Writing for YA

Most authors who write YA (young adult) are adults; and so we’re always on the prowl for new and better ways to capture the authentic teen experience and harness it into our current WIP. Alas, authentic teen experiences, out in the open and available for capture, are about as abundant as Unicorn eyelashes! Teens who read are smart, savvy and discriminating. So short of jumping into the nearest time machine where can we go to find authentic teen moments? Here are a few suggestions. MUSIC: I bought Taylor Swift’s album Fearless (the platinum version) and I’m using it as inspiration for … Continue reading →

Okay this gets my vote for YA ancillary product of the day. Though I doubt that hardcore Twilight fans will be caught undead in this.

It’s not a “weight battle” this time… but almost as bad. This is a tussle over talent! Stephen King has weighed in on the success of J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer. In case you haven’t heard, he thinks J.K. has talent and Stephanie can’t write worth a darn. Ouch! I know Stephenie has a horde of rabid fans, her very own publicist, amazing book sales and a huge cushion of money to soften these blows. I hope she also has a little mantra/mental tape which she runs, over and over saying: “I do not suck! I do not suck!” Because … Continue reading →

It’s not just the music… but the look, too. Russia is looking to OUTLAW EMO!! They’re taking this step because they say the music (emo is short for emotion or emotional) is making Russian teenagers depressed and the number of sucides is up! (Which is clearly a bad thing.) But is it the music… the hair… the look? Probably not. Being a teenager is full of drama. Here’s an article about it…

There is a lot of discussion brewing on appropriate subject matter for reading and entertainment for children — all children, young adult (YA), middle grade (MG) and below. And I even found my own project embroiled in this controversy (long story, no longer relevant)… but still the discussion is something to be aware of and to contemplate. It first came up on my radar reading Chasing Ray, which is the blog site of an author who also reviews YA books. She picked up the discussion from a parenting site called Babble which features a really insightful article by author Rachel … Continue reading →