Why I love to read YA, guest post by Sherry Soule
12:35 PM
“Why I LOVE the Young Adult Genre”
Hi everybody, I’m author, Sherry
Soule—waving from the SF Bay Area, where it can get pretty foggy. And I can’t
believe that summer’s finally here, and even with the fog burning off by afternoon,
I’m cranking the air conditioner and chatting on Twitter about my love of
reading.
Thanks for letting me visit today as
part of my epic Moonlight Mayhem Blog Tour. It’s an honor to be a guest
and meet all these awesome booklovers.
Thus far, my tour has been so much
fun for me and all the followers that participated. It is nice seeing the
familiar names in the comments at each stop. For those of you who haven’t heard
of my super fun blog tour it's not too late to join the fun!
Twitter Hashtag: #MMBlogTour
Since
I was a child, I recognized that books were a way to travel to other worlds and
have remarkable adventures, and I’ve been in love with both reading and writing
ever since. Even though, I am older (don’t ask me “how” old), I’ve always loved
reading YA literature. I am on a constant literary diet that mostly consists of
the young adult fiction genre, but I’ve been known to occasionally stray into
paranormal/romance or horror adult categories.
I
love reading YA because I can experience excitement, romance, and fantasy
through the eyes of a teenager, and because I think most novels in this genre are
fast-paced and thrilling, and they are often written in a style that is both engrossing
and easy-to-read, with story-driven or character-driven plotlines. I also
love that there are so many books created into a series nowadays, so that you
can keep sharing more adventures with your favorite characters.
Could my love of YA
be simply because I’m still stuck at age 17, a teenager-at-heart in disguise?
Yup.
And like many of you, I’ve read hundreds of YA books (you’re NEVER too old to
read young adult novels, IMHO) and I can’t actually say I didn’t enjoy them all.
Some I loved and I mean “LOVED”, and even felt compelled to email the author to let her
know how much I enjoyed her book. Other novels became good friends that I didn’t
want to ever part with, so they adorn my bookshelves and wait patiently to be
reread again one day. Others were simply read and then disregarded with a
contented smile. I am never embarrassed to buy YA books (although I buy most of
my books online @ Amazon) in bookstores or carry them around with me. I love
the genre and always have. Always will.
I realize that we all have different
tastes in literature. Most of you will have varied genres that you read and
other genres that are like old friends, and probably some of my favorite books
are simply your satisfied sighs and forgotten reads. That is what makes the
world of YA so dang fascinating. Each one of us will enjoy different types of
characters, plots, and of course, a writer’s voice, the way ONLY they can tell
a story.
Personally,
I like to read and write darker, edgier YA novels. I like to read and write anything
with a paranormal theme and it must have romance. I write to connect with
readers that love paranormal/romance themes, too.
Below I’ve listed a few of my favorite YA
authors and major influences, in no particular order:
Jennifer
L. Armintrout
Kate Evangelista
Angeline Kace
Carolyn MacCullough
Lauren Kate
Stephenie Meyer
Christopher Pike
Lili St. Crow
Lois Duncan
L. J. Smith
Ellen Schreiber
Joan Lowery Nixon
Kiersten White
Alyson Noel
Amanda Hocking
Angeline Kace
Carolyn MacCullough
Lauren Kate
Stephenie Meyer
Christopher Pike
Lili St. Crow
Lois Duncan
L. J. Smith
Ellen Schreiber
Joan Lowery Nixon
Kiersten White
Alyson Noel
Amanda Hocking
I
mainly read the paranormal genre (obviously), add that with a dash of dystopian,
a healthy dose of horror, but rarely contemporary genres; however, I enjoy anything that has romance. I am a firm
believer that reading has the power to change the world.
As
you can probably tell if you’d read my books, I tend to write dark, tormented
heroines. I love the angst of a female protagonist trying to come to terms with
some dark secret or horrific event in her past, and usually, she ends up facing
this fear, weakness, or threat, with a strong, hot hero by her side. I also
enjoy writing suspense and romance, with a dash of horror or paranormal. Oh!—and
I love to create an evil villain that is unquestionably devious, but complex. My
antiheroes always possess some redeeming features. Because of these factors, I
think it makes them much more interesting villains. And my heroines are
typically intelligent, snarky, and full of fight. Like my girl, Shiloh
Ravenwolf in the Spellbound series—she’s feisty, witty, and kickbutt. You gotta
admire Shiloh’s spunk and determination. When I grow up, I wanna just like her…or
a vampire, or a ninja. Not sure which…
MOONLIGHT
MAYHEM Blurb:
Otherworldly
Creatures. Dazzling Magic. Fiery Romance.
Shiloh
Ravenwolf thought she was getting used to the strange events in Whispering
Pines, until the full moon brings another surge of supernatural threats to her
coastal town. Ferocious wolves, deadly necromancers, and shambling zombies have
descended upon the neighborhood, so Shiloh needs to gain control of her magical
abilities—fast!
It sucks that
she has a crippling fear of the dark, which for a demon hunter can be an epic
problem.
When her
classmates are attacked by a mysterious creature and her father is murdered,
Shiloh vows vengeance. Forcing her phobias aside, she forms an unlikely coven
of supernaturally gifted teens to help her eradicate this menace. Except that's
not all Shiloh has to worry about. She’s battling a different monster within
herself and struggling not to become the very thing she fights: evil.
But with
demon blood inside her—anything can happen…
Moonlight
Mayhem is the second novel in the unforgettably epic
Spellbound series
Places you
can cyberstalk Sherry Soule:
I love
hearing from other avid YA readers at my
blog.
You can even send me an email with any questions you have about the Spellbound series
and or if you just want to drop me a line and tell me how much you enjoyed one
of my stories via email. Or join my Twitter, @WriterSherry for a fun chat! Hope you enjoyed this post. Now go feed
your mind and read a book! Preferably mine. J
5 comments
coool
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me as a guest today. I hope everyone enjoys this amusing post and they are interested in reading the enthralling Spellbound series.
ReplyDeleteHappy Reading,
~Sherry
Check out my Books!
No problem :)
DeleteLoved this post... I wish my library would carry the Spellbound series. :(
ReplyDeleteJenea @ Books Live Forever
Thanks for stopping by, I hope they get it soon :)
DeleteThanks for commenting! I love getting feedback or just say Hi!