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This week’s question is:

What was your favorite children’s book?

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Podcast recommendations from last week include:

• Writing Excuses
• Six Figure Authors
• The Self-Publishing Show
• The Creative Penn
• Great Writers Share
• The Strategy Hour
• Armchair Expert
• Breaking the Glass Slipper
• Ask ALLi
• StoryGrid Editors Roundtable
• Author Like a Boss
• The Creative Writer’s Toolbelt
• SPA Girls
• Writer on the Road
• Write Now
• Novel Tea Show
• The History of Witchcraft
• Wicked Game
• American History Podcast
• History That Doesn’t Suck

How to Write and Publish Illustrated Children’s Books

Find out more about Karen on her:

Website www.getyourbookillustrations.com

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Sacha Black
Hello and welcome back to The Rebel Author Podcast. Today I am with Karen Ferreira. Karen is an illustrator, award winning animation creative director, and owner of get your book illustrations. She helps self publishing authors get amazing, affordable illustrations. She spent many hours learning about self publishing and enjoys helping others succeed in this field. Hello. Hi. Hello, welcome to my podcast. It is a pleasure to have you here today. Would you first of all like to tell everyone a little bit about you your journey, your business and how you got to where you are today?

Karen Ferreira
Sure.

So from when I was really young, I always wanted to do art. And I grew up in a very practical family which has its good and its bedside. But so in the end, I went and studied textile and surface design because that’s a more practical way of doing art, you know. And then the moment I was done with that I didn’t actually get a job. I went to America and trained to help people on on life improvement courses, and I became a counselor. So I did that for many, many years. And then eventually, I came full circle back to art in about 2010. I decided I missed it too much. And I actually just did it as a sideline, I started entering contests. And pretty quickly, I started winning a couple and I was like, Oh, I can actually do something with this. So then I became a full time freelance illustrator. And from there I learned animation and now I have two companies doing animation and doing book illustrations.

Sacha Black
Amazing. I’m what kind tell me a bit more about the animation and that side. What kind of animation are they? Yeah, just Just tell me more.

Karen Ferreira
Okay, cool. Yeah, so I don’t know if you know what explainer videos are, but they like basically more corporate or company videos that explain a product or a brand or can even be a training thing. So yeah, it’s not like Disney movies or anything like that. It’s it’s a Yeah, so we do we generally we work with some big brands but we Yeah, we work really with anyone who needs a video for their website or social media.

Sacha Black
So um, you for your illustrations, you focus predominantly on children’s illustrations do you ever illustrate and other genres as well? or? Yeah, because I’m guessing There are a wide range of illustrations that authors would want.

Karen Ferreira
Yeah, absolutely. Actually, we’ve done a few non fiction books. So we totally open to that we really open to pretty much anything but obviously, mostly children’s book authors need illustrations more than anyone else. But yeah, I mean, the first job we actually ever got was a nonfiction book. Interesting.

Sacha Black
How wonderful. Okay, so we are here to talk about primarily children’s illustration and children’s books. But obviously lots of listeners won’t be writing in the children’s genre. So could you just tell me a little bit about the differences between picture book, middle grade and young adult, which kind of capture the whole children’s sphere?

Karen Ferreira
Right? Okay. Yeah, so picture books are books with text or even with no text, but they predominantly pictures bring them to life and they’re very focused on pictures. You know, they the normal children’s books that people normally think about where you have double page spreads or you have full page spreads, or at least quite quite a lot of illustration throughout the book. And normally not a lot of takes like maybe two 300 words or can be more like maybe up to 500 depending on the age. And picture books also includes like board books. Which are the hardboard books that, you know one year olds can page through by themselves

Sacha Black
And chew!

Karen Ferreira
Yeah that does damage it a bit. Yeah. That’s those as you know, sometimes they have no text or sometimes it will be like one word a page. So obviously the book is usually kind of more predominant on the pictures, the younger the kid is. And then if they, as they get older, you know that it gets more balanced between pictures and text. When you get to middle grade books. A lot of them have illustrations, and some of them don’t have any, like, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is actually a good example. They quite a lot of illustrations in there.

Sacha Black
My son has just started reading those.

Karen Ferreira
Yeah. So they, I mean, but you can see that obviously simple pictures, but you get middle grade books with more elaborate illustrations, but then also send me like Harry Potter. is actually also middle grade, interestingly, and that, you know, it’s just ticks, ticks, ticks, ticks, so it really does. Middle Grade varies completely. You can definitely do if you’re doing a middle grade book, you can definitely do illustrations and no one’s gonna think it’s weird at all. And then young adults normally doesn’t have illustrations you do you do get some but not I would. I haven’t checked it up properly as in percentage, but I’d say 95% doesn’t really have illustrations. Or if it does, you might have the spot illustrations, which are just small illustration some way on the page, you know. But you do get one like these and author Brian Selznick. I hope I’m saying his name exactly right. But he actually does a lot with illustrations and imagery in his books and they young adult, so it does vary quite a lot. And obviously the covers of the young adult books or especially fantasy teams to be illustrated and sci fi.

Sacha Black
I think there’s a huge divide in young adult books so I tend to see a lot of indie author covers with a person on the front and I’m seeing a lot of although this trend is now waning but we had a huge trend in young adult of symbols on covers my young adult books have symbols on covers. And but that was slightly more when we had the dystopian kind of boom about three or four or losing track of time but anyway a few years ago yeah, so where what where does in terms of ages where does a picture book and and middle grade start because young adult is quite clear cut in that it’s more or less from when they’re a teenager, but I think the lines between middle grade and picture but I don’t even know where that line is drawn?

Karen Ferreira
Well, technically middle grade starts at eight, eight to about 12. Yeah, so. But as I said, I mean, really, obviously there aren’t concrete dividing lines. But yeah, for sure. I mean, by the time you get to eight, it’s not normally your picture picture book. Yeah. And

Sacha Black
on a really selfish note, I am finding it really difficult because my son has just turned six. But he’s an exceptional reader. And it’s so bloody hard to find anything appropriate for him to read because the content and themes of middle grade books which are where he is reading at eight, sort of an eight year old level, it is a bit too grown up for him, you know, but actually, the stuff that is written for six year olds he’s so bored of and he’s like, you know, these are interesting stories. And I’m desperate for him not to lose his love of reading just because the books are boring, because that’s sort of four year olds rather than then. Then a six year old, but anyway, Anyway, I digress.

Karen Ferreira
I was reading adult books when I was about 11. And yeah, it worked out fine. So yeah.

Sacha Black
Yeah, Yeah, me too. I definitely did as well. Okay. Let’s talk about illustration. Let’s say an indie author wants to write a picture book. What are their options for illustration? And I suppose this is a two part question. So so I’ll ask the first one first. No, no, let me stop. Let’s just stick with what are their options? Okay,

Karen Ferreira
Cool. So, actually, they have quite a few options and some more risky, some less risky. You can you can ask friends or family or acquaintances. The thing is, you have to take a professional approach. You can’t just because you think your cousin draws okay, you know, that’s not it. It’s not a good idea they like but you might have someone in your family or a friend that’s actually a really good illustrator and ensure you can you can chat to them. There are also advantages depending on your relationship. And for someone who really doesn’t have such a big budget, but they want good illustrations, actually, art schools or colleges can be a cool option. Because most of the, let’s say kids, they would love to obviously illustrate a book, I mean, it’s a great opportunity. The only thing you have to watch for is the inexperienced, so they might not know exactly what’s needed, they might not be able to guide you. So you probably gonna have to do more research to make sure that the format is right that you know that you don’t get to the printer, and then there’s a big problem.

And then, obviously, freelancers online is a massive industry. So you get sites like Upwork and Fiverr, and those can be you can find someone awesome on there or not. It just depends like so I definitely wouldn’t say don’t go that route. It all but you have to understand you might have a bad experience. Like, if you’ve never especially worked with a freelancer, you know, at least if you’re going to do that have a really, like, have a conversation with him like a pretty full on conversation with him before starting to really feel them out. Because someone might also seem really cool if you check for five sentences, but then when you get into the job, it might turn into a nightmare.

Sacha Black
Yeah, and let’s just let me pause there because I think that is a really valid piece of advice for anybody looking for any kind of freelancer, regardless of whether it’s illustration, it goes for book cover designers, it goes for editors. And I can talk from personal experience that I got really badly burned with my first designer who was insanely talented and you know, I absolutely love the cover that I got. But unfortunately, due to personal circumstances on their, and it It took a year to get one cover, it cost, you know, two or three times the amount that I pay for covers now and and got quite tense towards the end. And you know that is because I perhaps didn’t know enough hadn’t done enough research… hadn’t you know, I had to pull off our contract essentially and you know, really state that these were the terms and conditions and therefore I needed x, y and z. But it is really a lesson for everybody listening to make sure you do read terms and conditions. You do have contract details laid laid out in black and white. And but and and you know, you really do ask those questions to any freelance or I think that you work with. Yeah,

Karen Ferreira
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I mean, don’t just think because they’re a freelancer, they’re just going to do a great job. I know also, from personal experience, you can have very bad experience.

Sacha Black
Yeah, even when the work is wonderful. You know, you can still have a bad experience and that that was what happened to me. The work was exceptional. I just, there was a clashing, shall we say?

Karen Ferreira
Something like that? Yeah, exactly. And obviously, what’s nice about a lot of those sites, those, you can look for ratings. But so do look if you know if the ratings bad, I would say steer clear. But ratings, even so I found don’t act aren’t always clean cut, like someone might have a few good reviews and even then they might not be a good match. So yeah, just really chat to them.

And then the last thing, the last option basically would be like an illustration agency or a company like mine, and there are a few online where, you know, it’s a little team of illustrators, and like in our case, and I think in most with most of them, I’m not 100% Sure. You normally have a project manager who makes sure the project is running and sorry. So normally that could also it’s not always a safety, but normally that would be a bit more of a safe bet because it’s a bit more established. And, obviously, you know, you have to look at exactly what you after. So some people love to work directly directly with the illustrator and with some agencies, you can end with some you can’t. Okay,

Sacha Black
so let’s say an author would like to work with an illustrator, what is your ideal client like? What should they come to you knowing how much information do they need to have? What are you know, what things do they have to be able to tell you in order for you to be able to give them the their ideal product?

