My very special guest today is Carmen DeSousa. Carmen is a bestselling author of romantic suspense novels, which you just can't put down. Today she brings up a discussion on which age group and genres of books we like to read and write. Please join in the discussion!
What age group/genre do you read/write? Why? Join in! Guest post by
@Author_Carmen.
When I started writing, I didn’t
think about an age group, nor did I really think about a genre. I just wanted
to write. As an avid reader, I knew what I liked to read, but again, I never
really categorized my preferences. If it had a great cover that grabbed my
attention and an awesome hook on the back cover—that’s that thing we now call a
book description online, but we used to have to actually pick up a book and
flip open the flap or turn the book over in our hands. :)
The thing is I never really cared
about the age group or the genre. Since I read so many books, I rarely made it
off the ‘new release’ rack.
So what makes you want to read? Personally,
I need to know going in there will be suspense of some sort, something that
will keep me turning the pages, whether it’s the whodunit aspect or a newfound
romance on the rocks. It doesn’t matter what “genre” it is; all books have to
meet that minimal criteria to keep me interested. I need to identify with the
characters immediately, feel their pain, and want to know how it’ll work out.
Again, it doesn’t matter their age. This is what I find via the book
description, not the genre or age group.
Funny thing is, all of my stories ended
up with heroines who are between the ages of 22 and 25 and the heroes between
the ages of 25 and 28. And oddly enough, my beta readers ended up being 17, 35,
45, and 55. I interact with almost all readers who contact me, and there seems
to be no specific age in my readers either.
So I
wondered, Did I just stumble on the
correct age?
Well, here’s what I think: Women who
are 22-25 years old have lived long enough that something bad has probably
happened to them; they’ve experienced at least a couple bad relationships, they
are usually at the age where they’ve just graduated college and are now searching for a lifelong
relationship and/or career.
So mature women can look back at that
age and can find something good, whether it was their looks and figure, a new
job, or a fun time with their girlfriends planning weddings, vacations, and new
adventures. Younger women are looking forward to that age when they are on
their way in life with school under their belt and an exciting life in the
future.
When querying my books, I also heard,
“This is a mystery”, then another agent states, “This is a romance”. Exactly!
That’s what I wanted. Isn’t that what makes a great story, a little mixture of
mystery and romance, with a thread of suspense running through both. Even in
sci-fi, horror, and fantasy novels there always seems to be those key
ingredients. Isn’t that what life is—romance and mystery?
So, readers, writers, how do you
decide?
Do you care what ages the characters
are?
Do you care what the genre is?
What are you looking for in your next
read?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
If you would like to read a little more about what I write, follow
the links below. My stories are available in print and eBook formats at your favorite
retailer. You can download my mini-mysteries with a paranormal edge absolutely
FREE or start with my romantic-suspense bestseller She
Belongs to Me for only .99 cents. From
there, all my stories are priced 'less than a latte', so READ UP and enjoy!
Thank you for having me here today, Bernadette. I look forward to our readers thoughts on what they like to read and why. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amanda. It helps to hear feedback, and I was hoping that was the case. My new story does have a thirty-nine-year-old heroine, but I'm hoping since it's a spin off of the first book where she was twenty-two that readers will still be able to relate. AND..based on the content, I believe EVERY woman who has children and a husband who they pour their life into will get it. At least I hope. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping be, have a wonderful weekend, hopefully with lots of reading in your schedule. :)