18
Jul 18
0

To Trope or Not To Trope

I’m at the end of writing the third book in my New Sight trilogy, which gives me the opportunity to look toward my next series. It will by YA Space Opera, and I’m super excited about it!

In an attempt to see what readers want, I pulled up the worst YA tropes ever. I read through a few lists and agreed with most of them. Then I pulled up the best YA tropes ever. I read through a few lists and…well…just read on.

YA Tropes We Love

The Chosen One – Only this character can save the world!
Love Triangles – Because ever girl secretly wishes she had two hot guys after her..
Surprise, you have superpowers! – How else are they supposed to save the world?
The world is so broken – Hello Dystopian society. Why fight bad guys when you can fight an entire bad system of government?
The “Strong” female character – Because girls kick butt!
The Super Evil Bad Guy – Because…evil
The dysfunctional family – Don’t we all love to watch someone else’s train wreck?
The tall, dark, handsome love interest – who also has a tragic past!

YA Tropes We Hate

The plain and super boring main character – who is destined to save the world
Love Triangles – They’re both so wonderful, however can I choose?
Your super plain protagonist has super secret super powers – this sounds familiar
The Coming of Age story – Because some people hate adventure? So they set their story in a dystopian world and all is well.
#StrongFemaleCharacter – A dude in a girl’s body
Evil Villains – who are evil just because it’s hip
Parents who are actually children in big bodies
The tall, dark, handsome love interest – who is a jerk

Do you see what happened there? Apparently readers hate the same things they love. I can’t tell you how confusing that is.

Needless to say, this little exercise didn’t really help me much. Thanks a lot, internet.

11
Jul 18
0

Spoiled Gambit is Here!

Tags : Jagged Scars Series New Release Wins YA Books

The very last novella of my Jagged Scars Series, Spoiled Gambit is out today and will be $0.99 for one week only!

Pick up your copy now!

Cal screwed up. He trusted the wrong guy. Wendy almost died and Shelter fell. In an attempt to assuage his own guilt, Cal joins a dangerous mission to lead the Primate’s people away from the survivors.

While laying a false trail for the Primate’s Skinnies, Cal discovers some old friends, but he also finds an enemy even more dangerous than the Primate. Now the group must decide if their objective has changed. Cal will do anything to prove to the others, and maybe himself, that he’s not a traitor. But will it be enough to keep his friends safe?

Three-and-a-half years ago, after I finally finished a good draft of Fractured Memories, I did as I always do, and sent it to my beta readers.

Beta readers get a version of the book that is good, but not great. No matter how long I work on a draft, it still has problems, and that’s why I bribe my beta readers to help me out.

Well, they came back with a few comments about the characters in the book.

Now I thought my characters were fine. And they were, in my head. But on the page a couple of them fell flat. One beta reader even asked, “Why is this character here? She doesn’t do anything.”

Okay that hurt. I loved the characters, but I had somehow missed making them shine on the page. After a few minutes of pouting, I pulled out the book I often turn to when I’m struggling with characters, and I flipped through it until I found what I had been missing.

The side characters didn’t have wants and needs. Most of them weren’t really struggling with anything, they were just there to accent my main character.

Well, I decided I could fix that.

You know that scene in Fractured Memories when the teenagers talk about their dreams and ambitions? How Arie wants a piece of the council and Cal is in love with movies? Yeah, that wasn’t in the original draft. Neither was the fact that Kev is dyslexic (which I never say, by the way, but it’s shown throughout the series) and Arie loves art. None of that depth was there, and I’m so glad that my beta readers forced me to put it in. Each of these factors play through the entire series.

While it makes me sad to leave these characters behind, I’m excited to be moving on to a new project.

11
Aug 17
0

Report and Giveaway

Tags : giveaway Jagged Scars Series reading YA Books

I thought I would do a quick check-in. Summer is always a dangerous balancing act between too much fun and not enough time. Hopefully everyone got through relatively unscathed.

I’m in the midst of editing Jagged Scars Book 5. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve already seen this picture. This is about 2/3 of my plot. The pink tabs are big problems, the orange are minor problems, and I scrapped the entire finale, which is on the table next to the desk.

I keep telling myself it will be awesome! I won’t settle for anything less.

Giveaway!

In the meantime, Fractured Memories is part of a Badass Babes & Bullets giveaway! If you’re hankering for a female protagonist that can kick anyone’s trash, click the image below. All of the books are free! Fractured Memories is in there, but I assume you’ve already read that. 😉

So go, enjoy the last threads of summer. I’m going to edit a book!

26
Jul 17
0

New Release: Crumbled Bonds

Tags : Jagged Scars Series New Release Survival Stories YA Books

I realize it has been a while since you’ve heard from me. I have plenty of excuses, such as:

The husband keeps sending ninjas after me, and I have to fight them off.
It was so hot that I couldn’t think. Or move. Or even dredge up the will to eat ice cream (which is pretty serious).
I decided to write a 90k word rough draft of Jagged Scars Book 5 in three weeks=victory+fried brain.
A new season of iZombie came out in Netflix.
The hubby and I may or may not have been binge watching the last of Naruto Shippuden.
And I was working on this gem…

Available now on Amazon!

Jeff has exactly one thing left in this ruined world; his older brother, Dillon. They’ve seen and done things that drive most survivors crazy, and Jeff is afraid that the next encounter will push Dillon over the edge. After being hunted by Skinnies, as well as those who still claim humanity, they decide to head west over the mountains.

Their journey is interrupted when they stumble on a shielded building. The Starvation happened almost twenty years ago, but the possibility of what could be inside is too alluring to pass up. The two alone aren’t enough to crack the shield. If they want in, they’re going to have to ask for help, and asking for help means dealing with people who will slit your throat for a scrap of good food.

If you’ve read my Jagged Scars Series, then you already know Jeff, and you may have met Dillon. Ever wonder why the two don’t get along anymore? Well, here’s the story. This is a novella-so about half the length of one of my normal books-and can be read at any time during the series, but goes best between Shattered Dreams (book 3) and Crippled Hope (book 4).

Crumbled Bonds came out today! The e-book is on sale for $1.99 for a limited time. If you love action, survival stories, and the Walking Dead, check it out on Amazon Kindle.

If you haven’t read my Jagged Scars Series, book one, Fractured Memories, is FREE on Kindle.

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Tag Archives: YA Books

Jul 18

0

To Trope or Not To Trope

YA Tropes We Love

YA Tropes We Hate

Jul 18

0

Spoiled Gambit is Here!

Pick up your copy now!

Aug 17

0

Report and Giveaway

Giveaway!

Jul 17

0

New Release: Crumbled Bonds

Available now on Amazon!

If you haven’t read my Jagged Scars Series, book one, Fractured Memories, is FREE on Kindle.

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