New Adult Readers
New Adult fiction is a newer genre with a target audience of 18-30. It generally contains more mature content than YA, with older protagonists dealing with issues and challenges appropriate to readers within that age range.
Wanderlust's Captive
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*This text contains spoilers from Wanderlust's Captive BUT only minor ones that you may have been able to guess at anyway*
This manuscript was complete for almost three years before I decided to move forward and publish it. There were two main reasons why I hesitated.
1) I am primarily a YA author and I didn't want to confuse my reader base. Since this book has some intense scenes and dialogue involving sexual harassment, I worried about my teen readers assuming this was the same sort of material they'd seen in my other works.
2) I feared judgement from some of my conservative friends and family. *SPOILER* There is no rape in this story. It's not that kind of a book. But there are suspenseful moments and I understand the concern that you'll turn a page and find that sort of a scene looking back at you.
Obviously, I moved forward anyway.
WHY?
I hope that by putting "new-adult" on the cover, I've made it clear to readers that this isn't a YA book. I've also categorized it on Amazon as a book appropriate for readers 18+.
The other part of why I decided to publish it ties into why I wrote the book with that premise in the first place.
The answer is THEMES.
I wanted to challenge myself with a historical romance and believe me, I did a great deal of research to get this book right as far as that bit goes.
But the message of the book mattered to me, so let me do something I very rarely do and spell out the themes of this book as clearly as I can.
-Rape is a very real fear for women all over the world and across the great span of history.
-BUT it is a mistake to assume that ALL men EVERYWHERE want to get "in your pants."
- I wanted to show and capture that fear along with the identity crisis that follows but meet it with my firm belief that MOST men would actually HELP you get out of a dangerous situation.
-I would guess that all women are scared, but not all men are dangerous. I think we need to be careful as a society not to tell the women they have nothing to be scared of, but also not to label all men as "future rapists".
This is all a delicate subject and a touchy subject and I hesitated publishing because I don't want to trigger memories in readers or offend readers who have dealt with such horrors in their own lives.
I hope that my intentions, themes, and messages have been portrayed in a way that is clear.
READER FEEDBACK:
I've had some readers complain that the book is unrealistic because Mariana would have been raped in the situation. I've had some tell me that if she were raped on the ship and then overcame that challenge and still felt confident, capable, and loved, then it would be a better story.
And that's all very possible.
But I have been a very lucky person and have never been faced with a trial even remotely similar. For that reason, I felt completely under qualified to undertake such a task.
If I haven't scared you away, I would love to share my newest novel with you. I look forward to reading your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.
Lara Hues
This manuscript was complete for almost three years before I decided to move forward and publish it. There were two main reasons why I hesitated.
1) I am primarily a YA author and I didn't want to confuse my reader base. Since this book has some intense scenes and dialogue involving sexual harassment, I worried about my teen readers assuming this was the same sort of material they'd seen in my other works.
2) I feared judgement from some of my conservative friends and family. *SPOILER* There is no rape in this story. It's not that kind of a book. But there are suspenseful moments and I understand the concern that you'll turn a page and find that sort of a scene looking back at you.
Obviously, I moved forward anyway.
WHY?
I hope that by putting "new-adult" on the cover, I've made it clear to readers that this isn't a YA book. I've also categorized it on Amazon as a book appropriate for readers 18+.
The other part of why I decided to publish it ties into why I wrote the book with that premise in the first place.
The answer is THEMES.
I wanted to challenge myself with a historical romance and believe me, I did a great deal of research to get this book right as far as that bit goes.
But the message of the book mattered to me, so let me do something I very rarely do and spell out the themes of this book as clearly as I can.
-Rape is a very real fear for women all over the world and across the great span of history.
-BUT it is a mistake to assume that ALL men EVERYWHERE want to get "in your pants."
- I wanted to show and capture that fear along with the identity crisis that follows but meet it with my firm belief that MOST men would actually HELP you get out of a dangerous situation.
-I would guess that all women are scared, but not all men are dangerous. I think we need to be careful as a society not to tell the women they have nothing to be scared of, but also not to label all men as "future rapists".
This is all a delicate subject and a touchy subject and I hesitated publishing because I don't want to trigger memories in readers or offend readers who have dealt with such horrors in their own lives.
I hope that my intentions, themes, and messages have been portrayed in a way that is clear.
READER FEEDBACK:
I've had some readers complain that the book is unrealistic because Mariana would have been raped in the situation. I've had some tell me that if she were raped on the ship and then overcame that challenge and still felt confident, capable, and loved, then it would be a better story.
And that's all very possible.
But I have been a very lucky person and have never been faced with a trial even remotely similar. For that reason, I felt completely under qualified to undertake such a task.
If I haven't scared you away, I would love to share my newest novel with you. I look forward to reading your reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.
Lara Hues
