Ashamed of Reading YA?

Despite the fact that it’s Friday and I should be providing a little teaser for Chasing Freedom, I have decided to go a different direction today.

I have decided to give my own response to this article http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/06/against_ya_adults_should_be_embarrassed_to_read_children_s_books.html  posted online yesterday. It created quite a stir in the writing/literary community. It spurred a trending hashtag on Twitter #PromoteaYAInstead and numerous angry comments and discussions.

As both a writer and a reader of YA books I have been thinking about it a lot since I first read it, and so I have decided to get my thoughts out there.

For anyone who hasn’t read the article it basically suggests that adults (and I’m not sure what the author of the article considers adult – just turned 19? Or some other arbitrary number?) who read YA books should be ashamed of their reading habits.

The most telling quote is this one: ‘Fellow grown-ups, at the risk of sounding snobbish and joyless and old, we are better than this. I know, I know: Live and let read. Far be it from me to disrupt the “everyone should just read/watch/listen to whatever they like” ethos of our era. There’s room for pleasure, escapism, juicy plots, and satisfying endings on the shelves of the serious reader. And if people are reading Eleanor & Park instead of watching Nashville or reading detective novels, so be it, I suppose. But if they are substituting maudlin teen dramas for the complexity of great adult literature, then they are missing something.’

To be honest, I take offense. Because what she suggests throughout the article is that YA books are simplistic and that ‘adult’ books are not.

Firstly, I would argue that there is a large chunk of adult literature that is far more guilty of simplicity than YA books. Who could argue that 50 Shades is complex and ambiguous in its ending? Dan Brown? Danielle Steele? Sophie Kinsella? Stephen King? I am not saying by any means that these books/writers are bad, but I would argue that their novels are no more complex than many YA books. The very things this writer says makes YA books simplistic, the endings for example, could be found in 90% of adult books.

On the other side of the coin, there are YA books that are incredibly complex and thought-provoking in the message they provide if you are willing to look at them as more than just ‘a book for kids’.

Let’s take the most popular ‘children’s book’ and admittedly one of my favourites. Harry Potter. Whilst it’s easy to say that it is pure magical escapism (and on the surface it is) does that mean that there is nothing that adults can take from it? Politics, philosophy, the nature of life and death, all these things are there.  Admittedly, they are all tied up quite neatly in lovely bundle of escapism and a certain amount of whimsy.

But that aside, I don’t think I have ever read a YA book that doesn’t have some depth to it. Books that deal with bullying, loneliness, fitting in, choosing the right path in life, tolerance, acceptance, illness and death. Do these things suddenly become irrelevant the moment we become an adult? I hardly think so. I know that I, at 30, still deal with every single one of those issues on a daily basis.  What is simplistic about those issues?

On a personal note (and this is my blog, so if I can’t talk about my books here, where can I?) I don’t believe the books I write are simplistic. The overlying plots may be magical in nature, escapist and hopefully enjoyable, but at their heart I like to think they are all a little more than that.

In The Last Knight, Cara Page may discover she has a magical heritage, but she also deals with a mother who suffers from mental illness and doesn’t even recognise her, bullying, loneliness and isolation.

In Chasing Freedom, the most obvious plot may be about a boy becoming a werewolf, but underneath that is a book about a boy accepting who he is, learning that life doesn’t always work out the way we plan, and learning that growing up sometimes means taking responsibility.

As adults are these things in anyway irrelevant to us? I know I relate to them – that’s why I write about them. And I believe that the people who read my books can relate to them too.

Why must escapism and complexity be mutually exclusive? We take from a book exactly what we want to take from it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I do not, by any means, claim to write great literature. I write fun, entertaining books (I hope), but that doesn’t make them any less worthy. That doesn’t make them books you should be ashamed of reading.

So I am going to end with two final thoughts.

Firstly, why should a book that is not deemed ‘worthy’ of adult consumption, be considered OK for young adults to read? Aren’t they as deserving of quality as we are? IF YA books are indeed simplistic then teenagers should be embarrassed to read them too. In fact, I would suggest that books for children and teenagers need to be of a far higher standard than books for adults. They should be better, not worse.

And secondly, isn’t the greatest joy of art (and writing is art) that it is entirely subjective? That the books I think are great literature, might not be the same as what you consider great literature? Back in their day both Austen and Dickens were considered writers of ‘trashy’ novels – they wrote for the masses and were looked down on by the educated elite. They are now considered the writers of classics. The books I consider overwritten and pretentious might be the books you love. And the books I love you might consider escapist nonsense. But at no point does that make either book less worthy.

Like love being in the eye of the beholder, great literature is in the eye of the reader.

So, no, I will not be ashamed of reading and writing YA books, just like I will not be ashamed of reading Pride and Prejudice for the 100^th time.

Read everything, read anything. Just read.

My Two Least Favourite Words

One day. (Or it’s variation – Someday.)

Two words that, in my opinion, should never be used together.

Yet, I hear it all the time. ‘One day I’d like to write a book’. ‘One day I’d like to visit Asia’. ‘One day I’d like to quit my job and do something I really love’. ‘One day I’ll tell that person I love them’.

A thousand dreams, a million plans for the future, all prefixed by the words ‘one day’. And I hate it. I hate it with a passion. And so should you.

Why? Because, to my mind, one of two things will happen.

Either, you’ll wake up, some distant version of yourself, and find that ‘one day’ has come and gone. That suddenly you are too old, or too in debt, or too tied down to ever do the things you dreamed of doing. Those old dreams have become submerged in a different life and different dreams. That’s not to say those new dreams are bad, but there will always be that tiny part of you that regrets the things you didn’t do. You will always wonder ‘what if’.

Or, worse, ‘some day’ will never come. The future, the plans, the dreams will disappear in the blink of an eye. You will be gone and the only thing left will be the regrets. There is no knowing how long we have in this world, and today may be the only day we have left. Depressingly sad maybe, but true.

And so the answer is this. Don’t say ‘one day’, say ‘today’. ‘Today I’m going to start writing that book’. ‘Today, I’m going to start saving for Asia’. ‘Today I’m going to look for a new job doing what I love’. ‘Today I’m going to tell him I love him.’

We only get one life. One chance. One opportunity to experience everything this crazy, incredible universe has to offer. (Now I feel like I’m stealing from a rap song). But it’s true. I sometimes think people don’t realise what an incredible blessing they have – just being alive. Life is crazy and wild and never turns out quite how we expect. But we have to take charge, we have to experience everything we can, whilst we still can.

Mark Twain says it better than I can – “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

So my friends and family can take this as a warning. If you say ‘one day’ around me, expect my wrath. It will be terrible. Tell me your dreams and plans and aspirations by all means. But don’t tell me that maybe, perhaps, one day, sometime you might do these things. Tell me you’re striving for them, you’re working towards them. Tell me you’re putting every ounce of passion and intellect and heart you possess into achieving those goals.

Don’t tell me ‘one day’, tell me ‘today’.

Friday's Teaser - Just Two Weeks To Go!

I promised a teaser each week leading up to the release date - so here is the next one.

Don't forget, Chasing Freedom will be on sale on the 15th of June. A date that ended up being far more significant than I had originally realised - but more on that another time. For now - here is a little snippet to hopefully spark your curiosity.

Chase woke with a groan of pain. Every part of his body ached. Even his hair hurt. He felt like he’d been used as somebody’s punching bag, either that or he’d been tackled by a guy twice his weight. The latter seemed more likely. He lay for a moment, eyes scrunched closed against the sunlight, trying to remember taking any big hits at practice the night before.

Slowly he became aware that something wasn’t right. It wasn’t his soft bed under him, but what felt like damp grass. And how could the sun be shining on him? His dorm room faced west.

Vague memories of the previous night flooded back and he bolted upright. The memories were disjointed and confusing, but most of all he remembered the pain. The feeling of his entire body twisting and convulsing. The agony as his hands became paws, as his ears moved up the side of his head, and as his teeth lengthened into inch long fangs.

Chase took deep breaths, shuddering at the memory. It had to have been a dream. Right? He hadn’t really turned into some kind of animal.

He got shakily to his feet and froze. He was in the middle of a forest. And he was naked. Completely, and utterly, naked.

Taking a second, calmer look around he realised it wasn’t a forest, but the woodland on the edge of the Common in his home town. It lay nearly twenty miles from his school. He couldn’t remember getting there.

On the plus side, it did mean home was nearby, and clothes. He really, really wanted some clothes.

He edged towards the border of the woodland, peering out between the trees. It was very early morning, not long past dawn if he could judge. There was no one in sight.

Closing his eyes he took another deep breath and set off at a run.

