ABOUT A SOUL TO TAKE:
Dying is the least of Elixia’s worries.
The world has changed. Demons are no longer legend, but part of life, integrated into our society . . . or so the Government claims. Things are never that simple, though, and neither side favors the new union. Agent Elixia Albelin knows the dark nature of demons firsthand, and will do everything in her power to protect the innocent from their wrath.
But when a mission from the Agency goes sour, Elixia finds herself in a predicament. Murdered, with her last living family-member kidnapped, her only hope is an offer from the very thing she despises: a demon. It’s no ordinary demon offering the contract, though, and his motive for such a deal is unclear. But if she’s to discover the truth and save her sister, she must commit the greatest taboo for an Agent:
Sell her soul.
Now, Marked and shackled to the terms of the contract, she must try to uncover the mystery of her sister’s abduction before her new “owner” comes to claim what is his. Her past may hold answers, but what happens when her investigation finds something far more sinister? Something not even the demons can condone?
About the Author
Besides
writing, Emily Taylor currently studies Music Technology at her state’s
Conservatorium and recently helped on Respect Cat Production’s feature
film, In a Corner, as a Script Advisor. After great success on InkPop
and Figment, A Soul to Take is her first formally published work. You
can see more from Emily on Facebook and Twitter. 
New Adult
Last year, New Adult was described by Writers Digest as the next “Big
Thing”. It started with a few books, before becoming a new age bracket
in its own right. But what is this age bracket you may ask! Good
question, because in general, age brackets in fiction are quite messy.
According Wikipedia:
Teen Fiction: 10 to 15 yrs
Young Adult: 16 to 25 yrs
But then Writer’s Digest states Young Adult fiction is targeted to 12 to 17 yrs.
So… confusing? Yes.
This
is how I think it works. It should noted, by the time I was fifteen, I
was already heavily into adult fiction, but I was— as I’m sure most of
you reading this are—an above average reader. So, this is what I think
the age brackets are—give or take—concerning the general public.
Teen Fiction: 10 to 13 yrs
Young Adult: 14 to 16 yrs
New Adult: 17 to 21 yrs
But as I said: give or take. It depends on the teenager, because everyone is different!
So,
why have this new genre bridging between Young Adult and Adult fiction?
What does it bring that these two age brackets don’t already have?
YA editor Karen Gove, who heads Entangled Publishing’s New Adult
imprint, Embrace, calls the 18-24 yrs bracket the ‘forgotten in
literature’. She believes there is a focus on success and survival vs
the school themes of popularity and acceptance in Young Adult.
Others are worried that NA is just a sexed up version of YA—because sex
sells, and the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon is evidence of that. But
New Leaf Literary & Media push that sex is only a small part of NA
novels, and sexually explicit are a minority. Instead they call NA:
“targeted for those adult readers who really enjoy YA, and for
20-somethings that haven’t been able to find a lot of novels taking
place during the college years.”
The good New Adult
submissions, according to Sara Megibow, an agent from Nelson Literacy
Agency, are those focusing on the conflicts of early adulthood: dating,
jobs, first apartments, money, identity, self-sufficiency etc.
So that is what the internet says. Now for my turn.
I
want you to take all those ages I listed above, and instead of focusing
on the ‘reader’—those are the ages of the main character. This is most
likely the easiest way to figure what’s ‘up’ with these age brackets and
how they are determined. Of course, with exception, but for me—this is
easiest.
People gravitate towards reading books about people
their own age. Again, exceptions, because a brilliant story, is a
brilliant story, but it’s a good starting point.
I turn
nineteen in November, and I’ve been reading Adult Fiction actively—as I
said earlier—since I was fifteen. Why? Because I discovered two things
concerning the majority of YA Fiction.
One: The Voice.
There is an overwhelming surge of books in YA Fiction that contains
immature writing. I’ve noticed these books are usually ones published
after a ‘hit’. So we’re talking Twilight knock-offs, though the original
isn’t any better. Or they are books aimed towards the younger part of
the YA audience.
But even then, when I went back and read City of
Bones, Hunger Games, and Shiver a few years ago, I discovered that even
they held a certain ‘voice’. It’s not exactly innocent, but there’s
naivety that can at times be a little bit annoying. Maybe it’s the
author trying too hard to be a
teenager, or it’s simply them just
holding back on the details because YA Fiction does have regulations to
‘how far’ they can go. For an example, I remember Cassandra Clare
posting a more heated encounter between Clary and Jace on her site,
because it had to be slightly censored for publication. And let me tell
you, when I say a bit more heated, all I remember being ‘explicit’ is a
little bit of bra showing…
Um. Has anyone read the YA series
House of Night? I’ve only read the first novel, but damn. The amount of
grinding, and other explicit stuff going on—not a YA. Which brings us to
the second ‘thing’.
The Second thing: Some YAs should be NA Fiction and a stepping stone to AF.
The problem with YA Fiction is it’s so vast. One of the best contrasts I
can give you to illustrate the extraordinary range and
misclassification is between the spy novels Alex Rider by Anthony
Horowitz and Cherub by Robert Muchamore. Alex Rider is most definitely a
YA book. The main protagonist is 14-15 and goes through trails of being
a highschool spy; there is romance and action, but still that innocent
voice.
Cherub on the other hand, starts with a twelve year old
boy and grows with the reader. But don’t be fooled by the younger age.
This series is awesome, but it becomes quite dark and graphic quickly to
the point I would most certainly not recommending it to the same aged
boy I did Alex Rider. The same goes for Tomorrow When the War Begun.
I read it in grade nine, and despite loving Stephen King, Dan Brown and
Wilber Smith at this point, I was shocked when I read the sex scene in
book two because I didn’t think it was that kind of book. But for those
who have read the fantastic series, you will know it progresses on from
there, and that’s not to mention the tense ‘war themes’ at times.
I guess we could even talk about Hunger Games. Truthfully, I’m on the
Battle Royale wagon, so HG is kind of like the cute, innocent girl
trying to be like the cooler older cousin. So, I think it could stay in
YA. It deals ‘adult issues’, but with that innocent veil. It isn’t
overly graphic in it’s violence, and the romance is nothing basically,
and I’d be putting Battle Royale and Lord of the Flies in NA.
That’s where I stand.
But now that we’re starting to split up all the books, it’s obvious New
Adult has existed for a long time. It just hasn’t been called that. It
has been ‘Mature YA’ like in regards to Ransom My Heart by Meg Cabot if
anything. But really, I think it’s time we start setting it straight, so
we know which books of YA are—to go by Australian Movie
classification—M or MA 15+. There is actually a big difference.
So there is my two cents, do you agree or disagree?
Have you read any books that shouldn’t be classified YA?
Or do you think we’re being too cautious?
Emily :)
To
read more about New Adult fiction:
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