Comments | sbennettwealer: It's Not THAT Dark Out There

sbennettwealer

It's Not THAT Dark Out There

Oct 27, 2011 15:01

Over the weekend I participated in a wonderful panel discussion at Books by the Banks here in Cincinnati. Joining me were Kristina McBride (THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES), Julia Karr (XVI) and Katrina Kittle (REASONS TO BE HAPPY). The topic: is today's teen and tween fiction too dark ( Read more... )

Comments 3

deenaml October 26 2011, 19:59:10 UTC

GREAT list!!! I need some of the less dark just to temper with the dark. Neither is good or bad, obviously, but sometimes I need to laugh on the exercise bike in the morning, or at least smile, instead of always gasping. Ha! :)

cyn2write October 27 2011, 11:34:43 UTC

That is a great list! I have to say that while Fairy Tale was light (in my mind), I quickly realized that people wanted it to be dark, or at least expected it, because of the cover. And my books have been trending darker and darker. My latest one is... really bleak. And considering I love light YA, it's really strange. But knowing that we couldn't sell Getting Caught, our light contemporary, traditionally, I am reluctant to try writing light again (at least for now).

sbennettwealer October 27 2011, 13:47:59 UTC

Yeah, selling lighter contemporary is tough these days - I know from experience and am considering taking some of my books that haven't sold, but that I know are good, and doing what you did with GETTING CAUGHT. It's brutal out there. The thing is, bookstores/publishers say these titles don't sell, but then they don't publish/stock them, so how CAN they sell? It's maddening.