Rachel Vincent

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Yesterday I said (wrote) that I felt like answering questions, and to my surprise, most of the ones that came in were about writing Y(oung) A(dult) fiction. This fascinates me, considering that as of this moment, I’ve only written one YA (out of my eight complete novels) and it won’t be on the shelf for another year and a half. So I’m hardly the YA expert.

However, I will answer these questions, with the usual disclaimer: I’m answering for myself. My opinions and perspectives probably (almost certainly) do not reflect the opinions and perspectives of other writers.

Butterscotch82 says: Is there anything about writing YA books or the YA publishing industry that you weren't expecting...anything totally different than adult books? What are you looking forward to the most (in regards to being a YA author)?

Unfortunately, I don’t have answers for that first question yet. I only sold my YAs last month and don’t even have an edit letter for the first one yet. Since I haven’t really experienced much of that side of the publishing industry yet, I can’t say how it differs from the adult side. However, what I can say is that I’ve been thrilled and overwhelmed by the support and camaraderie I’ve received already from other YA authors. So far everyone I’ve spoken to (both in person and online) has been very, very friendly, and accepting, and helpful. For which I’m eternally grateful. ;-)

Bstagner has several questions, so I’m going to take them one at a time…

So YA books? Why switch, what do they have to offer the current Urban fantasy writers?

Well, first of all, I’m not switching. Not at all. I am not abandoning my werecat series, or my other adult fiction projects. There are six werecat books, total, and I’ve just finished writing the fourth one, which means I have two more to go, along with (not instead of) my YAs.

As for what writing YAs has to offer current urban fantasy writers, I would think that’s different for every writer. For me, writing my Soul series (my YA banshee books) is allowing me to explore storylines, themes, and concepts that wouldn’t have worked as well with adult main characters. I hear pretty often that my werecat novels (both the main character and the covers) skew toward the young side anyway, so hopefully there will be a lot of crossover.

It seems that those writers that have an established adult Urban fantasy series always drift to the YA side? What is the draw? I for the most part enjoy the YA books as much if not more some times than the regular series. Is it that it gives the writer a break from the same series day in and day out or is the draw to YA something completely different?

There are currently many urban fantasy writers writing both adult and YA, but there are just as many who have no interest in writing young adult fiction. That’s definitely an individual choice for authors, but I do think we’ll see more adult writers delving into YA because teen literature seems (to me) to be selling better than ever. And I personally love the fact that so many teenagers are truly enjoying reading.

As for giving the writer a break from writing one series, yes, I suppose writing YA can do that. But so can writing in another genre, or writing another series in the same genre. So I wouldn’t think that simply taking a break from that first series would be the sole motivation for many writers to try a YA. I would think the exploding popularity of YA novels and the high quality of so many of the books out there would be more responsible. I personally had no interest in writing for young adults until I discovered last year that I loved reading YA fiction. In fact, nearly half the books I read last year were YA.

How much harder is it to change from a mainstream UF novel to a YA novel?

Um… For me, it was a challenge, but one I absolutely loved. I’m more than a decade out of high school now, but I obviously don’t have teenagers of my own. So I spent a lot of time grilling my friends’ teenagers and my own cousin, and a lot of time watching and listening to teenagers when #1 and I were out and about.

I also looked back through my yearbooks and read a bunch of old correspondence. Yes, when I was in highschool, we wrote notes by hand because there were no text messages, and very few cell phones. But the advantage to the antiquated pen-and-paper system is that I still have notebooks full of old notes to and from old friends and boyfriends, and every single one of them takes me back to a moment in my life ten or twelve years ago. They remind me of what I cared about and what I worried about back before bills, deadlines, and health were even on my radar.

I know that technology and language have both changed a lot in the last decade, but I don’t think emotions have. I think everything I felt—everything I celebrated or struggled with—as a teenager is still relevant, and recapturing those emotions in the pages of the book was the most important part of writing my first YA. And the subsequent novels, of course.

Okay, I don't know how much help my beginner YA answers were but there you have it. Check back in tomorrow for more Q & A and to see who won Wicked Games and chocolate.