Saturday, January 11, 2014

New Adult, New Authors, 100 Books Later and It's 2014

2013 flew by with the birth of our first grandchild.  It felt like I plodded along on the writing front, though I wrote five to eight articles every month, and managed to keep up with my Goodreads account.  I also edited and partially wrote three gardening ebooks for one of the websites I've been working with, which was a new challenge, but one I really enjoyed.  My grandson continues to be fascinated with books, which tickles me to no end.


I read over 100 books in 2013 and discovered some new authors, which is always exciting.  I never tire of discovering new writers because each one has their own unique style.  Some of the new writers I discovered last year include:

Kristen Ashley
Kit Rocha
Skye Jordan
Codi Gary
Hailey Edwards
Sarah Castille
Jasinda Wilder
Suzanne Wright
M.L. Buchman

2013 also brought us the category of New Adult, which I have concerns about as a mom. I appreciate that most authors have warnings on the blurbs when the story contains adult themes. My daughter is 13 and has told me several times that when she searches for Young Adult the New Adult books are included. Fortunately, we talk about what she reads and she has no interest in reading something inappropriate. However, this is not always the case, and it concerns me that the filter isn't better when it comes to the categories, at least on Amazon. Those of you who've read many of the New Adult stories like I have, know that they can be gritty, gut wrenching and the sex is not for those under 17 or 18.  Hey, I'm 53 and enjoy the new stories, but I'd prefer my 13 year old wait to be exposed the gritty world of New Adult.

This year I'll be writing gardening ebooks for the same company I edited for last year, which is a huge challenge for me.  I'm telling myself it's simply a grouping of articles on one topic, which is no different than what I've been doing.  I'll still be writing home and garden articles each month, and of course reviewing books on Goodreads.  I'm going to try and blog more, but it will have to come after the paid gigs are caught up each week or month. 

Thanks to those who've hung in here with me:)

~Happy New Year!  Brenda