Why am I crazy? Because I'm tackling a new genre. As if writing young adult/new adult dystopian fiction, young adult/new adult fantasy fiction, and contemporary women's fiction wasn't enough, I decided to tackle new adult romance as well. For some reason, this genre scares me more than any other.
So why did I decided to do it? I blame it all on NaNoWriMo. After successfully crossing the 50k mark my first year, I decided to push myself further. What if, each year, I picked a different genre and tried to write a book that fit? My biggest fear as an author is stagnation, so I want to push the limits and see what I can do. I fully anticipate spectacular failure in some of my attempts, but you don't know if you don't try, right? Well, I decided to try YA dystopian in 2012, something I was sure I couldn't pull off, and Contributor was born. That gave me the courage to tackle a new genre for NaNo 2013, and I set my sights on new adult romance.
The act of falling in love fascinates me, and I love movies, books, and TV shows that allow me to watch characters go through that process. What I also like about new adult romance is it's a genre that explores some serious and difficult issues, and I've long wanted to write a book about emotional abuse. I think it's an issue that is sometimes overlooked because it can be difficult to recognize, yet its effects can be devastating. No one ever deserves to be with a partner who belittles them or makes them feel worthless, yet the sad reality is that many, many people are in relationships that look like this. Worse, many people who are in these relationships internalize the abuse until they believe that they themselves are at fault for the way their partner treats them.
Through flashbacks, I tried to give some insight into what an emotionally abusive relationship looks like, but the real focus of Starstruck is on Lex's struggle to understand that she didn't deserve what happened to her, that what she does deserve is to lead a happy, fulfilled life. It's not an easy struggle for her, because she has to learn to change the way she's been conditioned to think.
I can't quantify what this book means to me. I hope it'll resonate with readers.
So why did I decided to do it? I blame it all on NaNoWriMo. After successfully crossing the 50k mark my first year, I decided to push myself further. What if, each year, I picked a different genre and tried to write a book that fit? My biggest fear as an author is stagnation, so I want to push the limits and see what I can do. I fully anticipate spectacular failure in some of my attempts, but you don't know if you don't try, right? Well, I decided to try YA dystopian in 2012, something I was sure I couldn't pull off, and Contributor was born. That gave me the courage to tackle a new genre for NaNo 2013, and I set my sights on new adult romance.
The act of falling in love fascinates me, and I love movies, books, and TV shows that allow me to watch characters go through that process. What I also like about new adult romance is it's a genre that explores some serious and difficult issues, and I've long wanted to write a book about emotional abuse. I think it's an issue that is sometimes overlooked because it can be difficult to recognize, yet its effects can be devastating. No one ever deserves to be with a partner who belittles them or makes them feel worthless, yet the sad reality is that many, many people are in relationships that look like this. Worse, many people who are in these relationships internalize the abuse until they believe that they themselves are at fault for the way their partner treats them.
Through flashbacks, I tried to give some insight into what an emotionally abusive relationship looks like, but the real focus of Starstruck is on Lex's struggle to understand that she didn't deserve what happened to her, that what she does deserve is to lead a happy, fulfilled life. It's not an easy struggle for her, because she has to learn to change the way she's been conditioned to think.
I can't quantify what this book means to me. I hope it'll resonate with readers.
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