Why Young Adult and New Adult Romance? Blast from the Past by Lynn Lovegreen

(This Blast from the Past was first published in 2016.)

We’re celebrating New and Young Adult romance this month! I am honored to be asked to write an extra post for this theme. (My usual gig is the second Thursday of the month.) These age categories are my favorites, and I’ll explain why.

Young adult (YA) is usually defined as the teen years, when most kids are in secondary school and figuring out who they are. New adult (NA) is often defined as the period right after that, when young people are holding their first jobs, going to college, and learning to be on their own in the world. Both ages are full of drama and possibilities, especially in fiction. Add a little romance, and you have the perfect ingredients for a novel.

Depending on who I’m talking to, I often just say I write YA. But if my audience knows about NA, I will say YA/NA. In my Gold Rush books, there is a combination of YA and NA characters. Because of the time period, most of my teenaged characters are taking on adult roles earlier in life. Plus, there is not an obvious border between the two age groups then, so teens are spending time with what we might call new adults. In Quicksilver to Gold, for example, set back in 1900, Jeannie has never set foot in a school building, but today she’d probably be a senior in high school. The object of her affection, Clint, would have graduated high school already since he’s a little older. When they meet at their mining claims outside Nome, Alaska, they are both seen as adults. But when you see Jeannie’s emotional reactions to things, there is no doubt she is a teenager.

I write YA and NA because I remember my teen and college years vividly. I knew even then that it was a dramatic stage of life; I recall thinking that if I ever wrote a book, it would be set during that time. (No, none of my books are that close to autobiography, but you never know what I might write in the future!) For most of us, those years are an emotional roller coaster. Everything is important, and so much feels earthshaking. That’s built-in drama for a novelist.

While adults also enjoy reading YA and NA, I hope teens can use my characters as examples of what they might do with their own lives. If Jeannie can strike it rich with her mining skills or Charlotte can help create Denali National Park, why can’t our readers achieve their own dreams? I hope they will.

For more on why I write YA, see my video at https://youtu.be/rJDWwrSnXuMhttps://youtu.be/rJDWwrSnXuM.

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.

Writing YA/NA Historical Romance

You may recall that Romancing the Genres celebrated New Adult novels in August and September, and I explained then how my books could be considered both Young Adult and New Adult. (See my post at https://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2017/09/new-adult-or-not-by-lynn-lovegreen.html.)

I’ve learned a lot about writing YA/NA historical romance over the years, including these points:

• A writer can’t just take a modern young woman and throw her into past centuries.

• The historical information must be woven into the story without slowing down the plot.

• The romance has to be organic and appropriate for the characters involved.

For more tips and tricks, you can sign up for “Writing YA/NA Historical Romance,” an online workshop I’m leading through Hearts Through History Romance Writers on January 3-31, 2018. Here’s the course description:

Can you just throw Bella or Katniss into the nineteenth century to create a historical romance? This four-week workshop will provide the skills an author needs to write a historical romance with young characters. In this course, we will practice writing romance grounded in historical fact. We will consider setting, character, and plot points, and ensure the language is appropriate for the story. Part of our discussion will include how young women had more limitations in the past, sexuality has changed over the years, and that adolescence was seen differently way back when. We will also discuss researching and weaving in historical information. While Lynn will provide lectures and short homework assignments, participants will be encouraged to add to the conversation with their own ideas and knowledge.

To learn more and to register, go to https://www.heartsthroughhistory.com/workshops/writing-yana-historical-romance/#register.

Lynn Lovegreen has lived in Alaska for almost fifty years. She taught for twenty years before retiring to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering at her local library. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

New Adult, or Not? by Lynn Lovegreen

When I first started writing my Gold Rush series, I knew the main characters were a little older than the typical YA (Young Adult) heroines and heroes. As I learned more about the NA (New Adult) category, I saw that my books could be New Adult, too.

Young Adult is usually defined as having main characters who are teens, and YA themes involve finding yourself or discovering who you are, and how you can develop relationships with people in your life. New Adult books follow the next part of our lives. According to the blog NA Alley (which later led to the blog NextLit: Coming-of-Age Fiction for the Modern Era), “Typically, a novel is considered NA if it encompasses the transition between adolescence (a life stage often depicted in Young Adult fiction) and true adulthood.” NA issues include finding your place in the world, identity, and living on your own for the first time.

Because my main characters were older teens but often on their own, they kind of fit in between. Four years ago, when I started doing promotion for my books, I often referred to them as YA/NA because they had elements of both, and I wanted to include both audiences. But as I looked at the market more closely, I saw a couple trends that worked against that.

One was the fact that Young Adult books are often bought by gatekeepers: librarians, teachers, and parents. Those gatekeepers are looking for YA and might be confused or put off by the NA label. Another was the fact that NA books at that time were usually steamy.

As many of you know, my books are squeaky clean. I tell people they’re G-rated and you can hand them to your grandmother or your granddaughter without fear. NA books, on the other hand, had a reputation for being R-rated. As one agent told me a couple years ago, New Adult makes her think of "beer pong and sex on the floor.” Of course, there are NA books that aren’t about that, but the perception is there.

So, after much thought, I started dropping the NA part of my descriptions unless I thought the audience was familiar with New Adult and/or wouldn’t assume my books were the steamy type. (For example, readers of this blog are either familiar with me or savvy enough to know there are different kinds of NA.) If you look at my internet presence today, you’ll see that most of the entries list YA and only a few indicate YA/NA. 

Is that a fair representation? I guess it is, for now. But I’m hoping that the perception of NA will change as more people write New Adult books and the category becomes more varied. In the meantime, I’m calling my books YA. But I support New Adult books and authors, and hope to see more published.

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. She taught for twenty years before retiring to make more time for writing. She enjoys her friends and family, reading, and volunteering at her local library. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in Alaska, a great place for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Pinterest.