Many writers and readers have heard the terms "children's book" or fiction for "young adults".  But there's a new term in town.  NEW ADULT.  This is a new genre that publishers are exploring.  The genre is in its early stages, but that means that publishers are willing to buy material in this area as they build this section of their houses. So what is the New Adult genre in kids' books?  And why does the New York Times call it "an emerging area of the market that publishers think is under exploited?" New Adult has some, or all, of the following characteristics: Protagonist, probably...

Can I reserve a song? Have you heard the song Radioactive by Imagine Dragons yet?  It's powerful, and it has almost every element of my book ELECTED within the lyrics (apocolypse, waking up, radioactive, welcome to the new age, revolution, sun hasn't died...)  If Stephananie Meyer had Muse as her musical inspiration, then I have these guys!  It's not often that I like every song from a band, but I do with Imagine Dragons.  And their lyrics match so well with the ELECTED trilogy's themes. I'm sure this band will go huge in a few weeks or so.  They're just starting to be played on the radio,...

I haven't written a post in a couple of weeks because I've been editing!  I think I'm almost finished with edits for now.  Of course I'd edited Elected for a long time before submitting to agents.  However, when I got signed, I received a wonderful agent, Sara D'Emic from Talcott Notch, who invested time in giving me additional feedback before the book goes out to publishers.  She pointed out "fridge logic" issues (that's a tv term where you're watching something, get off the couch to eat from the fridge, and it's in those few seconds that you realize something doesn't make sense in the tv program),...