Karen Ferreira
Well, basically, the, the what exactly you want in the illustration isn’t always important. The illustrator can actually when you work with a publisher, you actually don’t get to say what you want in the illustration at all, the publisher will find you an illustrator and then they will just read your text and illustrate it.

Sacha Black
Reason 185 million why you should probably be indie published.

Karen Ferreira
I agree. I can’t imagine writing a book and having no say that.

Sacha Black
I know neither can I! Yeah, anyway, I’m not trad bashing here. I’m just massively biased.

Karen Ferreira
Yeah, so I mean with us, for instance, you can say exactly what you want, or very vaguely what you want or just say read the text and do it. It’s completely open. And we as freelancers I think you’re going to have a complete range from the one into the other, some won’t be able to do it. If you don’t tell them. Some will do a fantastic job if you don’t tell them so it depends. And yeah, so but in terms of what you need to know it is a really good idea to go look at a lot of children’s books and picture books, which you should do anyway, if you’re writing one, but to see what kind of style do you like, firstly, I mean, you can obviously just start looking around for style, but you should, you should have an idea. And then it’s also a good idea to have a good idea of the kind of layouts that you can do you know, do you want just double page spreads for every page, you want, like some single page, little illustrations between the text, because, you know, we can help you with that if you come to us, and I’m sure a lot of illustrators will help you with that. But, you know, it’s good if you have an idea what kind of layout you want to have in the first place.

Sacha Black
Yeah. And so should they have things like mood boards? I mean, do those kinds of things help illustrators or do you have a… so I know when I go to create a cover with my now much loved cover designers. I fill out a whole specification. So they asked me questions like, do I have themes in my work? Do I have colors that I like or really dislike? Are there you know any red herrings do I mean? For example, do I really I one of the things that I didn’t want on my covers were people I wanted symbols know people. So that was a big red and not red herring red line for me. So do you do you tease those things out with your authors or should they come knowing that is it you know, how much do they have to have decided before they come to you?

Karen Ferreira
Generally will discuss that. Yeah, so it’s, you know, also you start with because they choose the style they want. You, you know, generally that’s not you’re not going to end up with something completely different, but also the processes you do Very rough sketch are often just a thumbnail sketch. So you can sort out a lot before you actually get to the full on illustration. So you’re not going to have this full blown colour illustration, that’s completely the thing you know.

Sacha Black
Okay. So in that in that is a perfect segue. So tell me about the process, somebody comes to you and says, Hello, I want an illustration. What happens? How do you go from initial query to published book?

Karen Ferreira
Right. So as you mentioned earlier, it’s super important to have a contract or agreement. So I mean, the first thing would just be to find out what the person wants like we said now, which you normally will have quite a few questions in relation to style. You know, which kind of things I do want, obviously, if it’s not clear, like is the character a girl or boy or six or 12? Or those kind of things? For sure. And then yes, about color, etc. As you see it’s all the stylistic stuff.f Firstly, before we do anything we put the contract or agreement in place. And if you getting an illustrator do not do it without something in writing because then well, anything can happen and you have no control whatsoever.

Sacha Black
And also read read a contract. Yeah. Yeah. Especially if you’re not the one giving the contract you are receiving on the contract. Make sure you read your terms and conditions.

Karen Ferreira
Yeah. And I mean, because there are quite a lot of variations and things to look for. But we won’t go into all of that now. But yeah, then basically, the first thing would be the kind of layout, like what sizes Do you want or the kind of pagination like, you can make a little mock up of the book, eat page by page or a storyboards normally a bit easier with thumbnail sketches, if it’s needed, you know, depends on the book if it’s just single page illustration, writing on the other side, single page writing something like storyboard isn’t very crucial. But it you know, if you want something a bit more creative is really good to think through the entire layout because obviously, the illustrations can add a lot to the creativity and the flow of the book. So once that’s approved, obviously, that comes with revisions or should come with revisions until it’s perfect, then you get into the character design and development normally, at least to get the main character perfect. So the author thinks Okay, this is this is what I had in mind, you know, and then then you can do full sketches. So that means just the full size sketch of every illustration, but just a roughish sketch. And again, with revisions should be and then of course, you can get into the full color so and full color again, can have some revisions, but if you’ve gone through the process really well, you know, there shouldn’t be any situation of oh, this is completely wrong, which is great for everybody.

Sacha Black
So do you format the entire book so that a file gets handed to the indie author for uploading or so how, where does that? So do they have you know, so I’m just trying to think about the page what they receive. And then what happens after that to take it to publication, do they, I’m guessing they have to hand you, they can’t come to you until they have a complete, edited finished story is that?

Karen Ferreira
Not necessarily, although it is, in a sense, a very good idea to get it edited? Because sometimes, obviously, in editing, they’ll be very dramatic changes. And then you know, if we’ve illustrated one thing, it might be wrong. And so yeah, it seems to be a better idea. Then we don’t do the we don’t do the formatting. We’re looking at getting into that but at this moment, we just provide you the illustrations, so you literally just have all the different ones, then you need to get a formatter someone who lay it all out for you with the text. Obviously adding the front in the copyright and the covers and so on. Okay, um, yeah. So because that is a bit of a that, that comes with other technical requirements and stuff. Yeah isn’t Yeah, illustration. So

Sacha Black
that is for anybody who does and I know we do have children’s book listeners. So for anybody who wants to create their own picture books, it is something to think about either learning how to do that formatting with pictures with text yourself, or finding a specialist for matter who can work with the illustrations, and I’m guessing Photoshop files or however they are they come and in the in the end, so that is something to think about. So let’s let’s move on and talk about legalities and copyright. Who owns what?

Karen Ferreira
Yeah, it depends is the answer. So mostly, illustrators actually retain the full rights to the illustrations which I think a lot of people don’t realize

Sacha Black
I didn’t.

Karen Ferreira
Which means it’s kinda like when an illustrator works for a company, they do the illustrations for you, you buy them, they’re yours. That’s it. I must say with the illustrators retaining the full rights, it can be a problem and it can be alarming. It’s not normally. But it does mean for instance you might not be able to use your illustrations in certain regions of the world without paying them again or buying extra rights. Or if you want to print a t-shirt a mug, stuff like that. You do want to check that because you might have all these ideas for promotional stuff and you can’t do it without buying more rights. And while it’s rare, if they have the full rights they can reuse your illustrations or other books. While it’s rare mostly they want to share on social media. I think most illustrators have enough pride they’re not going to put your main character in someone else’s book. You do want to make sure you know who owns what and what each of you can do with it. You do have to check that

Sacha Black
What about royalties?

Karen Ferreira
I’ve never charged royalties. I don’t actually even know that much about it, but it is definitely worth checking. My personal viewpoint on it is, obviously I think illustrators should be credited and get they due I mean, coming from an illustrator background myself, because especially in picture books, the illustrator makes so much of the book, but I’ve always viewed it the author is the one who goes and does all the promotion. And has to do all the work to get it sold. I’ve never seen an illustrator actually doing that part. So then I don’t feel this is my personal viewpoint, right. But I don’t feel the illustrator should really ride off that I feel they’re complete the work and the job is done.

Sacha Black
So but this is something you absolutely must have written into your contracts because copyright laws for the lifetime of the author, and depending on which country you’re in either 50 or 70 years after your death. So if you are in a contract with an illustrator that states they must have a certain percentage of royalties. You need to organize somebody to be paying them royalties for 70 years after you die. So lady really old? Yeah, no, no, but then that is the point with with ownership and right licensing, the illustrator and their children or family or whoever would then inherit that copyright. So you would still be liable to pay and this is why I’m saying it. So important to have it written in the copyright. And this is why there’s a great podcast episode on the creative pen with M L. I think it’s Buchman that talks about estate planning. And this is essentially this whole, you know what you do with your intelligent property rights after you die who inherits what happens to the money and the royalties? So yeah, if you’re interested in that, go and have a look at it. But to the point, Yeah, it is. It was a fascinating podcast. But the point is, this is really important. Do not assume you are going to own the full rights to everything unless it is written in black and white in your terms and conditions. And obviously, if you want to own it, and the illustrated it or company that you’re working with is not giving you that option. Perhaps they’re not the company for you.

Karen Ferreira
I always says, Well, I think some authors are actually fine to pay royalties, and that’s great. But yeah, do make sure exactly as you said, you don’t want your book done and then find out that’s a very nasty surprise. Exactly.

Sacha Black
So and the talking of naughty surprises. What should authors be aware of when approaching companies and artists for illustrations? Obviously, we’ve just talked about royalties and that royalty split, but what else should they be aware of?

Karen Ferreira
Right? So apart from the contract and the royalties, I would normally say the top thing almost as good communication. Because, you know, especially in today’s world with freelancers, someone who’s a foreign language could do a fantastic job, and I will never knock them and say they can’t. But I also know from experience, you know, you can hire some amazing artists, as you said earlier, from numerous different countries, and they cannot understand what you want and it can become extremely frustrating. So that’s why I also say that the beginning chat to the person and actually see that they can understand you and that they can communicate properly. I’m not saying they must be English first language fluent, perfect. But if you ask them a few questions, make sure their answers actually makes sense. Otherwise already at a red light, you know,

And then watch out as well for hidden costs. Sometimes there are hidden costs you get illustrator to, will not do revisions they like if you want anything changed, you have to pay extra, which obviously isn’t practical, because if something isn’t correct, or what you wanted, it becomes a big problem. So yeah, just make sure what the cost include, like, does it include a round of revisions, three rounds, what kind of things are included? And also another thing actually to watch for is that some people can do fantastic illustrations, but they don’t know any of the technical stuff. So when you get to again, when it whether it’s an E book or a print book, it might be the wrong format or the wrong size or You know, if someone draws something into smaller size, and now it needs to be printed, you can’t use it, it all has to be redone. So it might sound silly, but stuff like that happens and you know, then it’s a it’s a redo from the beginning.

Sacha Black
So it’s important to look for, like, their portfolio, I suppose to make sure they actually have, you know, a history of delivering, yeah

Karen Ferreira
Check they’ve done books. Exactly. And baby I mean, if it’s someone who’s never done a book, and you love the work and you want to give them a chance, and probably also get a better price because they knew, check with them that they understand what’s needed, you know, and and make sure you understand well enough, it’s not very complicated. But if it’s done wrong, as I said, it’s not too easy to go back. You can’t go back and done, you know.

