Why I write New Adult

I write New Adult romance. And I get asked a lot – what is it?

In brief – it’s about characters who are approximately 18-25 and the plot involves a lot of firsts. First jobs, first loves, first tastes of independence. My friend and critique partner A.J. Pine has one of my favorite blog posts on New Adult and you can read it here.

And here’s a fabulous tweet by A.J. She’s quoting a moderator on #NALitChat, which is a Twitter chat every Thursday at 9 p.m. centering about New Adult.

I see a lot of “This is what New Adult ISN’T” and I don’t really like that. Because I don’t want to know what it ISN’T. I want to know what it IS. And I think the best way I can do that is to explain to you why  *I* write it.

I don’t speak for anyone else. I speak for me. And this is why I love to write New Adult:

I was in college when I was 18-23. I loved that time in my life. Do I want to go back? No, I love my life now. But I do look back with fondness, and I love to explore in writing all the ways that it such a fascinating time in my life. Sure, I was legal adult when I turned 18 but I can tell you that in no way did I feel qualified to be considered an adult then. Heck, I’m 31 and I still feel like I’m pretending at adult-ing.

It was a time where I was impulsive and hasty and made good and bad decisions. And as the above tweet said, there is no safety net. If I got caught underage drinking – that was on me. If I failed a test – that was my responsibility to talk to my professor and figure out a way to fix it. I couldn’t supply a parents’ note and call in sick. I was independent but yet making decisions that greatly impacted my future.

I was drunk on the freedom, but we all know drunk decisions are never a good idea.

I didn’t want to date bad boys anymore; I wanted to find myself a man. I wanted to make friendships that lasted a lifetime. I remember sitting in bed with my roommate and best friend, dreaming about how we would be in each others’ weddings and go on playdates with our kids (and those dreams came true).

I was learning who I was as a person but most of all where I fit into the greater WORLD and deciding what kind of impact I wanted to make on it.

Sure, I write romance because that WAS my experience in college. I dated and met my future husband. I learned about what kind of partner I wanted to be in a relationship. I learned what I wanted in a partner, a man, and the future father of my children.

So that’s why I write New Adult. And I hope those themes come true in my writing. I want to show the journey of my characters as they learn what it means to be a “New Adult” and what it means to be truly responsible for the consequences of our actions and decisions.

You can add MAKE IT COUNT, my debut New Adult novel with William Morrow/Harper Collins and the first in the Bowler University series, to your Goodreads shelf here.