It took him fifteen excruciating minutes to get home. He used the back alleys, and cut across back gardens, but he was still fairly sure old Mrs Jenkins at number sixteen saw him as he leapt her garden wall and onto his mother’ flowerbeds.

His mum and dad were almost certainly still asleep, but a spare key lived in the bottom of the flower pot by the back door. He’d told his mum a thousand times it was too dangerous leaving it there, but for once he was glad she had ignored him.

The door creaked a little as he pushed it open, but he made it to the bathroom without waking either of his parents.

Two minutes later Chase stood under the shower, scalding water beating down on his back. Muddy water swirled away from his feet and down the drain. The shower wasn’t helping, even when he scrubbed himself again and again, he still felt somehow unclean. His nails were caked with mud, and more worryingly blood. He racked his brain, trying to think where the blood had come from. Was it his own? A vague memory of a man’s terrified face suggested it wasn’t. Bile rose in his throat. Had he attacked someone? Killed them? Why couldn’t he remember?

 

 

Chasing Freedom, Chapter 3

 



So there it is.

Don't forget you can add Chasing Freedom on goodreads.com : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22094406-chasing-freedom
You can follow me on Twitter @NSDorrington
And you can get updates and information on Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/NovelsByNsDorringtons

Friday's Teaser

As I did with The Last Knight, I have decided to give everyone a little teaser for Chasing Freedom every weekend leading up to release on the 15th June.

Today I'm going to start in the most logical place - the beginning.

So without further ado, the very opening scene (a scene first drafted about 9 years ago!) of Chasing Freedom.

Get ready to meet Chase Finn!

He was going to die. His heart knew it, hammering away as though trying to make every last beat count. He crouched, panting for breath, fingers clutching the stitch in his side. Coppery, thick blood trickled into his mouth from a gash on his lip, and he shivered uncontrollably in the cold, foggy night. He was trapped. Instinct screamed at him to fight, but logic overruled it. Fight and he would die. Hide and he might just survive the night. The hunt was over, but Chase Finn wasn’t ready to die just yet.

Rain dripped down the back of his collar from a broken drainpipe and he shivered more violently. He hadn’t slept in two days and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten. There hadn’t been time. All he could do was run. Run, hide, and pray they never found him.

He wedged himself further down between the dustbin and the wall. The space was too small for his tall frame; his shoulders scraped against the brickwork and his right calf muscle began to cramp. He tried to ignore it and squinted through the rain.

He scanned his surroundings, looking for an escape route he knew didn’t exist. There wasn’t much to see; illumination from the streetlight reached less than a foot into the alleyway. The rest remained in darkness. Chase could only just make out the stack of crates a little further down, and rubbish spilt across the ground from an overturned dustbin.

Sucking in a breath the cool air stung his throat and lungs. For a moment he felt calmer - until he heard the sound of slow, steady footsteps approaching the alley.

 “He came down here.”

Chase risked a glance from behind the bin. Two men stood silhouetted against the orange glow of the streetlight. One kept watch out towards the cars by the kerb; the other peered into the alleyway.

“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but I’m not going down there to look. They’re vicious when they’re cornered.” The smaller of the two men looked away from the street and then back again, shifting uncomfortably.

Chase watched them, his heart in his mouth. Keep going, you bastards.

“You wanna get paid?” The taller man edged into the alley and Chase tensed. “We got a bounty. We don’t bring him in, we get no money.” He took another two steps, but didn’t seem to want to go further without backup.

The smaller man clenched his fists at his sides then reached into his jacket. Light glinted on the metal of a gun as he followed his companion into the alley. They edged forward, watching every shadow for movement.

Taking a deep breath, Chase tried to stop the wild beating of his heart, irrationally afraid it would give him away. There was nowhere left to run. Logic be damned, fighting was the only choice he had.

He waited, a low growl reverberating in his throat, until they were only a few feet away before springing. Chase tackled the larger man full in the chest, sending him reeling backwards into the brick wall. They both fell, but Chase rolled onto his knees and scrambled upright. The man was still struggling to his feet as Chase whirled around – only to find himself face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. Before he could react the butt of the weapon smashed into his temple. Lights exploded behind his eyes and he staggered backwards.

“Easy now, mate,” the smaller man murmured as Chase regained his footing and lunged back towards him. “I don’t want to hurt you. I get more if I take you in unharmed.”

Chase took another step forward and snarled.

Sighing, the man raised his weapon again; this time pointed at Chase’s chest, and pulled the trigger.