And then also check about the timeline. If you have loads of time, like you said, your cover took a year so luckily, you had loads of time, but if you only had two man’s, you would have had to scramble. So check that, you know, do in their review. Sometimes it might say, oh, if it doesn’t make sure that you don’t see anything that someone says, Oh, they took forever, and I couldn’t get my stuff. Because if you want to publish your book in March, you need your stuff done in Feb, or whatever, you know. Yeah, like we have a little PDF, actually, that says a whole list of important things to consider. I don’t know if you’d like me to share that or not.

Sacha Black
Yeah, that’d be fabulous. Yeah, I will make sure I put that in the show notes. Okay, awesome.

Karen Ferreira
Yeah, because that’s there are there aren’t that many, but there are things that can make your experience pretty wonderful or pretty horrible if you know or don’t know about them.

Sacha Black
And so I’m loathe to ask this question because I know you’re going to say it’s a huge range of variable on on a multitude of factors. However, I have to ask, price… I know there are going to be a massive range but even ballpark of, you know, what should an author go in expecting so that they’re not and I’m sure depending on the complexity, it could be vastly more but is there a range of figures that authors should think is reasonable to pay? Because you know, I have absolutely no idea what you know. So if I went I would have no idea if somebody was giving me a good price a bad price. And obviously this is all relevant to 2019 we are recording this, but yeah, any even rough idea

Karen Ferreira
To say reasonable price is a dangerous. And honestly, does very, extremely, as you said, and I think a lot of it is your personal viewpoint and your budget. Some illustrators will charge 2-3-4 hundred dollars per one page illustration which You know, a lot of most children’s books are 32 pages, or maybe 24. But the 32 page book often is then in excess of $10,000 sorry, I don’t know in pounds but which for most people’s, obviously way out of their budget, especially for indie authors, I mean, that’s Yeah, it’s a lot of money. So I think you know, it really does firstly, come to your budget, but of course, also you might have a big budget, but just go I don’t actually want to pay in excess of 10 k. So, you know, I mean, with freelancers, I think you can probably start getting illustrations from $30-$40 but that’s for entry range newbie, kind of people I would say. So I would just check who you working with, as I’ve said many times, but yeah, then it can definitely be up to 3-4-5 hundred four even single page.

Sacha Black
Yeah, I mean, that is helpful even because I literally had no idea what kind of prices. And I think that’s really important to share that kind of information. Because, you know, it’s very easy for an indie author to be ripped off if they’re going in and don’t have any idea of even a price range of what’s realistic. So that is super helpful.

Karen Ferreira
Okay, you can you can probably get away with $2000 you know, depending who you work with. Yeah.

Sacha Black
Which is much more reasonable

Karen Ferreira
If someone charges you eight, you don’t have to pay it. Yeah, yeah.

Sacha Black
Okay, you are running a conference. Now, by the time this airs, the conference will be over. But I think if I’m right in, in, in my thinking, listeners will still be able to get access for a very small fee. So would you like to tell everybody a little bit about the conference, the content and the wonderful speakers might be,

Karen Ferreira
Well, school children’s book mastery, and it will have a lot of content that on that does. It isn’t just for children’s book authors, but we made a children’s book mastery so we can really just focus in on an area. Some of the wonderful speakers include Sacha Black. And then yeah, we have quite a range like Ray brim. Lori Right, Lisa Cartwright. Sure, I’m forgetting this is quite a few. But specifically, I invited speakers with a wide range of skills so that we can cover different things. So that you know, whoever speaking about that topic has actually nailed that topic in practice. That’s the main thing. The reason for the summit being a conference being that I work with authors obviously pretty much every day and I really want to help them succeed, because to me, it’s kind of sad when you illustrate this beautiful book. And it’s a beautiful story. And obviously, the illustrations, I think are beautiful because we made them. But honestly, if you knew we’ve done some gorgeous books, and you see the person putting it on their little site, and I don’t know how many they sell, but I’m pretty sure five or 10, or you know, or sometimes you see them putting the book on Amazon. And in each one review in the next six months, you know that it actually breaks my heart a bit.

I’m like, it shouldn’t be that way. Like they put their heart into this book. And so I wanted to put the summit together almost like a course that takes people from A to Z with self publishing, you know, how do you start writing? How do you actually finish your book because some people are like, I’ve always wanted to write but I can’t sit my butt in the chair and write you know, and, and then all the nitty gritty, you know, how do you get it formatted and edited and how do you pick illustrator, and how the hell this Amazon you know, KDP work and stuff like that. Yeah. And then specifically also for what I just mentioned, the marketing and the promotion like how do you get people to see your book and buy your book and how do you use maybe free promos and things like that so that people actually notice you.

Sacha Black
Amazing. Yeah, and I am honored and delighted to be speaking. So, I will. So people listening when this airs, I will have already done the promotion, but I will be talking about this to all listeners. So hopefully you’ve already heard of it. If you haven’t, then I will be including all of the information on how to access it in the show notes. Anyway. Okay, this is my favorite question. This is The Rebel Author Podcast. So tell us about a time that you unleashed your inner.

Karen Ferreira
Yeah. So, I mean, I’ve never seen myself as a rebel, but I’ve always been kind of weird and different. And I’m very non traditional, you know, like with health and well being and I’ve never had a real, quote unquote job. I don’t own a TV. But having to find a specific time I thought, okay, when I was 20 I shaved my head.

Sacha Black
I love it. Yeah,

Karen Ferreira
it was lovely. I’ve always been like, I wish I could just do it again. But now I’m too nervous. Yeah, I was one day, I was actually ironically working on a piece of a design and painting a design by hand and it was this very geometric thing. That was just a pain in the butt basically. And I’d all I’d wanted to shave my head for a few months, you know, I was toying with this idea. And I was like, I hate this thing that I’m painting. It’s and I just got up and I just shaved head as a way to escape i think but I was so happy I did it. It was awesome. And then yeah, I actually did it again like a year later so.

Sacha Black
No I love that I love it I caught I caught two feet off my head or no not no just just under two feet I think of my head when I was 18 because my mom loved I think I’ve told the story already but my mom left my hair so much she was like you cannot have your hair cut. So I was like 18 before I’d been to hairdressers and when I went to university and I have this really I know my hair looks straight but it is super super curly. And so I just I cut it I the hairdresser plaited it and then just cut this entire plait off my hair

Karen Ferreira
Two Feet?

Sacha Black
Yeah it was down to my butt so I mean it and it came right up to basically a pixie crop so no yeah,

It probably felt awesome and like

I cannot believe how heavy hair is I just yeah, it was it was amazing. Okay, so we are out of time our listeners where they can find out more about you, your company and and the conference.

Karen Ferreira
Okay, so our website is getyourbookillustrations.com and you can find us on Instagram and Facebook as well with get your book illustrations.com. The conference, as I mentioned is called childrensbookmastery.com So the URL is children’s book mastery. com Also one word obviously no apostrophe for the children’s book. Yeah, and then on the site, I’m sure we’ll be putting up the conference when it’s ready. But I mean, you can just go straight to that think. Okay, super. And I will of course include all of those links in the show notes.

Sacha Black
Okay, thank you very much to all of my wonderful patrons, who get early access to all of the episodes as well as a monthly bonus exclusive patron only material if you would like to join us on Patreon and support the show you can do so by going to www.patreon.com/sachablack and that is Sacha with a C. Thank you very much to everybody listening. And thank you very much to Karen. I’m back. You’re listening to Karen Ferreira and this was The Rebel Author podcast.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might like these from the back list

016 How to Improve Your Writing with Gabriela Pereira

003 – How to Market Nonfiction Books With Boni Wagner-Stafford

The post 019 How to Write and Publish Illustrated Children’s Books with Karen Ferreira appeared first on Sacha Black.

I’m always sniffing around Shelley’s blog to see what Young Adult book she’s reviewed this week because I love her recommendations. But today, there’s something FAR more exciting.

Today she’s spilling the beans on her own new YA werewolf release Oathbeaker (out today) as well as giving us hot tips on writing Young Adult fiction. Which you can get here:

Amazon UK 

Amazon US

Without further ado, Shelley… Welcome.

You’ve written a LOT of books now, how has your process changed in that time?

Ha ha, I always said you’d never shut me up once I got going!

When I began piecing together my first book, which was non-fiction, I didn’t realise there was a ‘process,’ I just muddled along and hoped for the best. I probably stumbled about in the dark for my first couple of books before discovering a writing rhythm. I’m more disciplined now, and I’ve become a neurotic planner against the pantser writer I used to be.

What are the three best tricks tips or tools you’ve picked up in your writing career?

Many years ago I used to write my stories longhand into a notebook. Eventually, I realised this was one of the main reasons I never got past chapter four. I now write all my character bios, scene notes, and dialogue ideas into my notepad but type the manuscript directly onto the computer.

Post-it notes are a godsend! I’ve tried to use Scrivener, but it blows my mind, so I’ve returned to my trusty paper and pen. Having my book outlined as bullet points on bright little squares stuck to the office wall keeps me on track when I’m writing.

Finally, the best tip I’ve ever learned and the one thing that keeps me producing books at a reasonable rate is to churn out that first draft and not edit it. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) taught me that. I will re-read the last sentence before picking up the story again, but I refuse to read over the manuscript until it’s out of my head and on paper. I will also leave it a week or two before looking at it. Yes, I’ll cringe and cry over it when I finally dig it back out, but I can start re-writing with fresh eyes. I use this process with everything I write.

That’s a cracking blurb, something writers usually find hard. How’d you get so good (don’t say time) and what tips have you got for other writers doing theirs?

Aw, thank you for that, Sacha. I enjoy writing the book blurbs. I like to think of them as a piece of flash fiction. You get to tell an enticing tale in a short space of time, but instead of rounding off with a suitable ending you leave the reader wanting more. I normally have the blurb sorted before I start writing the book so I can use it as a guideline. It might need a little tweak or two, but most of the time I can work with it.

When I start working on a new project I do two things, I’ll create a mock up front cover, so I’ve got something visual to keep me motivated, and I’ll write the blurb. The best advice I can offer is to read a ton of book blurbs in your local bookshop and see which ones you feel drawn to and why. I like short, choppy blurbs that tease rather than a long overly-descriptive passage.

