I had picked up a few of my John Saul books from my keeper shelf during a recent move. While waiting for paint to dry at the new house, I read. It reminded me of how much I loved the genre and the younger protagonists were perfect to get me into the right frame of mind. From there, I read a ton of Young Adult horror and mystery books. Then one day, the idea for an Extreme Haunting series just clicked and I could hardly type fast enough.
I need to take a moment here, though, and mention a television series I'm absoluetly ga-ga over. CW's Supernatural. It is a phenomenal show and I've been promised the third season for my birthday. I'm recording the fourth season as it airs because it just takes too long to get from one Thursday to the next! Almost more than anything, I think this series really cemented the idea of doing a paranormal book.
How much violence is too much violence in a horror novel for the younger market?
There's a fine line, there. I think that the violence has to have meaning and be purposeful for it to be within the bounds of making a story great, or it simply becomes shock value that loses what's truly spectacular about this market: the everyday hero/heroine. What I found most appealing writing with a younger heroine was her resilience and how she coped with what was happening to her, whereas an adult more set in his or her ways might have crumbled. If the violence becomes the focus, then the character gets lost and that can ruin any story, for any market.
Who are some of your favorite young adult novelists these days?
Of course there's the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, and while it's not strictly horror (more sci-fi) I highly enjoyed K.A. Applegate's Remnants series. Maximum Ride series by Patterson is really awesome too.
Some would say that many of the horror young adult novels published these days become famous because of their shock value. What do you think?
I don't think so. The most famous series are those that have more heart than shock. Of course shock will cause a buzz, but it seems to do so more among parents than teen readers, and normally quickly fades away. I do think that books today need to reflect the times. No longer are girls wearing tea-length dresses, or bobby socks and saddle shoes. Today, rightly or wrongly, they are being tested by more and more adult concerns as the world becomes more dangerous and fast-paced. A lot of that is simply survivalism, some of it is most likely unnecessary, but overall, I can't imagine it's easier today to shock a teen than even twenty years ago. So what might seem shocking to us as parents, might be old-hat for teens today, considering what they face in the media, in schools, and on the street. In my book, and in my series, I'm not interested in shocking them - just giving them a substantial and scary read.
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