Tag: dystopean adult fiction

Amy on writing

Ashfield Estate

amywestphalcreates
A YA Utopian Horror

I did it!!!! I did it, I did it.

I finished my first round of developmental edits for my latest novel: Ashfield Estate– a YA mystery that plays with the classic boarding school trope but adds elements of horror, dystopia and satire.

Although I have a ways to go before it reaches the query stage, I have completed my second book!

It is now in the capable hands of my editor. Which in my mind, is the equivalent of handing over a jumble of tangled chains to someone and waiting for them to return necklaces.

I’m hoping this book is the one. It’s leaner, it’s meaner and I think I’ve learned and grown as a writer in the process.

And as usual. I’m hopeful. Always hopeful.

Cheers always. Hope to update again soon.

Cover art by me! A fun reward for completion.

A.

Amy on writing

Poetry… in Fiction?

amywestphalcreates

Like reeds on water,

We sway, they cannot break us.

We will only bend.

— Lauren, Capture the Tide

I love haiku, I find it very cathartic. So much that my novels protagonist writes Haiku.

For me, utilizing poetry in my fiction novel offered another level of depth I was searching for. For both my writing and my protagonists character. But how do you take that further? Music, Art, Astro physics? How do you merge your passions and create a deep and believable world full of history and meaning?

I’ve spent a month in the blogosphere and I am still in awe of the incredible artists I have encountered. Novelists, poets, lifestylers, storytellers…..writers. It’s good company to be in. And it got me into some inspired thinking….

Feel free to tell me how you merge your passions in the comments….I love it…..Until then, I’ll be rubbing all my sticks together to see if they make fire🔥

Cheers! Amy

Painting by me.

Amy on writing

50 Shades of Adult

amywestphalcreates

Is your novel clearly defined?

Separating Young Adult and New Adult, is it just the absence of sex that defines them? Or something more? And where does Adult fit in?

I’d like to make a case for New Adult fiction. Not just to sex up YA or “young” down Adult. Perhaps there is a full fledged market of post education 20-30 somethings being somewhat dismissed.

There are stories that transcend time and space like Harry Potter of course 😏, and anyone can find resonance in any genre, but to have an actual section in a bookstore that speaks directly to this age group would be alright. Perhaps just as alright as any other subgenre? Fucking octogenarian paranormal crime fiction anyone?

I know, I know, the horror of more categorization, learning new things, stifling, finely wrapped boxes… I get it….

When I started my novel, I never considered the market I had in mind. I simply wanted to write a book that I would like to read.

But now that marketing is on my brain, I can’t help but wonder…

I remember reading books like Exit to Eden, The Silence of the Lambs and The Doors when I was maybe 13 years old, but would I want my tween to read them? Not yet. But did I also devour The chronicles of Narnia and Anne of Green Gables? Absolutely.

But something in between. Something if I’m not in the mood to recapture my youth or ponder the deep minutia (impending fucking realness) of seasoned adulthood. Hmm. Books for that nebulous in between. I say New Adult…Why not?

Image found on digitalsynopsis.com