tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4765890159739161052.post5671428011430769954..comments2018-01-01T14:08:34.952-08:00Comments on Author Sherry Soule: Do Young Adult books need to have romance?Sherry Soulehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03160718470964787048noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4765890159739161052.post-5128704378162000082012-10-17T16:57:57.501-07:002012-10-17T16:57:57.501-07:00Nicely stated, Cherry Neko! I agree!Nicely stated, Cherry Neko! I agree!Sherry Soulehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03160718470964787048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4765890159739161052.post-30305973464234819282012-10-17T15:40:48.368-07:002012-10-17T15:40:48.368-07:00Personally for me the romance doesn't have to ...Personally for me the romance doesn't have to be the main reason to read a YA novel. Take for instance Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Power's trilogy, yes there's romance but that's not the focus, that's not what drives the plot forward. Hope you find what you need for your characters. After all it's not what the critics need, it's what your characters need. You're writing their stories, not the stories a critic prefers.Cherry Nekohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09038482094287527620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4765890159739161052.post-68219674629091577962012-10-02T19:02:45.135-07:002012-10-02T19:02:45.135-07:00Well, I think Ariel summed it up quite nicely! I c...Well, I think Ariel summed it up quite nicely! I certainly want that steamy romance that's lacking in my own life, lol. Yeah, married for 14 yrs with 2 kids. Love my hubby, but he's nothing like the romantic guys I write/read about!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4765890159739161052.post-57808756609010251162012-09-30T12:31:14.679-07:002012-09-30T12:31:14.679-07:00Wow. Excellent point! And I totally agree, especia...Wow. Excellent point! And I totally agree, especially about M&M's (peanut M&Ms) and popcorn—yum! ;-)Sherry Soulehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03160718470964787048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4765890159739161052.post-45147442883852157062012-09-30T10:03:39.040-07:002012-09-30T10:03:39.040-07:00I want to say first of all, I haven't had a ch...I want to say first of all, I haven't had a chance to read your book yet. It's in the next 10 of my TBR pile, but I've been too busy to start the pile and It's driving me nuts.<br /><br />When it comes to YA, I think the romance is important to the readers because that is what is important to them in their lives. Since the genre if aimed at young adults, we have to remember high school. I remember in high school I believed in the whole true love Disney stereotype. Love at first sight was totally possible, and the love you felt was pure and true and intense... until it ended. You could be with them and honestly believe they were your soul mates, though in the back of your mind you probably knew that wasn't true. You had love, and that was all that mattered to you. For most young adults the world is so big that you can hardly see past a few years in the future, no matter how mature you may be for your age. You might be able to see the world for what it will be while you are in college, but even then, most of them don't really know what to expect in college. The end of high school is the end of such a huge time in your life that anything in it can easily be branded as something that is forever. You don't think about what friends you won't be speaking to in ten years, or what boy you will be dating or even married to. What matters is the here and now. <br /><br />So when they read, they want that love. They want things to be centered around love with the other stuff on the side because so many are like that. I'm not saying everyone puts love first and foremost, but many do. Even the smartest ones who might understand that meeting your soul mate in high school is a foolish dream for most people would still want to experience a love that could fool them into believing it's possible. <br /><br />Now, I'm not a young adult anymore, but the genre is still my favorite. When I read, I like the romance, but I look at young adult stories like popcorn and romance like M&Ms. I love eating my popcorn, but it's always better with M&Ms in there! I just see the romance as a bonus. Sometimes I do want a heavy romance story, but those are usually easy to find, so I don't mind when stories focus more on the story and less on the romance. I am finding lately that I prefer stories that have more tension and passion than those who have flat out romance. The insta-love is becoming more of a guilty pleasure to me.<br /><br />Stories that have no romance in them at all usually bug me. I may not always expect them to get together, but attraction and flirting at the very least are one of those things I've come to expect. I wouldn't want to read a story where two characters have such perfect chemistry but they never even consider the idea of a relationship. So I guess in a way, some time of a romance is important to me. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com