College is a changing time for so many of us. I remember those years clearly for me. The Flowering Series addresses those changes and those years. Let's welcome Sarah Daltry to share her thoughts on What is New Adult! Let's show some love and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end. What is New Adult? Forget Me Not, along with Lily of the Valley, Star of Bethlehem, and the rest of the planned Flowering series, is a New Adult novel. However, that distinction seems to be unclear to a lot of people, who label things like Fifty Shades of Grey as New Adult. I don’t see any book featuring a character in their late teens or early 20’s as New Adult. I think there are specific elements that need to be present to categorize as book as truly NA. For starters, I used to be a YA librarian/reading coordinator. Through my work with YA literature, I was taught to identify what is YA and what is not. Again, just because the characters are teens DOES NOT make the book YA. YA is often about the problems and concerns about young adults, just as NA is about the problems and concerns about New Adults. So what are those? For YA, the common themes are fitting in, identity, social pressure, etc. The themes in NA are often basically the same, except the stakes are higher usually. If you are struggling with your life choices at 16, for instance, you often still have time to learn from your mistake. At 22, the consequences could be farther reaching. Forget Me Not is about college. It’s about going away from home and being on your own for the first time. It’s about figuring out what you want, about suddenly not having to answer to anyone, but also about not having anyone to turn to, either. People say Lily is whiny, but I don’t see her that way as well. She’s not emotionally unstable; she’s just a kid. She’s used to things being basically on a plan, and now they are not. She made a choice to be independent of her brother and boyfriend, but she has doubts now that she is. Is the book romance and sexy? Yes. But I don’t think that’s really what it’s about. It’s real NA, real coming of age. It’s about choosing your own life, about embracing your sexuality and your independence, about growing up and facing things that are outside of your scope. Because that’s what it means to be a “new” adult. Thanks Sarah! Now read about her books!! Forget Me Not by Sarah Daltry Forget Me Not Flowering Series Book 1 This isn’t a sweet and innocent coming of age story. If dirty talk, bedroom toys, and threesomes offend you… this is not your book. There are also no billionaires, strippers, or virgins. This is just the story of typical college kids trying to connect to each other. “No one tells you when you start school just how homesick you will be, or how hard it will be to start life over with no direction and no friends or family. No one says that becoming your own person is terrifying.” Lily had a crush on her brother’s best friend, Derek, for years – which led to their steamy night ten months ago in her bedroom. Now, she’s off to college and she and Derek are still going strong. However, when school starts, Lily realizes it’s hard to maintain a relationship, while also trying to live her own life. She and Derek find themselves falling apart and she has no idea where to turn. Enter Jack. Everything about him is wrong for Lily and she knows it, but she can’t stop herself from being attracted to him. When things implode with Derek, it’s Jack who’s there to pick up the pieces – and to show Lily an entirely new set of experiences she didn’t know she was missing. Of course, Jack has his own problems and once Lily gets to know him better, she starts to wonder if she can handle all of Jack. When Derek reappears on the scene, Lily is forced to decide between two guys and herself. Can she find herself without losing the people who matter in the process? . This is a work intended for readers 18+ as it features explicit sex between people in college. See where it began in the short story, “Her Brother’s Best Friend.“ Excerpt: He moves closer and already my body is responding. He smells like cigarettes and leather, two smells I never thought were sexy until now. I want to fall into his body, to be wrapped in his arms, and I fight it. It’s wrong and it makes no sense. I have everything I could ever want. Jack is just a distraction. “I’m not that kind of girl,” I tell him. He steps closer still and kisses my neck. His lips are soft, which is unexpected, and it sends a shiver through me. Jack brings me in to his chest. I can feel his heart beating; it’s quickening and it matches mine. I feel his tongue sliding down along my collarbone. There is nothing like this, but I need him to stop. And yet, I never want him to stop. “I’d love to know exactly what kind of girl you are.” Almost as if they are not my own, my hands slip between his jacket and his shirt. The heat of his skin burns me even through the fabric of his clothes. His lips continue to travel downward, but as they reach the curve of my breasts, something in me wakes up. I tear myself away from him and back up a few inches. “I have a boyfriend,” I repeat. “I can’t do this.” “Where is he?” Jack asks. His eyes are burning. “What?” “Where is your boyfriend? You’ve mentioned him before, but you run into me a lot for someone who’s so in love.” Buy Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords Amazon Print Watch the Trailer: Youtube Link Lily of the Valley Flowering Series Book 1.5 This isn't a sweet and innocent coming of age story. If dirty talk, bedroom toys, and threesomes offend you... this is not your book. There are also no billionaires, strippers, or virgins. This is just the story of typical college kids trying to connect to each other. "No one tells you about pain. They tell you that it hurts, that sometimes it's consuming. What they don't tell you is that it's not the pain that can kill you. It's the uncomfortable numbness that follows, the weakness in your body when you realize your lungs may stop taking in air and you just can't exert enough energy to care. It's the way taste and color and smell fade from the world and all you're left with is a sepia print of misery. That's when the shift starts - the movement from passive to active. I fall asleep, hoping that the morning will bring back the pain. At least the pain is a thing." Plagued by a dark past, Jack sees college as a way out. Desperate to escape the area where he grew up, the people who know his secrets, and his own family, he deals with his problems through alcohol and meaningless sex. When he first sees Lily, she's the epitome of everything he hates. Yet something about her makes Jack rethink everything he knows and assumes about other people. Now, with the help of his best friend and lover, Jack has to decide if he wants to pursue something that he knows will only end badly. Can Lily be one of the few people who can see Jack for who he really is - or will his darkness be too much for her to handle? Buy Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble Smashwords Amazon Print Watch the Trailer: Youtube Link About the Author:
Sarah Daltry writes erotica and romance that ranges from sweet to steamy. She moves around a lot and has trouble committing to things. Forget Me Not is her second full length novel, although she also has several story collections and two novellas available. Her other novel, Bitter Fruits, was available shortly, but is now in the contract phase with a major publisher. When Sarah isn’t writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window. Author Links: Website Facebook Twitter Giveaway: Sarah is giveaway the first two Flowering novels in print and eBook copies of both books! For a chance to win please out the Rafflecopter below.
Tamaria Soana
11/5/2013 11:04:06 pm
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