S.C. Stephens (pictured, via), a bestselling self-published author, has landed a three-book deal with Forever, an imprint at Grand Central Publishing.
Beth de Guzman, vice president of digital and paperbacks, negotiated the deal with Kristyn Keene, an ICM agent. Megha Parekh, an associate editor, will edit the manuscript.
Here’s more from the press release: “Stephens’s first book for Forever, Thoughtful, is a retelling of the events in Thoughtless from the point of view of Kellan Kyle, the book’s hero. It will be published in simultaneous print and eBook editions in February 2015 with a second book following in the Fall of 2015. The third book is scheduled for the Spring of 2016.”
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I've been thinking about how to address this subject because I mainly review young adult, however, I think most of my readership tends to be much older than the teens. I think that's just the way it goes. So, just to let everyone know I will be talking about sex, making love, fucking and anything else you want to call it. So be warned.
There's always been a divide between people who think sex doesn't belong in the young adult world (explicit), obviously, some of the antagonist and protags have sex but it seems to be behind the scenes. Or it can be written in a way that if you weren't quite understanding what was going on, you could gloss over it. One example I'll use is Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely. Ash (our heroine) and Seth (the guy who is crazy about her) talk about sex. He's had it. Plenty of times. She hasn't. They're debating taking the relationship one step further. They've been getting closer and Melissa quietly states that Seth is kissing Ash where she's never been kissed before. Now, I'm not an idiot and I know that she was talking about oral sex. However, with her carefully worded sentence a naive teen would've just read it and moved on. So sex is there.
In Vampire Academy: Shadow Kiss. Dimitri and Rose finally give in to their feelings and during a moment when Rose is completely losing it, thinking she's going crazy, Dimitri is there to help her through it. But once she comes back to him. They make love. It's sweet, it's romantic and it's about time. We all sighed when those two crazy kids finally, FINALLY did the deed. Albeit, it was a short-lived happiness, but that's another story to tell.
So two examples for sex in YA. I know kinda boring, but it excites some teens.
I remember when I was a teen (long before the YA market exploded), I was reading Jackie Collins books under my blankets with a flashlight. There was something intriguing reading about the rich and famous and how they would jump from bed to bed. She, too, was very descriptive in her sex scenes. If the teen is old enough to know about sex and what it entails, then they're old enough to read about it.
I think a sex scene can be written extremely romantically and one thing the authors that are writing these books, have that down pat. Why shouldn't two people who love each other make love? If it's there in the story, then in between the lines of said story the two characters will eventually fall into bed. Why leave it at the end of the chapter to start a new chapter that begins with a glowing couple all sweated out and exhilarated? Obviously, some authors want to leave it up to the imagination of the reader to think of what sort of stuff is going on. But they're still writing about sex.
What's a passionate relationship without making love? Probably not as passionate as one would think. I think the reason why vampires became all the rage was because they could be sexual and sensual, and honestly, who doesn't want someone gorgeous sucking on your neck?!? I always took vampirism as a metaphor for sex, the need to taste, touch, own, possess. We know that Bella and Edward tease each other merciliessly with sex. His smouldering look, her touch, his kiss, etc. Even in Dracula, by Bram Stoker, he is a wholly sexual character.
With the advent of mature young adult and new adult (which I think is for those age groups 18-27)? We have characters who give in to their basest nature. These are college age kids who are finally free from parents' thumbs and want to enjoy life. They fuck, they have oral sex, they enjoy being with one another.
Unless you're doing the deed with your boyfriend's best friend. Then all sorts of shit hits the fan. Interesting segue for the book I just read and cannot recommend enough. If you're a fan of Beautiful Disaster, I think you'll like this one just as much.