Best tip for a YA writer?

Don’t overanalyse the genre. I write YA fantasy which is a massive market and if I stopped to study the incredible authors in this genre for too long I’d chuck my work in the bin and give up! I read tons of YA, but I no longer do it as a ‘student’ of writing. I enjoy the story for what it is and marvel at the imagination of an author, but then I’ll create my own worlds, characters, and enjoy immersing myself in the story I generate. When I used to read YA with an analytical eye, I couldn’t lose myself in the fantasy, and so it became a chore rather than reading for pleasure. I do make a note of an outstanding piece of prose or dialogue I come across, but I’ve stopped getting hung up on the learning and merely trust my own voice.

It’s getting harder to keep up with trends and find our audiences. How do you reach your YA audience?

I’ve never bothered keeping up with trends. I’ll read a new release if I like the sound of the blurb, but quite often I’ll get to a book a year or two later than everyone else – it’s my ‘you can’t tell me what to do’ personality coming out ha ha. In that respect, our audience can also be found years after we’ve published. With YA especially, there is always a new generation coming along, and so a spot of targeted marketing might do the trick.

As I also write non-fiction for the mind, body, spirit genre, I knew I couldn’t bunch all my books together on social media and be effective with my marketing. I, therefore, started two business Facebook pages. The first is for my personal development blog where I also promote my non-fiction work, and the second is a dedicated site to my YA books.

I love this page and try to interact with my followers as often as time allows. Interestingly, the stats for my page followers show the age range to be between the 18-25 and 25-33 brackets and yet my books are aimed at 13+. Finding my target audience is an ongoing slog. I joined Instagram but as soon as I joined the kids went over to Snapchat, if I start ‘snapping’ then they’ll find something else – It’s exhausting! I’ve noticed that the majority of my sales have been from women (my age) who read my non-fiction but are intrigued by the covers of my fiction, buy it, read it, love it, and then pass it on to their kids. I guess I find my YA audience eventually then!

What’s your fave and least fave things about writing?

I love getting the germ of an idea and working with it until it becomes a full story with plot twist ideas, characters, and settings. The planning stage is one of my favourites because I’m living with the anticipation of what could be and that’s exciting.

I don’t have a least favourite part about writing unless you count too many ideas and not enough hours in the day! I love the entire process of creating, writing, and editing and relish the opportunity to create something from nothing.

Most random place you’ve written or gotten the urge to write

OMG I’m so boring!! The most random place I’ve ever written is sitting on the left side of the sofa instead of the right – see, I told you I was boring ha ha. I like it to be quiet when I’m writing so that romantic illusion of a coffee shop wouldn’t work for me, plus I’m too much of a people watcher to get any writing done.

As a fellow mega YA buff answer the following with YA books for answers:

A) Best YA series for a non-YA reader

Ooh, tough one! I’m going to stick with fantasy as I don’t do contemporary fiction, and I would probably suggest Fire and Flood (book 1) by Victoria Scott. Even though it’s got a great fantasy element the story is predominantly about family, loyalty, and friendship. The main character loves her mobile phone, adores fashion and sparkly nail polish, but then the book takes on a hunger games vibe. For a non-YA reader, it would ease them in gently to the whole alternative realm/weaponry/mythical creature storyline.

B) Can’t die without reading

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I’m obsessed with Cassandra’s books and devour them as soon as she releases a new one. Clockwork Angel was the start of her prequel series, The Dark Artifices, which incorporated her Shadowhunter characters with the historical elements of London in the late 1800s.

C) Best for a winter night

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine. I think there’s something mystical and wintry about old libraries and so this would be a perfect choice.

D) Beach read

Nothing at all to do with sun, sand, and mocktails but I loved reading Josephine Angelini’s Starcrossed trilogy when on holiday about five years ago. It’s about an ancient curse cast on two teens, Helen and Lucas, to loathe and love each other in equal measure. It’s all about the Gods and mythology – perfect for the beach.

E) Best series

Easy! My favourite series is Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments. Once I read City of Bones in 2007 I was hooked. Sometimes, you’ll get one or two books in a series that aren’t as good as the others but not with this – I loved all six books and went on to devour her Dark Artifices series.

 F) Best romance line

Oh blimey! I don’t ‘do’ romance, so I tend to like the more quirky romantic scenes, as in the ones that aren’t at all romantic but could lead to something in the future. It’s the anticipation of romance that I prefer. A bit like this from Jana Oliver’s Forbidden (The Demon Trappers series).

‘Why are you doing this? Spending time with me, I mean. You could have just followed me and I would never have known you were there.’

‘I feel alive when I’m with you.’

She barely subdued the snort. ‘You’re an angel. You hang with God and all those other Divine guys. I’m just…me.’

Awesome thank you Shelley, that’s enough about YA in general, let’s hear about your new book…

How did it feel leaving behind your Guardians series and starting something new?

I was quite excited about starting a new project and had already begun making notes before the last book in the Guardians trilogy was finished. I knew how I wanted Amber’s story to end and it was quite emotional, so it was a nice break to jot down new character quirks and start scene setting for Oath Breaker. The transition from faeries to werewolves was fairly smooth!

Fave quote or line from your book?

I’m not sure this is my absolute favourite line, but I’m going to count it anyway. It’s certainly the most important from a writing perspective as it was the first thing that popped into my head fully formed. After I had jotted this scene in my notebook, the entire story and characters began to build in my head.

“Like something out of a macabre horror show the blood covered everything, coating the threadbare rug in front of the fireplace with its crimson wash. The splintered remains of the coffee table littered the overturned chair, and the smell of death clung to the walls.”

It moved around in the story for a while but finally ended up as part of the opening scene.

What called you to werewolves? Tell me a little about their society in your book.

As you know, I’m a huge fan of YA fantasy and supernatural books. I’ve read so many containing werewolves and vampires but never felt drawn to write about them. My Guardian series contains witches, faeries, demons, and dragons so I always thought I’d stick to these themes going forward. It was my daughter who prompted the inclusion of werewolves. I was helping her with her creative writing homework where she had to look at turning a well-known fairy tale into something else. (Ella is a fan of The Kardashians, and Zoella which means fairy tales are ‘not her thing’) I suggested that she turn Little Red Riding Hood into a werewolf hunter. She rolled her eyes in that typical fourteen-year-old way and dismissed my input, so I pounced on the idea instead. I’ve dedicated the book to Ella as she did help me brainstorm it!

The werewolves in Oath Breaker are a family of sorts, and this is how I wanted their society to be portrayed. Mia comes from a fractured home with a violent upbringing and so trust, loyalty, and friendship is alien to her. I wanted the wolves to have that unity and bond that family can provide.

Excerpt of ur book? 

(The opening scene from Oath Breaker)

The blue flashing lights pulsed through the fractured front window, illuminating the blood splatter on the walls. The click-click of the forensic team’s camera ate into the sterile silence as the officers combed through the living room.

Like something out of a macabre horror show the blood covered everything, coating the threadbare rug in front of the fireplace with its crimson wash. The splintered remains of the coffee table littered the overturned chair, and the smell of death clung to the walls.

I lifted my eyes to look at the police officer who knelt in front of me, his face a mask of professionalism even though he must be wishing he was anywhere but here.

‘Did you see who killed your dad?’ I slowly shook my head as the officer tried to determine what had happened.

‘Someone tried to kill you, miss. I want to help. Did you see who broke in and attacked you?’

I couldn’t answer. The words were stuck in my throat. How could I tell him that my dad was the one who tried to kill me and that a wolf had jumped through the window and ripped out his throat? Who would believe me?

The paramedic dropped a medical kit at my feet and began wiping the blood from my face, the sudden cold of the antiseptic wipe causing an involuntary shudder to run through my bones. The police officer and paramedic exchanged a look. The same kind of look that my teacher and headmaster used to give each other when I tried to cover up the bruises down my arms.

I slumped a little further into the kitchen chair, letting my long dark hair fall around my face.

‘Anything you can give us by way of a description will help.’ The police officer clicked the end of his pen and poised it over the clean sheet of notepaper.

‘Big,’ I managed to say. My lips cracked as I spoke, and I could feel a trickle of blood slide down the side of my mouth. The paramedic wiped it up before moving to the gash on my forehead.

‘It…he was big. Dark hair. Brown eyes.’

The officer noted it down and let out a deep sigh. Not the best description for them to go on, but it was all I could give him. If I’d told him the attacker was hairy, with sharp claws and fangs, the paramedic would have had me committed. I didn’t need to escape from one prison to then find myself in another.

Available to buy from:

Amazon UK 

Amazon US

Publisher – http://www.BHCPress.com

Website – http://www.shelleywilsonauthor.co.uk

Oathbreaker Book Blurb

Will she follow the pack…

Or will she destroy them?

A dead mother.

A violent father.

A missing brother.

When Mia’s father is murdered, it’s her estranged uncle that comes to the rescue, but what he offers her in return for his help could be worse than the life she is leaving behind.

Taken to Hood Academy, a unique school deep in the forest, she discovers friendships, love, and the courage to stand on her own.

As she trains hard, Mia takes the oath that seals her future as a werewolf hunter, but not everyone wants Mia to succeed.

Screams in the night. Secret rooms. Hidden letters. Mia becomes an important piece in a game she doesn’t want to play.

Will the truth set her free, or will it destroy her?

***

More About Shelley Wilson
Shelley Wilson was born in Leeds but moved to the West Midlands when she was a youngster. She is a single mum to three teenagers, a fat goldfish and a crazy black cat called Luna. Her favourite things (apart from her children) are vampires, mythology, history, and pizza. Shelley is an avid reader and book blogger with a passion for Netflix marathon-binge watching sessions.

She divides her time between blogging and writing motivational non-fiction books for adults, and the fantasy worlds of her YA fiction.

Her non-fiction books combine lifestyle, motivation and self-help with a healthy dose of humour, and her YA novels combine myth, legend and fairy tales with a side order of demonic chaos.  You can check out all Shelley’s books here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00G5KPMJI

Shelley can be found lurking on Twitter and Facebook all the time (she wishes to add procrastination to her favourite things list!)

