The YA Scramble is here!

The day you've been waiting for has arrived! *tosses confetti*

Instructions for the YA Scramble:
1) Visit the first blog (based on list below).
2) Read the guestpost.
3) Identify the PURPLE word.
4) Pick out the 3rd letter from the purple word.
5) Go to the next blog.
6) Repeat #3, #4,and #5 until you visited all 14 sites.
7) At the end, take all 14 of the 3rd letters from the PURPLE words and figure out the message near and dear to our hearts.
8) Enter the unscrambled message ONCE into this form as your official entry for a chance to win some great prizes from fantastic authors and bloggers.

Participating Blogs - all must be visited:
✯ Kaitlin Simpson
✯ PJ Hoover✯ Cary Cummings✯ Heather Cashman✯ Kathleen Tucker
✯ Jennifer Morris
✯ Cyndi Tefft (You're here!)
✯ Irish/ Gail✯ Danielle Bunner✯ Melissa Layton
✯ T.R. Graves✯ Megg Jensen
✯ Amy Jones✯ Laura Elliott

Jennifer Morris from Books Make Happy Reviews is guesting on the blog today!

Hello thereeveryone!! I'm so excited to be here on Cyndi's blog today! I'd like to say abig, BIG thank you to her for putting this event together, and for hosting me.

So… YA fiction.Today's Young Adult books are full of fantastic stories based around amazingcharacters.  There are hardships, andtriumphs, and romances, and heartache, and mythology and realism, and honestyand incredible imagination. YA authors create characters we love, stories welove, and give us places and times we can lose ourselves in.All of thissounds EXACTLY like what I would say about some of my favorite ADULT fiction.In fact, some of my favorite adult fiction authors write for the young adultaudience as well! How handy is THAT? Teens that read, and fall in love with aparticular author, have an ever increasing chance to find more from the sameauthor when they transition into reading adult fiction. I don't know if thishas always been as widespread as I find it to be now. I don't believe it has.But I can count on two hands, and be in need of additional fingers, the authorsI can think of just off the top of my head that write in both the YA and adultfiction genres. (Let's name a few, shall we? Richelle Mead, Deborah Cooke,Jackie [Morse] Kessler, Jennifer Estep, Wendy Delsol, John Grisham, JamesPatterson, Gena Showalter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Michelle ROWEN,Rachel Caine, Lilith Saintcrow, Rachel Vincent, Dina James, Ridley Pearson, StephenieMeyer, Alyson Noel, Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr… and there are others, shallI go on??)

My question is…what prompts an adult fiction author to enter the YA lit world? What draws theminto writing for a younger audience? Is there a different procedure or mindsetfor writing for YA? Are there any drawbacks or limitations? These are a fewquestions I asked a couple of authors who were included in the list above:1 - Did youstart your writing career in YA, or did you come into this age group later? Ifyou came into it later, what prompted the change?

