I never set out to write a New Adult story. What I did set out to write was your good old fashion YA horror, one that I’ve submitted into many contests and to many agents. It was during one of these contests that I had my first “ah-ha” moment when an author came to me and said that my story really fit better in the New Adult category. The second eye opening moment came from an agent I had queried. Needless to say, she was sending me a rejection but noted that really my story was not meant to be labeled as young adult.
New Adult
Since I had these two experiences, I’ve teetered on the edge between whether I wanted my story to be YA or NA. Why would it even matter, you ask? There are many and I don’t really want to delve into all of them, so let’s just say…I don’t write explicit sex scenes. What I do write are bloody Poe-esque stories that don’t always have a happy ending. This type of writing doesn’t lend itself to being New Adult, at least not to the general population.
Horror
See…the term New Adult was originally thought to be a phase in novels. Many thought that this wouldn’t stick as being a category; that it would be a flash in the pan. Well ladies and gentlemen, those people were wrong. New Adult has only flourished over the past year, with much of the sales being attributed to online buying via ebooks. We’ve even seen traditionally published YA authors go rogue and self-publish New Adult stories under pen names (eh-hem can we all say J. Lynn?). Now there aren’t just New Adult contemporary stories being published, but fantasy and paranormal are quickly becoming a genre force to recon with. Still, most have a ton of smexy going on.
Terror
So, where is the horror you ask? My question exactly. Many are hidden in the Amazon fields of self-publishing, while others are…hmph…Since this is a question that I don’t know the entire answer for, let’s start talking about it and get a list started. If you’ve read or know of a New Adult Horror Novel (don’t mistake paranormal with horror please), comment below with the title and author. Maybe we can give some street cred. to those who write kick-ass horror.