To find out what happens next I guess you'll have to read the book!

Add to goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22094406-chasing-freedom
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Read, enjoy and share!

Blog Tour Sign-up

It's just under a month until Chasing Freedom is released, and I'd really like to organise a blog tour for the week of its launch.

I have a couple of blogs already signed up - but I would like a few more if possible.

I'll have eARCs available for anyone wanting to do a review - but I am also hoping to do some more fun things like Q & A's with the characters (or with me!), 10 Things You Didn't Know About Chase Finn - that kind of thing.

If you're interested in being a part in the blog tour just leave a comment below in the following format:

Name:
Link to Blog:
Preference for day of the week (if you have one):
Type of Post (i.e review, interview etc):
Contact Details:

Everyone taking part will still get a free eARC even if they're not doing a review.

Also hoping to do a giveaway of ebook copies of both of my books.

As a side note, big love and many thanks to everyone who checked out the cover reveal for Chasing Freedom, spread the word on twitter and added it on goodreads.

If you haven't added it yet - here's the link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22094406-chasing-freedom

And because Chase really is rather love to look at...

Cover Reveal!

So the day has come. It's one month now until I release my second novel  - CHASING FREEDOM - and I can now share the cover and back cover blurb with you all.

To tell you just a little about this book - I actually first started writing it about 9 years ago. Long before the werewolf and vampire craze took over. I put it aside for a long time, always swearing I would go back to it one day.

That day has finally come!

So without further ado - here is the cover of CHASING FREEDOM!

I'm incredibly pleased with it - and I hope everyone likes it too!

As for the book itself - here's the blurb:

Chase Finn is being hunted, and if he ever stops running he’s going to end up dead.

It doesn’t matter that he’s only seventeen. It doesn’t matter that just a few weeks ago he was a normal teenager. All that matters is that he is a threat, and the Agents tracking him will stop at nothing to see him neutralised.

With the line between friends and enemies blurring, Chase discovers he is just a pawn in the middle of a war that’s lasted for centuries, but he isn’t going to let himself be used any longer.

Soon both sides of the war are going to learn that the most important thing about Chase Finn isn’t that he’s a werewolf, it’s that he’ll sacrifice everything, even his own freedom, for the people he loves.

 

 

CHASING FREEDOM will be available from Amazon on the 15th June 2014

In the meantime add it to goodreads.com here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22094406-chasing-freedom

Three Months

Dear Dad,

It’s three months today. Can you believe that? I know I can’t.

It’s strange really. I think that a part of me still believes I’m going to wake up one morning and it will have been a dream. It doesn’t seem real.

The truth is, I forget sometimes. It’s not that I don’t miss you, but for nearly three years now I’ve lived on the other side of the world. You weren’t a part of my day-to-day life. I didn’t see you every day, or speak to you all the time. So it’s easy to forget. It’s easy to think that you are just ‘over there’ doing your thing and one day soon I’ll pick up the phone and speak to you and fill you in on my life.

And in a way it’s great, because I don’t have to be sad all the time. I don’t have to miss you constantly. I can pretend – just for a little while – that nothing has changed.

Then it will hit me all of a sudden. I’ll remember that you’re not just a phone call away anymore. I’ll remember that hearing your voice is something I won’t get to do anymore.

The trouble is, at that moment it’s like losing you all over again. All the pain, all the sadness come rushing back in one massive wave.

And I’m left wondering if those days of ‘pretend’ are worth the days when I remember all over again?

I know they say that grief is a process and something you just have to work through, but I’m not sure I’m ever going to get used to remembering that you’re not around anymore. It feels like I’m never going to be able to think about losing you without the tears, and the ache that makes it hard to breathe.

Yet on the other hand, perversely, remembering you makes me happy too. And it’s the silly things. Like doing trivia night at the local bar and suddenly thinking about you being Quiz Master in Abu Dhabi. ‘Rule #1 – the quiz master is always right. Rule #2  - in the event the quiz master is wrong, refer to rule #1’. Or eating Easter Eggs and remembering how you could always manage to make yours last for weeks longer than the rest of us, and when ours ran out you would be quietly smug about it.

So I’m trying not to forget you. I’m trying not to simply block you from my mind just to make it easier. I try and talk about you as much as I can. In fact, I think I’m turning into you – I talk way too much! But three months feels like forever and yet no time at all.

You may no longer be just a phone call away, but you will always, always be just a thought away.

With love, always.