Contact Info

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads 

The post Young Adult Writing Tips With Oathbreaker Author @ShelleyWilson72 appeared first on Sacha Black.

I’m launching a new website. A new blog. See, I made a bit of a school boy error when I started this blog, I focused solely on non-fiction, and I swore, a lot.

Now, that’s great, if you read non-fiction or are a writer, or have dark sense of humour like me. But not so good for  if you’re trying to attract fiction readers of a very specific genre.

DEEP SIGH. 

So here is me, warming you up to the fact that come January I’ll also be blogging somewhere else… That doesn’t mean this blog will go. Oh no. This blog-badger is here to stay. I’m just going to make my life supremely difficult and have two sites! 

Now, you might have had enough of my hyperbole, cause I do have a habit of droning on… But if you haven’t, and you’re interested in following my journey to publishing my fiction, then you might wanna hop over here:

www.sachablackbooks.com

Right now, you’ll see the sum total of naff all. A sign up for blogs and a newsletter sign up, and that’s aboot it. But come January, that badgers going into hyperdrive.

Why you might wanna follow the new blog:

If you’re interested in:

a) Young Adult fiction – I’ll be posting reviews of books and recommendations

b) Young Adult crazes – I’m a child – what can I say

c) Interested specifically in my fiction books and launches (sign up to the fiction newsletter there! Or use this link)

d) Interested in where I get my inspiration from – i.e. conspiracies, photography, life the universe  and the number 42

e) Like book photography

F) Me ranting, or voicing opinions using a plethora of interesting words!

G) Being  nosy

The content while it will be frequent in the early part of the year, will likely drop to weekly as I get closer to publishing and need more preparation time.

That’s it. You’re free to move on. Announcement over. 

The post New Website Launch – Sacha Black Books – Coming Soon #MondayBlogs appeared first on Sacha Black.

But the point is, I’m a big slutty slut slut when it comes to YA fantasy/dystopian. I gobble it up like a starving orphan. Why?

Because I love that shit. I love it so much I’d motorboat them books all night long and carry a caffeine drip to work because I stayed up so late reading (happens a LOT).

But, having read a lot of books in the same genre I can confidently say, they are ALL the same story. No really, they are. But its the familiarity that drags me back.

And it’s the familiarity that drags other readers back too. We actually want to be told the same story, over and over and over. It’s just that we want to be told it in a different way, so it doesn’t feel like the same story.

That’s where tropes come in. Tropes give your readers the familiarity they crave, which is why they are so important to you if you’re a genre writer.

I decided to read a lot of the YA best sellers out at the minute as I’d spent much of the summer reading non-fiction and I missed it. But also, because its important to stay in the know about what’s successful in your genre and also understand the popular tropes. I have a long list I’m trying to get through but I’ve included the books I’ve read in the last week in the post.

But what in the name of literary Einsteinius is a Trope?

Tropes are reoccurring themes, concepts and patterns usually found buried deep inside the juicy guts of a genre.

I see lots of people confuse clichés with tropes. They are not the same. Clichés are tired, cheesey, cringe worthy yawn fests. Like the witch who cackles and has a long crooked nose with a mole.

Cliché = Bad

Tropes = Good

Tropes can, and should be used time and again. And if they’re told in novel way, you’ll have readers gagging like little inkword addicts for more of your book.

ONE – Know what the tropes are

Here’s some examples of genre tropes (soz, they are predominantly from the genres I read.)

Young Adult Tropes

• Orphan protagonist or excessively distant parents
• Love triangles
• A graduating ceremony
• Lost of emotion and specifically around a first love

Fantasy

• The chosen one
• The one magical sword/potion/device that will save the world and is conveniently difficult to locate
• The mentor character that dies just before the hero is ready to spread his wings

YA Fantasy/Dystopian YA

• An excessively strict societal system punishments often death or imprisonment
• No touching/physical contact with opposite sex before marriage (usually some form of chosen/arranged marriage)
• Class divides
• A protagonist usually from lower class

Crime 

• A dead body discovered at the start of a novel
• A crime fighting detective dedicated to the job but a total maverick
• A murderer either arrested or killed at the end of the book
• Serial killers

TWO – Know How To Find The Tropes

Not that I’m trying to teach anyone to suck eggs, but it really is as simple as opening your book legs and being a big fat genre slut.

So how do you find out what the tropes are? Stick to a genre and read as many books as you can stand from it!

I promise on my bestest scouts honour that after a few books, reoccurring themes, concepts or patterns will appear.

Its like a gnawing, a sense of familiarity you can’t quite locate. An uncomfortable itch of knowing. A ‘wait a fucking minute’ moment. Yes, yes you have read this story before. SEVERAL TIMES people. Several freaking times.

THREE – Tropes and Clichés A Worked Example – Learn from the Pros

I read two books this week, after I’d decided the theme of this week’s post… And whaddyahknow, they were practically the same story, only one book I was a bit ‘meh’ over and the other I loved!

The books in question were The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and The Selection by Kiera Cass

Now. I had to rack my brains on this badger, because the stories are obscenely similar.

The plots in my own words:

The Red Queen is based on a blood class system – Red blood you’re fucked and a commoner, Silver and you have magic powers and are effectively royalty. The Silver Prince has to choose a Queen from all the silver royal families. The protagonist spoiler alert – (a red i.e. pauper who has the powers of a silver) gets embroiled and ultimately becomes part of the silver royal family system and chosen to be the wife of the prince she doesn’t love. All the while, a revolution is ongoing the underdog reds are uprising and want their freedom from the oppressive silvers. The protagonist is called Mare (remember this delightful name). She doesn’t want the power or the crown.

The Selection is based on a numbered caste system, Ones are royalty, eights are lowers than slaves and have nothing and surprise, surprise there is also a rebel uprising, although it’s much less of a feature than in The Red Queen. The royal prince has to choose a queen from his people i.e. a woman from one of the lower castes. The protagonist is called America (aka Mer) (yes, yes they do have the same name!). 35 girls from different states go and compete in the selection for the hand of the prince, and of course Mer is one of them. She doesn’t want the power or the crown.

They are the same story, THE SAME STORY folks.

They both stick to the genre tropes – love interests, class systems, rebellions, dystopian themes. But The Red Queen nailed it. The Selection really didn’t.

I’ve been wracking my brains as to why that is, and I suspect its the tropes. While the Selection had them, I saw the end coming from about ohhh page 2. It was predictable, misogynistic and clichéd almost, a tired story I’d read a thousand times. Don’t get me wrong, I read it in two sittings, it was like addictively shit TV, you just can’t help sitting there watching just one more episode, even though you’re about to urinate over your popcorn and remote control you’ve been sat so long. AND I’ll read the rest in the series too, so it’s not all bad.

But The Red Queen had a new take on it. It was the same story but told differently. Aveyard took the tropes and shook that shit up with different twists, a protagonist that thought differently, spoke differently and acted differently.

Tropes and clichés are a dangerously fine line to tread. Do it wrong, sprinkle too much of that knowing story familiarity and you end up with The Selection, a clichéd story we heard a thousand times. Shake it up enough, and you end up with a story that makes genre lovers squeal in ecstasy.

What genre do you write? What are the tropes you know of and do you actively adhere to them or actively avoid them? Let me know in the comments below.

The post Please Your Readers – 3 Trope Tactics appeared first on Sacha Black.

I like examples, I like learning from examples and I just happen to have read another book (Independent Study (The Testing Trilogy Book 2)), so I am going to use the hero from that to explain how not to create the perfect hero.

Ultimately, a hero needs to save the day. But how they actually save the day is just as important if not more so than the fact they actually save it. And here in lies the problem when creating a hero.

The book I just finished: Independent Study (The Testing Trilogy Book 2, is the second book in the testing series. I have talked about the testing briefly before: 4 Tactics to Create Your Perfect Last Line. It is a trilogy, YA (I swear I’ll read something else soon!) and a dystopian novel. Set in a world destroyed by war and in order to help rejuvenate the society, students go through ‘the testing’ in order to get into university. The testing of course, is barbaric. But our hero succeeds and this book is set at the start of university.

Perfection For The Sake of Winning

If your hero is going to win, they need to be good. They need to be smart, or at least have street smarts. Unless your hero is a total loner they also need a team or support of some kind around them so that ultimately, they can beat your villain.

How good is good enough but, more importantly, how good is too good?

If you make your hero good at everything, then there’s no battle, no need for the struggle against evil and no grit to the conflict. They no longer have anything to overcome.

In Indepdent Study, Cia is frighteningly intelligent. So much so, that she never actually makes a mistake. Not once throughout the entire book. I waited and waited for the moment where she would show some humanity and capability for error. But she didn’t. She worked out all the answers to problems, faster than anyone else, with virtually no outside input. She read her team mates, predicted their betrayals and knew how to beat them.

An example… when she is working on an assignment from the president:

“If anyone questions Raffe’s assistance, I can say I was only doing the same. But then I realise I don’t need to.” Independent Testing, Joelle Charbonneau.

This realisation leads to her understanding that the work she is being given is just another test.

I actually did a search in the book, and counted 19 uses of the phrase: ‘I realise’. NINETEEN?? the books only 368 pages, that one use every 19 pages. Who the hell edited this thing?

Now don’t get me wrong. There are barriers for Cia to overcome, but most of them are physical or external barriers – i.e. The testing ground and hostile environment.

Physical and external barriers are good, but only as additions. The heroes flaw should be the hardest thing for them to overcome, all the additions, the nasty villains, the hostile environments, these things should just make it harder for the hero to overcome his flaw. They need to make it seem impossible for them to succeed.

These external barriers shouldn’t ‘be’ the thing your hero has to beat. No one cares if they have to jump a ravine to chase the villain down. Readers care about personal torment and self sacrifice.

External barriers as a cover for perfect heroes just ain’t good enough. The heroes flaw has to be internal.

Cowardly For The Sake of Fallibility

We spend much of the book, and in fact, much of the first two books, with Cia as the hero; a strong female who’s driven, determined intelligent and utterly fearless.

Then, (and I made a note of this) at 84% of the way through the book, she has a change of heart… Yes, you can raise an eyebrow. I did. 84% of the way through a book is not the time for a 180 degree change of heart. Let me explain, she realises she has to do something, a task, (that actually she doesn’t even end up doing) that would put her life in danger.