Dina James: I came into the age group later at theencouragement of a former editor. It was so much of a prompted change as a"please try this I want to see what you do." I tried it with a shortstory and the rest just followed. I never intended to write YA. I just sort offell into it.
Wendy Delsol: I started writing adult fiction. My first twonovels (attempts, perhaps the accurate term) were in this genre. THE MCCLOUDHOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS was the third novel I wrote. While it was making therounds with agents, I decided to give YA a go. I wrote STORK in five months,and it was the project with which I found my agent. The decision to try YA wasequal parts experimentation as a new writer and market driven.
2 - Do youapproach writing adult novels and YA novels differently? Is there a differentpreparation necessary? A different mindset during the writing process?
DJ: Yes I do. When writing YA I'm constantly aware of"adult situations" and actions, especially dialogue. Where I can havemy adult character do and say things I'm accustomed to, younger people thinkand respond differently, as they don't have the life experience to draw on anolder character might. For instance, I can't have a 14 year old playing a videogame that was around before they were born (unless of course it's that character'shobby/collection/obsession, whatever, but that can be justified in the story),or driving a car (legally) or drinking alcohol (again, legally). So you have tothink about those things. If your character needs to  get somewhere across town and they can'tdrive, you have to find a way to get them there. The bus, a friend, portablehole (yeah, I know, my geekdom is showing!)... so you do have to think a littledifferently, but nothing that varies too much.
WD: I write YA in the first person because I think thisperspective best mirrors the psychology of a teen. At the crossroads betweenchildhood and adulthood, experiences are up-close and personal. So far, I'vewritten my adult fiction in third person with close perspectives from multiplecharacters. I tend to use a multi-generational cast as well as flashback scenesto really get into the dynamics and history of the relationships. I'm not surethe preparation—i.e. the get-to-know-you period between the writer andcharacter—is any different. It's all about fleshing out your protagonist(s)until they feel unique and authentic.
3 - Arethere any benefits to writing for a YA audience? Any drawbacks?
DJ: When I was first asked to try a YA story, I balked at theidea. "But I don't write for kids," was my immediate response.Encouragement followed and, despite my reluctance and apprehension, I gave it ashot. I didn't like it. I felt it was restrictive. I couldn't do the things Iwas used to, etc. In my adult writing there's sex, kissing, blood, guts, and gore.Then I started looking around at what the genre really included. YA iseverything adult writing is, only it's through the eyes of a younger person.How young people see things. They are not sheltered from life's trials and tribulationsbecause they are younger. Things that seem small and insignificant to an adult("this person doesn't like me") can be world-shattering for a teen ortween. Young people react to stress and the world in general in ways different fromadults, and seeing things through their eyes is interesting. In YA, there isstill sex, kissing, blood, guts and gore. It's just the reactions by thecharacters that are different, and the graphic depictions are toned down.
The only drawback I can think of is the consciousness of the effectyour story will have on young people. Books meant so much to me growing up andI admit to having been influenced in my choices by a novel or two. The only solutionis to try not to think about it so much that you end up writing a"cotton" novel - one in which your character is wrapped in cotton soas not to be wounded by the story's events. Just be aware that what you writecan (and most likely will) affect someone in some way. You can't control that,so don't worry about it and just write.
WD: There is an excitement for, and interest in YA that is adefinite benefit. Readers and bloggers are passionate about the genre. They'realso more likely to follow a character through a series of books. From awriter's perspective, there's no drawback to that kind of enthusiasm.
4 - Do yourYA novels draw your adult fans, or do you have two distinct followings?
DJ: Honestly, I have no idea. I think they're combined,really. I know there are young people who enjoy my YA, and adults who enjoy ittoo, but I'm not sure about the young people enjoying my adult writing. Goodquestion. Clueless author.
WD: Given that it has been less than a year since my firstbook (STORK, a YA) was published and only weeks since my first adult novel (THEMCCLOUD HOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS) released, I'm still building a following. I dohope eventually for crossover between the two genres.
5 - Havethere been any surprises writing in the YA genre? Any myths you've busted, orunexpected issues you've had to deal with?
DJ: Myths I've busted: "You can't do that in YA." Ohyeah? Whatever the situation, someone has written it in YA and it's been fine.Swearing, sex, abuse, violence, whatever. You can have and do whatever you wantin YA that you'd do in adult writing, but it has to be "suitable for theaudience." Think of it like the movie ratings. G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, X. InYA, you're aiming for that G - PG-13 range. This means that you can have someviolence and language and so on. It just can't be horrific and graphic orextended. Unexpected issues? I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, andI didn't expect to develop a series out of it. (Or continue it, for thatmatter...)
WD: The biggest surprise in writing YA has been how manyreaders and reviewers are adults (which lends itself to my hope that there willbe crossover fans). I think it speaks to the universal, coming-to-age themes ofYA. Even years later, adults relate to and remember their own teen years.
6 - Is thereanything else you'd like to share about writing YA in addition to adult novels?
DJ: All YA really means is that your lead character is underthe age of 18. That's it. Just because the lead is about a young person doesn'tmean the book won't appeal to an audience outside your target. Just write thebook.
I'd like tothank (with big hugs, chocolate, tea and whatever else makes them smile) Dina James and Wendy Delsol  for their insight. Now… aquestion for you… What authors do YOU love that write in both the YA and theadult genres? What do you think are the major differences? Similarities? I'd loveto hear your thoughts. AND… 2 lucky commenters (randomly selected) will winbooks from authors who write in both genres!!! One person will win an ARC ofJackie Morse Kessler's LOSS (3rd book in the Riders of the Apocalypse series and one person will win a copy ofDeborah Cooke's FLYING BLIND (1st in the Dragon Diaries series. Both books will be donated bytheir authors and mailed directly to the winner. (Please include your email andfirst name in your comment so you can be reached if you win. If you don't, youwill NOT be eligible.)

**Did youfind the word in my post in purple caps?**  You need to collect the 3rd letterof that word, along with the 3rd letter of the purple words in theblog posts of the 13 other YA Scramble participants, unscramble the letters to discovertheir hidden message, and fill out THIS FORM to enter to win the Massive Grand Prize Of Mega Awesomeness!What's in the Massive Grand Prize Of Mega Awesomeness, you ask??List ofitems in the MASSIVE GRAND PRIZE OF MEGA AWESOMENESS:
ARC of The Near Witch by VictoriaSchwab (with signed bookmark)Ebook of Solstice by PJ Hoover (withtrading cards)Ebook of The Space Between byAlexandra SokoloffPaperback copy of Perception byHeather CashmanSigned paperback ARC of Anathema byKathleen TuckerChronicles of Vladimir Tod Gift Set(Trade Paperback of Eighth Grade Bites, Vlad Journal, Minion Bling Buttons andVlad Tote)Signed paperback copy of Between byCyndi TefftSigned hardcover of Clarity by KimHarringtonARC of Daughter of Smoke and Bone byLaini TaylorSigned ARC of Fury by ElizabethMilesSigned paperback of Linger by MaggieStiefvaterARC of Tris & Izzie by MetteIvie HarrisonCopy of The Iron Witch by KarenMahoneyWinner's choice of 5 ebooks from alist of indie authorsSigned paperback of Sleepers by MeggJensenEbooks of Soul Quest and TheGuardians of Souls by Amy JonesKindle copy of Winnemucca by LauraElliott (plus a guest post spot on her blog!)Paperback copy of City of Bones byCassandra ClareDon't forgetto leave your comment on this blog to enter to win my individual prizes before you headout to the next site. Good luck, and have FUN!!