When I first said I wanted to participate in this Romance blog -
My limited knowledge of Romance series had images of this flickering through my head -
I have to admit I was more than a little nervous - I'd never thought of my series as a "Romance" series...
My immediate thoughts were...It's YA - It's science fiction - It's Fantasy -
But - wait a minute - oh ya....there is Romance....
From those feelings we've all had with our first love to .... the feelings of - oh yeah it's complicated....
The Elemental Series has it all - When I first did a video for the
two books which have been written so far in the series, I had my first taste of - "This is a story about a girl who has may firsts in her life and R.O.M.A.N.C.E - aka first love - first time the butterflies attack your stomach, first time you hands sweat so much you think there must be something seriously wrong with you - first time you realize - I like this person - then it hits you like a freight train - and your world seems to completely change.
I was pleasantly surprised when I took off my science fiction fantasy goggles and realized that Jacey and Vincent have a love
story that is inter-wound throughout "Awakenings".
I had a vision in my head of what both Vincent and Jacey looked like -
I was even more surprised when I realized there was more than one love story in Awakenings... Jacey's brother and her best friend Jen also find their Wirposh - true love - in one another - Needless to say, after looking through my new rose colored glasses I realized book one did have an amazing first love story....
Moving right along to book two .... Revelations....
Initially, I was asked to 'sex ' it up before I began writing it. Sex sells is what I was told. I found myself in a little bit of a conundrum - The voices in my head were yelling at me - Absolutely NOT - My books are for the YA crowd - how am I supposed to get up in front of teens and talk about making good decisions and then promote my writing - were - there are scenes of fifty shades going on...
Goes to show you I haven't written many 'romance' novels... I go from butterflies in the stomach to tying people up and licking.... well I'm sure you get the picture.
I spoke with a number of trusted friends and family members and asked them what they thought - and asked for 'direction'.
I soon found out that there was a way to incorporate love, lust and romance scenes in YA work -
I can't wait to hear the thoughts of everyone reading this....I am curious about what you think 'Romance' is...
Is it the first love story line?
Is it the I'm open to anything and everything?
Or is it a mix of both and when you find the right line somewhere in the middle - Magic happens:)
Hally what a beautiful job you have done with both your books and how you incorperated the love that our young adults feel about how you explaine it in the books.and ask for their input keep up the great work. (JM)
ReplyDeleteHally i really get excited when you put the lust scenes in your second book, don't hold back on the love! Please sex it more, you fufill all of my fantasies!
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job with this blog Hally. Your journey to find where romance fits into the Elemental series is interesting. I like how you post the question to your readers and engage them in a conversation about "sex". Sex is a reality of being human in it's purest form. Learning to navigate through our human sexuality during our young adult years can be exciting and confusing, blissful and dangerous, all consuming and "all consuming". Exploring these complexities through reading your books, even though they are in the fantasy realm, can, are and should be a positive experience for the young people you reach. You provide text that is not only exciting to read but also that your readers have the ability to learn more about themselves from. By relating what they read to what they feel and what they experience in their own lives, they experience growth. Keep up the good work Hally!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!! I have to admit I was worried about adding any kind of 'sex' to this series - until - believe it or not - I spoke with my mother in-law - she was the one who gave me the ideas on how to implement it!!! I can't wait to finish book three and see where it brings things!
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