“I cannot deliberately make a choice that could end my life. I am not a leader. I am a coward.” Independent Testing Joelle Charbonneau

Up to this point she has thrown herself in the way of danger without a second breath. But at 84% she decides she’s a coward and basically hides in her room for a day. Precisely 1% later, at 85% she changes her mind again:

“And I realise – the walls are constructed of my terror. To escape, I will have to not only face, but defeat, my fear… The safety is just an illusion. no matter how careful I am or how good my grades are, I will never be free of the threat Dr Barnes and his system present.” Independent Testing Joelle Charbonneau

*foreheadslap* (another realisation…)

I actually can’t believe a 1% kong change of heart got through the edits to be honest. It was so jarring, I actually had to re read sections to check she was being serious.

Character flaws are good. Yes. Essential even. BUT…

If you want a flaw in your character to be believable and authentic, you need to show that flaw the ENTIRE way through the book or at least allude to it. That is the purpose of flaws. To show the protagonist growing, developing and overcoming that flaw as the book progresses. NOT to slap one in towards the end, because either you forgot or couldn’t be arsed to weave it in earlier. That’s just poor authorship and makes the character seem trite as well as unbelievable.

***

Unfortunately, the book has been widely criticised for being too similar to the Hunger Games and whilst I can see the links and, given it was published five years after HG’s, was probably influenced by it. However, it is a different story, based in a different setting and with different characters, so I think people who liked the Hunger Games, generally speaking would like this book too.

Whilst I have picked out two distinct lessons on what not to do with a hero, I did actually like this book. It was a little slow for my taste, and as a result I didn’t feel it advanced the plot much on the first book. But perhaps that was because the first book was so pacey. I suspect, like many trilogies, this second book was just a filler.

I would genuinely recommend this series to any YA dystopian fan, I will certainly be reading the final book, despite this middle one. The characters are full of depth, and Cia has a clear and wonderful voice full of angst and emotion. Exactly what you’d want and expect from a YA book.

Independent Study is the second in the Testing Trilogy, Amazon says this about it:

Cia Vale is now seventeen and has everything she ever dreamed of: a boy she loves, a place at the University and a future as one of the leaders of the UnitedCommonwealth. The Testing should be nothing more than a blank space in her mind; an achievement to be celebrated, and then forgotten. 
But Cia remembers. As further evidence of the government’s murderous programmes comes to light, Cia must choose whether to stay silent and protect herself and her loved ones, or expose The Testing for what it is. Above all, the University is a dangerous place, and Cia must remember the advice her father gave her: TRUST NO ONE.

If you are interested in the first book check it out here.

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The post Want The Perfect Hero? Don't Make These 2 Mistakes appeared first on Sacha Black.

Katniss climbed into bed with Peeta, gave him a hug and he leant in to say:

“You love me, real or not real?” and Katniss said, “Real.”

Time to admit a dirty secret I have been harbouring for a while now – yes, I’m ashamed! I haven’t read the Hunger Games. I know. I know. I’m a YA Fantasy/Dystopian writer, how could I NOT have read the Hunger Games…? It just sort of happened. Lets not talk about it. I’ll fix it…Soon.

Anyway, there we were in the cinema and I leant over to to Mrs. Black and did the unthinkable, whispered in the middle of the film. I said… That right there, that’s the last line of the book. She raised an eyebrow and asked me how I knew. I didn’t have the answer, so I shrugged, “I just did.”

But it got me thinking, how did I know? And what was it about that line that made it so obviously a last line?

After we left the cinema I frantically scanned the kindle app on my phone to see if I’d downloaded it and could check. I had, and low and behold, ignoring the epilogue, there was the last line of the book, exactly as I had predicted.

‘So after when he whispers, “you love me. Real or not real?” 

I tell him, “Real.”

Suzanne Collins – Mockingjay (Book 3)

So I scoured a bunch of other books to find their last lines and not only are there clear things I learnt, but there is also quite an obvious difference in the style and content between the last lines of first and last books in trilogies.

But first, the endings:

The Hunger Games (Book 1 – Suzanne Collins) – Out of the corner of my eye, I see Peeta extend his hand. I look at him, unsure. “One more time? For the audience?” he says. His voice isn’t angry. It’s hollow, which is worse. Already the boy with the bread is slipping away from me.

I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.

***

The Testing (Book 1 – Joelle Charbonneau) – I blink as the small room fills wth a voice that sounds like my own and listen as the voice speaks words I don’t want to believe.

***

Angel fall (Book 1 – Susan Ee)- I never realised why a triumph it is to simply be alive. My sister is with us. Raffle is flying. Everything else is secondary. And for now, that is enough.

***

End of Days– (Book 3 – Susan Ee)- My whole world turns into Raffe sensations as our lips explore each other.

***

Matched (Book 1 – Ally Condie)- My words never last long. I have to destroy them before anyone sees them. But. I remember them all. For some reason, the act of writing them all down makes me remember. Each word I write brings me closer to finding the right ones. And when I see Ky again, which I know will happen, I will whisper the words I have written in his ear, against his lips. And they will change from ash and nothing into flesh and blood.

***

Divergent  (Book 1 – Veronica Roth)- Abnegation and Dauntless are both broke, their members scattered. We are like the factionless now. I do not know what life will be like, separated from a faction-it feels disengaged, like a leaf divided from the tree that gives it sustenance. We are creatures of loss; we have left everything behind. I have no home, no path, and no certainty. I am no longer Tris, the selfless, or Tris, the brave. I suppose that now, I must become more than either.

***

Allegiant (Book 3 – Veronica Roth)- Since I was young, I have always known this: Life damages us, every one. We can’t escape that damage. But now, I am also learning this: We can be mended. We mend each other.

But what can we learn from these last lines?

ONE – The difference between book 1 and book 3

The most obvious difference between first books and last books that in a series, is that the first book, although drawing its story to a conclusion, leaves something open.

For example, the Hunger Games says: “and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.”

The key word for me is dreading. It tells us not only that there is more to come, but it is foreshadowing a gloomy future – telling us that there will come a time when she will let go for the last time.

Again, in Divergent (the first book), Tris says:

“I suppose that now, I must become more than either.”

Similarly here Tris spent the previous paragraph rounding every storyline off, but the

TWO – YA Philosophy

There’s this thing in YA books, I don’t know how to describe it other than ‘YA Philosophy’. I think because of the emotional rollercoaster YA’s go through and the fact they are still learning about life, there is always a big emotional truth revelation in a YA novel. An “oh yeah?!” moment when they learn something they will never forget.

It’s a fundamental truth that most adults will likely just ‘get’ intuitively. But here’s the clincher, I think the reason so many adults still like YA novels is because we forget our inner child and the lessons we learnt. Sure, we know them deep down. But we become numb to life because of the monotony of the suburban nightmare and the daily grind. Which means when the protagonist says something philosophical and emotionally fundamental, we are propelled back to our youth and our own “Oh yeah” moments. A poignant reminder that life is still beautiful in its innocence.

In essence, this is the characters arc – their personal journey but in YA its typically much more emotional than in other genres.

Two basic examples from the Hunger Games:

“Destroying things is much easier than making them.”

“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.”

***

In the final books, these revelations happen more frequently and more intensely, and Allegiant, the last in the Divergent series, the last line is precisely one of these YA Philosophy moments:

“But now, I am also learning this: We can be mended. We mend each other.”

Two examples from divergent:

“Then I realize what it is. It’s him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames.” 

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” 

***

THREE – Endings are endings for a reason

Endings are endings – so although in lesson one I learnt that in book 1 specifically something is left open, that ‘thing’ is tiny. Because ultimately, the previous paragraphs or chapters depending on how an author has paced their novel, rounds off all the story lines in that book.

YA readers generally are impatient. I know I am, and I love to feel satisfied at the end of a book, which means no unfinished business.

It feels like this is a careful line to tread because a lot of YA books at the moment are trilogies. So you have to leave something open. Generally, although obviously ever author is different, these novels resolve the major conflict, or plot problem, and leave a hook for the next one (see point one).

Interestingly, when I went back and checked the first books, three of the five mentioned the male love interest in the last paragraph – that was the hook into the next book’s storyline. Two didn’t, (divergent and the testing) and both those were about the self growth and journey of the protagonist.

FOUR – Foreshadowing

I talked about foreshadowing recently in 6 Tricks to the Perfect Reveal. One of the things I mentioned was it is never too early to foreshadow. Including, before book two even starts. All of these books are foreshadowing, whether its the reuniting of lovers, a self sacrifice or a war that still needs to be fought. The last line is key to setting up the premise for the next novel.

***

Every genre is different, but what do you find is essential for a book ending?

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This book is written in a unique way using the first person POV, so the focus of this lesson review will be on perfecting the first person POV.

Breathe is a YA dystopian novel, written in the first person* about love, courage, power and sacrifice. Amazon’s blurb says:

Years after the Switch, life inside the Pod has moved on. A poor Auxiliary class cannot afford the oxygen tax which supplies extra air for running, dancing and sports. The rich Premiums, by contrast, are healthy and strong. Anyone who opposes the regime is labelled a terrorist and ejected from the Pod to die.

Sixteen-year-old Alina is part of the secret resistance, but when a mission goes wrong she is forced to escape from the Pod. With only two days of oxygen in her tank, she too faces the terrifying prospect of death by suffocation. Her only hope is to find the mythical Grove, a small enclave of trees protected by a hardcore band of rebels. Does it even exist, and if so, what or who are they protecting the trees from?

How do I learn when reading? I collect words and sentences, especially unusual ones and I do it prolifically when I read in order to refer back later and dissect. I’ve had to retrain my brain to be able to read consciously. Normally my eyes switch off and I see pictures instead of reading words, so in order to pay proper attention to the words I refocus. Anyway, enough rambling. What did I actually learn?

First Person POV

I always hear the phrase ‘writers need to learn the rules so they can break them.‘ One of the cardinal rules I’ve learnt is that if you are writing in the first person you do it from one characters POV. *I said earlier Breathe was written in the first person. It is. But, from three main characters POVs.

Interesting.

Did it work? Not right away. The book rotates around each character, each chapter from one of the three main characters: Alina, Bea and Quinn.

