Masquerade: Oddly Suited Book Spotlight Guest Post C.D. Gallant-King

Masquerade: Oddly Suited Book Spotlight

Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for Masquerade: Oddly Suited, a young-adult romance anthology from The Insecure Writer’s Support Group which is coming out on 30^th April 2019!

Guest Post By C. D. Gallant-King

What makes a story “Young Adult?”

No seriously, I’m asking. I generally write for a mature audience, so I’m trying to get my head around this.

The stories in Masquerade: Oddly Suited run the gamut of styles and content, despite all being classified as “Young Adult Romance.” On the surface, that label seems like a very specific style of story, yet it still leaves a lot of room for the writers to play with genre, mood, voice and so on. That’s what got me thinking about the “Young Adult” moniker in the first place.

According to Wikipedia, Young Adult Fiction is “a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age.” It also mentions that while it’s generally targeted to teenagers, approximately half of YA readers are adults. That’s… kinda vague. I know that YA generally features characters in this same age bracket, dealing with plots and issues that readers of this age can relate to. But this is not a hard and fast rule. I’ve also read plenty of books that purport to be “Young Adult,” featuring 20-somethings in generic situations, but because it doesn’t feature any sex or bad words, the publisher slaps “Young Adult” on it to show that it’s appropriate for younger readers. In this case, YA is used more as a rating (like PG-13) instead of a true genre.

So is it a marketing term? Just something to make it easier to define demographics? From a practical standpoint, what is an “appropriate” book for teenagers will vary wildly from person to person. Some kids just won’t be into them. Some parents will have issues with certain content (whether “devil worshipping” and “witchcraft” in Harry Potter, sex and drugs in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, or whatever the hell it is people saw in The Hunger Games). I know for me, by the time I was twelve years old I was reading Stephen King, sex and gore and all (maybe that’s what happened to me). It wasn’t until I was much older that I appreciated anything YA, and even then it’s unusual.

Which leads to another point – if half of YA readers are adults, what does that say? It is because they relate more closely to an adolescent? They’re reminiscing about childhood? They just want something that they know doesn’t have bad words that could offend them? Any of these are perfectly valid reasons for reading a book, but if half of your target audience isn’t, by definition, what you define as your audience, does that mean that your fiction category has a misleading name? That really seems to make it just a made-up marketing term.

There’s another line in the Wikipedia article, credited to Stephen Dunning from a paper written in 1962 that states “Young adult fiction was developed to soften the transition between children’s novels and adult literature.” This is actually, I think, a far more accurate description. YA exists for people who are not ready to, or choose not to, read so-called “adult” fiction. Perhaps it’s there to introduce certain ideas or themes to an adolescent just discovering themselves. Perhaps it’s there for adults who can’t or won’t read something more “mature.” And for those kids to whom it doesn’t appeal, well, they can just transition faster without needing this in-between step. I think this is a much better definition than to simply say “it’s for readers aged 12 to 18.”

But what do I know? I usually write “mature” stories full of “immature” jokes. Where exactly does the demographic lay for that?

How about you? What do YOU think Young Adult Fiction means?

About the Anthology

Title: Masquerade: Oddly Suited
Release date: April 30th, 2019
Publisher: Dancing Lemur Press
Genres: Young Adult Fiction: Romance – General / Paranormal / Contemporary
Print ISBN: 9781939844644
EBook ISBN: 9781939844651

Synopsis

Find love at the ball…

Can a fake dating game show lead to love? Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince? Can a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher work together? Is there a vampire living in Paradise, Newfoundland? What’s more important—a virtual Traveler or a virtual date to the ball?

Ten authors explore young love in all its facets, from heartbreak to budding passion. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Jennifer Lane, C.D. Gallant-King, Elizabeth Mueller, Angela Brown, Myles Christensen, Deborah Solice, Carrie-Anne Brownian, Anstice Brown, and Chelsea Marie Ballard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will mystify and surprise even as they touch your heart. Don your mask and join the party…

Links

Pre-order eBook: http://books2read.com/masqueradeoddlysuited

Pre-order Paperback: http://mybook.to/MasqueradeOddlySuited

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43785750-masquerade

Blog: https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masqueradeoddlysuited/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hashtag/masqueradeoddlysuited

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/dustingthesoul/masquerade-oddly-suited/

Stories Featured

Oddly Suited, LG KeltnerThe silliest situations may be oddly suited for romance.

Behind the Catcher’s Mask, Jennifer Lane
Who can help her through a meltdown on the pitcher’s mound?

The Dark Charade, CD Gallant-King
The new girl in town falls in love for a mysterious boy who is maybe, probably, most definitely, a vampire.

The Cog Prince, Elizabeth Mueller
Falling in love, saving the day, and a masque—oh my! Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince?

A Diver’s Ball, Angela Brown
You can be anything you want in the online world of Cumulus. A human. An elf. A powerful beast mutation from your wildest imagination. But can you be in love?

Flower of Ronda, Myles Christensen
What if life’s price of servanthood could be changed?

Fearless Heart, Deborah Solice
Is he a figment of her imagination conjured to keep her sane, or is he something else…something more?

Charleston Masquerade, Carrie-Anne Brownian
Can two worlds come together and find love?

Sea of Sorrows, Anstice Brown
What could a shapeshifting siren know about love?

Remedy, Chelsea Marie Ballard
Everything is against Remy and Rudy, but on the night of the Masquerade Ball, they must choose: each other or their lives?

You can find out more about the authors of Masquerade: Oddly Suited here.

Giveaway

The authors of Masquerade: Oddly Suited are giving away a $50 Amazon gift card to one winner. To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open internationally from 12:00 am GMT 17^th March to 12:00am GMT 6^th May.

Enter the Giveaway link: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/2999ee552/

Tour Schedule

Visit the other blog tour hosts below to find out more about the stories and authors featured in Masquerade: Oddly Suited. 

• Mon 18th March: Spotlight @ The Story of a Writer
• Fri 22nd March: Guest post by Anstice Brown @ Nicki Elson’s Not-So-Deep Thoughts
• Sun 24th March: Interview with Jennifer Lane @ Nancee Cain, Romance with a Serrated Edge
• Tues 26th March: Guest post by Angela Brown @ Blog of Author J Lenni Dorner
• Wed 27th March: Debut author spotlight with Chelsea Marie Ballard & Anstice Brown @ Operation Awesome
• Fri 29th March: Spotlight @ April Blogging from A-Z Challenge
• Mon 1st April: Interview with Deborah Solice @ Dusting the Soul
• Thurs 4th April: Spotlight @ Elements of Emaginette
• Fri 5th April: Guest post by C.D Gallant-King @ Writer’s Gambit
• Mon 8th April: Interview with Elizabeth Mueller @ Just Jemi
• Fri 12th April: Guest post by Carrie-Anne Brownian @ Jennifer Lane Books
• Mon 15th April: Guest post by Chelsea Marie Ballard @ My Pet Blog
• Tues 16th April: Guest post by Myles Christensen @ Quiet Fury Books
• Mon 22nd April: Interview with all the authors @ Alex J. Cavanaugh
• Sat 4th May: Interview with L.G Keltner @ The Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick