My Urban Fantasy... nearly fulfilled

This has something to do with my story. Shiny Pretty. Pic from here

Thanks to a quick review of this quote from literary agent Jennifer Laughran, I'm officially characterizing my book as YA Urban Fantasy with sci-fi elements (but that second part only if you ask).

Initially I thought it would be paranormal romance, but the paranormal elements just became more and more fantastic and complex until the fantasy world separate from Earth became kind of an important part of the story. Integral, really. So now that it's about two worlds, it's firmly in the fantasy category, but there are still plenty of high-school based scenes on Earth, which would probably technically make it suburban fantasy, if there were such a thing. Whatever.

The point is I've categorized it! Yay!

And the other good news is that my 60,000-word finish line expanded as I hoped to 65,000 words once I added the details that were sorely missing. Still a few more lines of revisions to be done, but it's close. It's really close. I'm starting to feel like {warning: cliche coming} the end is in sight.

And just in time for the LDS Storymaker's Conference in SLC!! My first writing conference- Yay again! I've signed up for a pitch session with an editor, so any and all advice on live pitching is very welcome. It's a ten-minute session.

And it's a week and a half away!

What genre are you writing right now? 
And do you have any live pitching advice for me?

On Age Genre Crossovers MG-YA-NA

Is your latest project middle grade? Is it young adult? Is it new adult (new title for 20-somethings who like to read YA)?

This topic is of particular importance to me, as somebody who once wrote a YA novel with a 23-year-old protagonist. (And now has a MG book with a 17-year-old protagonist.) I know, I know. You're thinking: Why can't you just make your character the right age?

And the answer isn't that I'm a rebel without a cause, or that I am doing it on principle to stick it to the man (though I do sometimes like to stick it to the man). I'm doing it because that's the age the character is. Cop-out much? Yeah. Yeah, I do. But here's my justification:

23-year-old Eric is a boy-man who witnessed his father's death at age 5, bought his first house at age 13 and never completely grew up.

17-year-old Robert is a naive, innocent teenage boy who doesn't fit in at his school for villains, and has to deal with his evil twin, Rupert, slashing his tires every day after school.

If I made Eric younger, he wouldn't be the savant sci-fi novelist who never grew up. He'd just be another kid. His "advanced" age doesn't change the fact that this book is about coming of age, which is a YA theme.

If Robert were younger, he would still be trying his darndest (and failing miserably) to be a villain, without ruffling too many evil feathers. He wouldn't be growing at all as a character, which kills the MG theme of finding one's place in the world.

Writing this, I realize something. I have a new WIP that's also about a late bloomer. *Update: Point of clarification, she's the right age for the genre this time.

I write books about late bloomers. Hah. Well, that explains it.

Now if I could only convince agents and publishers that kids don't only pick up novels about somebody their own age. :-}

Seriously, people. Crossover appeal is not as rare as some people seem to think. Here's some more fascinating reading material on this subject.

Links:

On New Adult Fiction -an interesting beginning to a discussion about 20-somethings and their reading preferences.

Dude Looks Like a YA -wherein Nathan Bransford says, in 2007, that these categories are more about voice and pacing than they are about age or theme.


The Difference Between MG and YA -wherein themes are discussed as the divergence between the genres.

In my defense, my word counts are spot-on.

POLL Analysis: Your Favorite Genres to Read

What genre were the last three novels you read?

Time to dissect last week's poll! I know you're excited. Okay, not really. Nobody likes dissecting polls, but this one was at least helpful.

This poll told me what my lovely blog visitors (you!) are reading, which helps me to understand what you might like me to blog about here. Right? I hope so!

So, let's put these in order here:

1. YA/Teen

2. Mystery

3. Science Fiction

4. Tie between Fantasy and Women's Lit

5. Tie between Romance and Paranormal

6. Middle Grade/Children's

7. Horror

So, realizing that these all cross over and may have been (at times) describing the same book, it's still pretty clear that we're loving on the MYSTERIES and YOUNG ADULT stuff. This was a little bit of a surprise to me because I don't know many people who talk about the latest mystery they read.

But then I thought about it and realized that--Hey! Most books do have an element of mystery in them. In fact, all books have a mystery in the sense that the reader has to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters.

Next down on the list was science fiction, which made me smile. I love science fiction--except for that stuff which is totally plausible. I like my sci-fi to hit the weird-o-meter pretty high. :-)

Regardless of my personal tastes, I'm going to make a greater effort to read and review more mysteries and sci-fi books of the YA variety... for YOU. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice. *listens blissfully to the crickets, pretends not to notice the empty room*

Perhaps you have some suggestions for me? Maybe you happen to know of a book which combines mystery, sci-fi, AND young adult themes? Let's talk. I am dying for a good YA sci-fi cozy mystery. Well, not dying. That would be really sad.

Post your favorite mystery/scifi/YA books in the comments....now. 1,2,3,Go! Or take your time. That's fine, too.

   

Editing adventures and a question of GORE-not that one

Tonight, I spent three hours reading and line-editing the first five pages of a friend's scifi novel. This guy's got skills, so it was a pleasure...except for the part that gore-d me out. At least this morbidity drove the storyline and had a point.

After all the Bones, CSI's, and even medical dramas like House, I'm getting wary of the "gritty realism" that gives me nightmares and/or alternately keeps me up for many sleepless hours. Is it necessary? Huh? Dan Brown, I'm talking to you.

When is gore necessary to fiction? When is it gratuitous? Can writers tell the difference? Can readers?

I'm interested in your point of view. Do you think GORE has its place in literature? Or do you believe--as I lean--that sex and violence are the tools of poor salesmen? Ha! Incited yet? Answer in the comments section.