The thing about first person that I love is that its so personal and deep to that one main character. The book opens with the character Alina. I assumed – she was the main character. But the book ends with a chapter from Bea. I started out thinking Alina was the main character especially as there was love triangle. Quinn and Bea are old friends, Bea loves Quinn – he’s never noticed her despite being BFFs. Quinn falls for Alina. And then, part way through the book realises his mistake and how he has always loved Bea.

I’ll be honest. I never realised but, wherever the love interest is (not the male, *climbs on feminist soap box, whips out bra and searches for lighter* but the relationship itself) is where the main characters are. By the end of the book for me Bea was the main character. I was left a little confused. For me, the book would have worked better if it was from just two main characters – Bea and Quinn, as the relationship could have had more depth from longer page time and we could easily have watched Alina through their eyes – that or perhaps it could have been written in the third person and worked just as well.

That being said, I did believe Bea’s heartache and I just about believed Quinn when he converted to Bea.

I would say it took a third of the book before I could easily switch between the characters, and for the first two sets of rotations I got very confused between Alina and Bea. Possibly because they were both female and therefore, it wasn’t until I was a third of the way through, that I really knew enough about each character to spot the differences between them quickly.

Once I did however I thoroughly enjoyed the variety.

Differentiating Main Characters

It wasn’t until I looked back at my highlights that I saw how Crossan had actually differentiated the characters. It’s subtle, and driven primarily through character desires and therefore in the way they look at the world. And actually rather genius. For example:

Alina – the rebel looks at life in a philosophical way – she is driven by the need for freedom and therefore watches the detail in the serenity and beauty of nature. Here’s two examples:

Every now and again I spotted something simple and ordinary – like a toothbrush. what happened to its owner?

Im afraid of upsetting the stillness

Whereas Bea who is driven primarily by love, thinks and speaks in a much more tangible way. Crossan uses tactile descriptions playing on the senses to build on Bea’s personality, goals and lust for Quinn.

He doesn’t feel that way about me,’ I say. I have never admitted this out loud, so when I hear the words spoken in my own voice, clear and undisputed, I could cry. I look at my mum steadily.

He squeezes my knee and leaves his hand resting there. My stomach tightens as I wait for something else,

…in my chest has swollen up so that my whole body feels like it’s filled with poison. I don’t love him in the way my parents love each other – sweetly, almost wearily. When I’m with him I feel each nerve within me awakening so that when he touched me, when he brushes my arm accidentally, I shiver and I have to bite back an urge to cry out. I feel the ache everywhere: in my neck, in my belly, between my legs.

What I love is that I had no idea I’d picked up on so much until the end when I  looked back at the random phrases I’d highlighted and found pure Crossan gold.

Describing Other Characters
The last key lesson I learnt was around describing other characters. When writing in first person, everything (including other characters) is seen through the eyes of your main character so you need to describe them fully as well as identifying their goals without making it seem arbitrary.

I think Quinn is the best character at doing this because he goes through some difficulties not having spotted who his father really was. Ironic, and more impactful because he spends a lot of his time looking at and kind of analysing other people, yet, didn’t spot what was under his nose  – both for Bea and his father.

What I think Crossan does really well is facilitate her main characters describing the other characters not through their physical appearance which can sometimes be shallow and stilted but through their thoughts, actions and emotions bringing a depth to the secondary characters you might otherwise not get:

She gulps down some water and squints at me as though she isn’t quite sure what she’s seeing.

She flicks her thick hair from her shoulders and pulls at the hem of her incredibly short dress. I’ve never met a person more in love with herself.

and my favourite of all – a description of his father…

He is speaking into the mirror, talking to my reflection as though he can’t bear to look at the real me any more.

Lesson Summary:

ONE

First person does work better from one characters POV, however, rules are meant to be broken and by the end of the book I really enjoyed the flick between the three characters and the tension that built having to wait to find out what happens to one of them.

TWO

I would say that if you are going to write in first person from more than one POV its better to do one male and one female, or two VERY different characters if they are the same gender and age it can make it hard to differentiate between characters.

THREE

Again, if you are swapping character whilst in first person POV, you need to be VERY clear who the main character is, otherwise your reader won’t know who to invest in.

FOUR

Differentiating multiple first person characters is hard. But it’s easily done by focusing on manipulating their speech and thoughts to focus on their goals.

If a character is driven by love then their thoughts and speech will be more tangible and oriented to the sensations they feel because of love.

FIVE

If you’re not conscientious, describing other characters in the first person can steer you down a path of describing clothes and appearance. But by a character observing action, emotion and pondering another’s thoughts, you achieve a depth you can’t get with clothes and appearance.

What lessons have you learnt about the first person? Have you ever read a first person novel and found habits you don’t like? What tricks do you use when writing in the first person?

If you’re a fan of YA books, especially with a twist or hint of dystopian fantasy I think you will love this read. I did.

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A few weeks ago I wrote a piece of flash fiction which I called Adultland, the story continued in Part II, but today, I bring part III. You can catch up on all the past instalments here.

We left Lou, pacing outside her parents flat building, waiting for the mist and Hunters to come and kidnap her parents. Can she save them? Read on to find out.PART III 

The mist really did sparkle, it was like a cave filled with glow worms, popping and twinkling so brightly I was mesmerised. I gravitated towards it.

I wanted to touch it. Needed to touch it. I reached out, a stampede in my chest made my fingers tingle as they edged towards it. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline from Kirsty’s serum kicking in or the thrill of getting close to the mist, but my fingers kept stretching. Closer. Almost there. I just wanted. One. Touch.

My arm twitched.  My eyes snapped to the microchip. A furnace of heat exploded from the chip and up my arm. I yelped and yanked my hand away. Was the chip failing already? I shook my head, I had to get as far away from the mist as possible.

I took a step back. And another. My heart kicked harder, stomach dancing. Rustles and twig snaps echoed intermittently from the wooded cops at the end of the car park.

I wasn’t alone, I was being watched. I’d felt it for weeks; the light prod of a single pair of eyes. Of someone watching me.

A hand clasped my mouth. I stiffened, muscles instantly charged, ready to lash out.

“Don’t scream,” a voice said, “I want to help and we don’t have long.”

He kept his hand across my mouth and stepped into view. He was dressed head to toe in black. His head was covered by a hood and a strange mask with cogs and tubes that protected his mouth. All I could see of him were enormous hazel eyes that had a perfect black ring round the iris.

He was a Hunter.

I had to think fast. He was a lot taller than me. If I attacked and didn’t knock him to the ground he would catch me and probably kill me. If I stayed put he could still kill me.

“I’m going to take my hand away. If you scream I won’t be able to save your parents.”

I relaxed just a fraction. Why would a Hunter want to save my parents? I opened my mouth to hurl questions at him but, he put his hand over my mouth again. I glared at him.

He smirked. “Knew I’d picked the right Orphi,”

“Orphi?” I mumbled under his hand.

“Yeah, orphan.”

My heart clenched at the inevitability of his word. I  shoved my shoulder into his chest hard enough for him to know I meant business.

“Calm down, Orphi.”

I yanked his hand away from my mouth. “Thought you wanted to help?”

“I do, but I don’t have time to explain everything so none of this is going to make sense,” he said.

Wood cracked to our left. His eyes snapped across and examined the mist covering the wood.

“They’re near the edge of the woods, we need to hurry up.”

“Wait. Tell me who you are.”

“My name’s Hawk.”

“Hawk? What sort of a name is that?”

“Look, we don’t have time. I have to do this quickly or it won’t look convincing.”

“Convincing?”

“You ask too many questions, Orphi,” he said, pursing his lips.

“Well, you don’t give enough information, Hawk.”

Boots struck rhythmically against the tarmac. They were in the car park. If the mist wasn’t so thick I was sure they would see us. Hawk moved closer to me, pressing his body against mine until he backed us against the flat wall. I only came up to his neck and I could smell the faint trace of a woody perfume on his skin. The tiniest flicker of heat flared behind my cheeks.

“Listen, when you reach the end of the city, look down. I’ll be waiting.”

“Look down?”

The clap, clap of boots stopped.

“HAWK? Where are you?”

His hand clamped across my mouth. My jaw flexed against the palm of his hand. I didn’t care if he was a Hunter, or if we were going to get caught. If he did that again, I was going to knock him out.

He leant into my neck, his lip brushing against my ear. My stomach tightened. 

“Ready?” he whispered.

His hand slipped into mine and he gave it a soft squeeze, “I’m sorry, this is going to hurt because you took the anti-sleeper.”

He let go of my hand, yanked a needle out of his pocket stabbed me in the neck.

Pain erupted through me, blood solidfing like ice in my veins. I screamed clutching my throat and collapsed on the floor.

“GOT HER SARGE,” Hawk shouted and disappeared.

Frozen crystals flooded my system as I writhed on the concrete outside the flats. Black spotted my vision and my throat finally clamped shut. I couldn’t breathe, even the faint trace of heat from the suns first rays was too much.

Black dots turned to grey static; I was passing out. Poison poured into my limbs, stiffening my hands and feet. Palpations ricocheted through me feeble attempts at fighting the cold warrior trying to control me.

I blinked.

My vision dimmed. The patch on my arm where the microchip was embedded blistered. Shooting pains burrowed deep into my wrists.

I blinked again.

Dozens of heavily booted feet stormed through the flat building’s door. I rolled over trying to crawl towards them. Muscles defied me, pinching and convulsing instead of moving forward.

“Nooo.”

I reached out clutching at grass, trying anything to stop them getting my parents.

I blinked again.

I was surrounded by darkness.

“I’ll be waiting at the end of the city…”

Hawk’s words rolled around my mind, each one poked and prodded at the recesses of my consciousness. Time slowed like the thick gloop of primordial sludge. Words merged and hopped about like soldiers in front of me.

My parents.

I blinked again.

Two enormous glowing orbs were floating out of the front door. Two Hunters pointed some kind of tube at the orbs like they controlled them. Inside the orbs were the limp bodies of my parents. They had wide eyed stares that darted across the chaos in front of them. They were still alive. For now.

“DAD,” I screamed, but only a silent breath escaped my mouth. I tried to force volume but I was paralysed. A gentle tug tempted me back to sleep, but I knew I needed to stay awake and witness the kidnap. My eyes were so heavy, maybe I could shut them for just a second?

