for ages 16 to 22 or there about. It wasn't even an indie pub. After reading that, I'm no longer worried about mine being categorized in YA if that's where I take it because my scenes are much less explicit than the sample ones of that novel I read!
DeleteThank you for the advice, you're so right! I think that real readers who will gain something from my story would be nicer than just a selective category anyway. I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on it if they could potentially take something away from it that is pertinent to their life.