I blinked.

The comfort of darkness consumed me. I swam through the emptiness. It was oddly comforting against the agonising paralysis. I searched my unconscious raking through memories, thoughts. I was meant to look for something, but what? Time oozed away, merging into the lake of memories playing out in front of me.

Two people drifted into view. They looked familiar. They floated into the air, heads hanging, eyes staring. I had to save them. I could do it, I just needed to move my legs.

I blinked again.

The car park was empty. I knew the sun was high because my skin throbbed from the heat blazing into the car park. The Hunters, orbs, mist, Hawk and my parents had vanished.

“He lied,” I mumbled staring at the place the orbs had been.

 “you’re a dead man, Hawk.” How dare he lie to me and kidnap my parents.

The numbness in my limbs was subsiding.

“Lou?”

“Harry,” I said sitting up, “where did you come from?”

He shifted on the spot, peering at anything but me. My gut lurched. I scoured my memories of last night, desperate to filter through the gunk and scan faces to see if I recognised Harry’s strangely large eyes through the Hunters masks. But my brain was fossilised, like ten thousand years of sediment was weighing down any coherent thought. I didn’t recall seeing him, so I decided to give him another chance and look after him like dad had said.

“It’s lunch time, we expected you to surface first thing this morning,” Harry said, and offered me a hand up.

His face was drawn, hungry black bags consumed his entire face.

“You look like shit, Harry.”

“Thanks,” he snorted. “Well, somethings, umm… we have a problem. I need to show you. The others are waiting. Are you ok to walk?”

“Think so. Where are we going?”

“Edge of the city.”

We walked for an hour, the closer we got to the edge of the city the more abandoned it appeared. Children needed to be together like pack animals. Parents were meant to be our alphas. But now we found solace huddled together in the centre of the city in flats and large office buildings where we desperately clung to any sense of belonging we could.

“So where were you living when they took your parents?” I asked.

“Falst…” he stopped dead, coughed and then continued, “just a suburb to the west of the city.”

I frowned, a seed of unease sprouted in my stomach. Falston was the next city but one. It was also the first city the Hunters attacked. My dad’s request to look after Harry filtered through my mind, and I did know of a westerly borough called Falstingbury. That must be where he came from. But what was he trying to hide?

“So what happened to you? You were the first in Daxley City, right? So you must have a story.”

He glanced at me, his face tight, A trace of sweat beaded on his forehead.

“Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure.”

But we didn’t because I’d run out of things to ask and the seed sprouting in my stomach was rapidly growing. Instead I stared at our surroundings as we walked.

Since more people had disappeared we weren’t able to look after massive parts of Daxely but I hadn’t realised how quickly rust and decay had taken over. Bricks were crumbling everywhere I looked, our beautiful city had become a desolate waste land. But amongst the dying buildings and months of neglect, new life was thriving. A plethora of plants ravaged the sides of buildings. Growing like viruses up walls and into the cracks of houses.

“We’re here,” he said, drawing us to a stop, “when you round that corner, you’ll see…the, erm. You just need to look.”

Harry had said virtually nothing about what was wrong. Just that we needed to get to the edge of Daxley so he could show me. We were right by the border of Daxley and the suburbs which started at the end of the next street. My parents were going to move to the suburbs right before the Hunters started taking the adults, but they got caught up trying to protect their friends, and eventually thoughts of a move were forgotten.

I rounded the corner and froze. My heart squeezed to a halt making my breath catch in my throat. There were no suburbs. No ’end’ of the street. There was no street at all.

“What the hell?”

A grey concrete wall as tall as three houses towered above us. It stretched across the street and smashed straight through houses, paths and front lawns. It loomed angry and dark like a giant preparing for war.

“It’s surrounding the entire city, Lou. There’s no way in or out.”

“No. NO. It can’t.”

I stepped off the path and ran to the next street expecting the concrete monstrosity to vanish. My heart fired into life and pounded so hard I could feel the pulsing of blood in my ears. All I could think about was my parents. I had to save them. I had to be able to get out of the city.

The wall covered the next street. And the next. I ran harder. Skipped across pavements, gardens and alleys. Three more streets passed. But still the wall loomed as colossal and firm as it had on the first street.

Harry stumbled after me.

“Wait, Lou,” he said, panting.

“How do we get out, Harry?” I screamed throwing myself at the wall, “I need to get out, I have to save my parents.”

I slapped at the wall. It was cold and gritted like sandpaper but, I punched and kicked at it anyway. Pain sliced through my hands as the gnarled surface cut into my knuckles. I revelled in the hurt, it eased the panic.

“LOU,” Harry said, touching my back, “stop.”

I slumped to the floor, exhausted, blood seeping out of several knuckles and tears spilling onto my cheeks.

“We’re trapped aren’t we?”

His face was ashen and clammy. He looked as I felt.

“Harry?” I snapped, “are we trapped?”

He nodded once. A heavy, but resolute nod. We really were trapped.

The post Adultland Part 3 appeared first on Sacha Black.

You have to be in their mindset. The YA mindset. See, I have this theory that people stop ageing. I mean, yeah, sure, chronologically we ‘grow’ old. But how many people do you know in their 60’s, 70’s or 80’s who actually act like it? My guess is not many. It’s because people stop ageing. We get to a certain level of maturity or chronological age and then poof. Things stop developing, we think as we did at that age, we just add more experience to help reason our decision making. So what does this mean for writing effective YA stories?

Well, here’s the science. 95% of our brains are fully formed by the time we are 6 years old. Most of the last 5% develops in a spurt around adolescence. What does that mean?  YA brains are basically adult brains. They possess the same intellectual abilities, reasoning and capacity as that of fully fledged adults. The only difference is experience. I stopped ageing at 16. My wife, at 21. My mum at 19. When did you stop ageing?

I think the fact I stopped at 16 gives me a small advantage writing for the YA genre, because I can slip back to thinking as I did back then. I have an addition to my theory… and I say this tentatively because I don’t want to offend anyone or make anyone think I’m ageist… I’m not. But, I think baby boomers and older generations stopped ageing slightly older than the X, Y and current Z generations. This is for various reasons. But all societally driven.

X, but specifically Y and Z generations typically grow up faster, are exposed to more at a younger age and more frequently than previous generations. Just look at cinema ratings, there are 15 rated films that terrify me. They are immune to traditional marketing ploys too – because they have seen it, got the t-shirt and bought the gadget last season. They don’t get a chance to age further than their teens.

I think this is the reason the YA market is becoming so massive is because you have an entire generation of teens (Y) who stopped growing and are now adults who brought their YA fiction love with them. And now you have another generation Z who are doing the same. Finally, the older X generation are in my opinion a hybrid of Y and boomers. But what does this all mean? And how does this help write YA fiction?

Here’s a breakdown of what I’ve learnt so far.

ONE

YA stands for Young Adult. The world adult is in there for a reason. Science says they already have adult brains, so as writers we need to respect the fact they are actually adults. This means no simplification, no patronisation and absolutely no holding back.

TWO

They are adults BUT, without experience. Just because they have adult brains doesn’t mean they have had adult experiences and in fact, a lot of these ‘first’ experiences are the subject matter for YA books.

THREE

Not having had experiences means they don’t have examples of reasoning and rationalising decisions. That means sometimes they will make fantastic decisions and other times they will make catastrophic choices – if you don’t have experience to tell you likely outcomes your going on trial and error and emotive (i’ll go into this later) judgements.

FOUR

Sex. Sex is generally the deal breaker between classifying your book as YA or NA (New Adult). But, most 16 year olds have had sex. Actually, lets be honest, most 15 year olds have, and if they haven’t had it, have had their hands down pants and in bras. A lot of writers are shying away from writing first fumbles and awful cherry popping sex because it makes them uncomfortable.

Stop that. Seriously. Stop it. Young adults shag just as much as we adults do. Get over it, and write about the tingles that rushed down her back as his hands slipped up her top and unhooked her bra. How she moaned and then caught her breath as his hand ran over her breast…. see is it really that hard? You don’t need to be crass, this isn’t erotica.

Remember point two – they have no experience. Sex and any associated fumbles are their first… you have to write it with the innocence of a first time… can you remember your first time? The anxiety, anticipation and then exhilaration? Capture that.

FIVE

I am going to have a rant now. I have read a series of cliche bashing posts in the last week, thats what prompted this one. Stop bashing cliches. YA literature is full of them sure – your handsome love interest, a love triangle, a ‘saviour/ only possible hero,’ etc etc. You know what, there are hundreds of super famous YA authors who use cliches in their YA fiction. IT WORKS. Look at Divergent, Uglies, Hunger Games… all using the same formula. Sure – do something unique or you won’t sell a book and you wont have a hook, but don’t dismiss a cliche just because its been done. They are popular for a reason. People like them.

SIX

And the reason they work? Because this isn’t real life. It’s fiction for a reason people, and fiction that’s often (ok selfishly) fantasy. It’s a chance for YA’s to play through all those first experiences in a safe environment – they read about them, understand the mistakes characters make so they don’t have to. If I wanted to read literary fiction, and a masterpiece in societal philosophy I’d pick up that yawn fest. But that’s not why I read YA. I read it to escape. To live the dream, and to witness the struggles you have to go through to get to happily ever after. Because, god isn’t that so sweet? That conflict and hardship that ends in true love and heroes conquering evil. That shit doesn’t happen in real life. I want to read it in a story.

Give me hope damnit.

SEVEN

Emotions. Young Adults in the early years go through puberty, in the later stages they experience new things for the first time. Both these phases of life are extremely emotive, without the added stress of dealing with hyperactive hormones. I mean PMT is bad enough, let alone the raging hormones of puberty.

First experiences are scary, especially because you don’t have any knowledge  to predict outcomes or what the consequences of your actions might be. When was the last time you did something for the first time? Maybe you should try something new – remind yourself how it feels.

EIGHT

It’s a fact we live in a fast paced world. But younger generations are faster than any that have come before. They can have everything on demand Now, Yesterday. Accessibility to technology, information, education, fashion, sex, money and experiences is easier and simpler than ever before. If they make a mistake they can press backspace and delete it. YA’s are hungry. Hungry because they have everything and they can get more. Give it to them. Because secretly we all want it too.

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