What would you like to see in YA Paranormal?

kaitiepaige17 · Jun 28, 2010

I mainly right YA paranormal or romance or both. Right now, I think my current MS is pretty unique, at least the paranormal aspect.

For fans of this genre, what new ideas would you like to see? What new ideas have you come up with? Angels are getting big, but I already feel like they're overdone. The days of vampires are gone! A new era is coming

elindsen · Jun 28, 2010

I think things need to be original. There are so many of the same book by 10 authors. Cant tell how many twilight rip offs ive seen. I say think outside the box. whether its a totally new or a new spin on an old idea I think the box needs to be broken

shaldna · Jun 28, 2010

in terms of the creatures?

hmm. i'd like to see a couple more gory werewolf books, maybe a mermaid novel, some lesser known/used creatures, a wendigo maybe, or something with black dogs.

I'd like a really good book about possession

amlptj · Jun 28, 2010

you can look into local urban ledgens... those always bring up some messed up paranormal stuff... Put your own little twist to the rumors and stories or just grab some ideas form a bunch of different ones and you got yourself a pretty cool book.

amlptj · Jun 28, 2010

oh and dolls and clowns are creppy... i use them alot because they scare the crap out of me.

jennifer williams · Jun 28, 2010

amlptj said:
oh and dolls and clowns are creppy... i use them alot because they scare the crap out of me.

I agree with that! Especially clown dolls *shivers*

kaitlin008 · Jun 28, 2010

shaldna said:
I'd like a really good book about possession

Me too, on this one. (And if anyone knows of one that's out, tell me!)

Basically with paranormal/romance/any genre, I like to see something I can't predict. I will give anything a try, so long as the writing is good and the plot and characters keep me interested.

eta: the second I find a porcelain doll or a clown in something it's highly likely I will throw it as far from myself as possible and not pick it up again haha.

Mayfield · Jun 28, 2010

creepy imaginary friend

kaitiepaige17 · Jun 28, 2010

AGH! The doll and clown ideas sound more like a paranormal horror! I think I would scare myself writing something like that....

kaitiepaige17 · Jun 28, 2010

Mayfield said:
creepy imaginary friend

Hmm, I like that idea. I did start a MS about a girl who's imaginary friend was a dead boy from the Depression. I'm saving that one for a rainy day.

amlptj · Jun 28, 2010

kaitlin008 said:
eta: the second I find a porcelain doll or a clown in something it's highly likely I will throw it as far from myself as possible and not pick it up again haha.

See that's why it makes for a good book because almost everyone is afraid of one of the two. Hell i'd pay anything to read something that actually scared me to the point i was afraid to go to sleep. (My "horror" nerves are completely shot)

PoppysInARow · Jun 28, 2010

I want something with heavy christian mythology. Demons, angels, devils, the apocolypse, yada yada. Like really get into the mythology part of christianity without going into the religion part.

If that makes sense.

Stunted · Jun 28, 2010

I want original, sexy, meta, sureality with strong characters, beautiful writing, and a solid ending.

KimJo · Jun 28, 2010

shaldna said:
I'd like a really good book about possession

My book Connection doesn't *quite* have possession, but it's pretty darn close... The main characters have to banish a demon before it completely possesses the most popular girl at their high school. One of the main characters practices energy healing and channeling, which I think is pretty unusual in YA...

I agree that weres and vamps are overdone. So, in my opinion, is Greek mythology and the fae. I'd love to see something based on mythologies other than Greek, though.

Sean Wills · Jun 28, 2010

I'd like to see a paranormal YA with a male protagonist. The 'default' gender of paranormal protagonists seems to be female, and (from what I've read) they tend to be written with a female readership in mind. It would be interesting to flip that on its head.

(Needless to say, anyone who knows of a book like that should tell me what it's called immediately.)

kaitiepaige17 · Jun 28, 2010

Sean Wills said:
I'd like to see a paranormal YA with a male protagonist. The 'default' gender of paranormal protagonists seems to be female, and (from what I've read) they tend to be written with a female readership in mind. It would be interesting to flip that on its head.

(Needless to say, anyone who knows of a book like that should tell me what it's called immediately.)

In the process of writing one

I'll make sure to send you a copy when I get published

Mayfield · Jun 28, 2010

Sean Wills said:
I'd like to see a paranormal YA with a male protagonist. The 'default' gender of paranormal protagonists seems to be female, and (from what I've read) they tend to be written with a female readership in mind. It would be interesting to flip that on its head.

(Needless to say, anyone who knows of a book like that should tell me what it's called immediately.)

Get your hands on some of the old Dark Forces series. "The Ashton Horror" was a favorite of mine (a very Lovecraftian teens-meet-role-playing game tale). That was a male protagonist, and there were others. One was about a guy who gets recruited to a traveling team of gymnast vampires.

Eh, maybe they qualified more as "YA horror" than "paranormal," but I'm not sure where that line is drawn. I loved them, though, and have a couple stashed away in my many boxes of books.

Dan Simmons's "Summer of Night" might qualify, although I think it's marketed as an adult novel. Same with Robert McCammon's "Boy's Life," and Peter Straub's "Shadowland." All more adult skewed, but about adolescent boys and the paranormal.

JamieB · Jun 28, 2010

Beautiful Creatures - Male POV

oblivo · Jun 28, 2010

I think mermaids and witches are a bit undercooked... not that I'm about to start writing about either.

Sean Wills · Jun 28, 2010

kaitiepaige17 said:
In the process of writing one I'll make sure to send you a copy when I get published

I'll be looking forward to it!

Thanks to others for the suggestions, I'll have to check those out. I didn't realise Beautiful Creatures had a male POV.

yttar · Jun 28, 2010

PoppysInARow said:
I want something with heavy christian mythology. Demons, angels, devils, the apocolypse, yada yada. Like really get into the mythology part of christianity without going into the religion part.

If that makes sense.

I have a story that's kind of like that. It's about angels and demons and the impending apocalypse. There aren't many, if any, human characters. And it's based off my Christian world view. But currently it's only a short story.

Yttar

JamieB · Jun 28, 2010

Sean Wills said:
I didn't realise Beautiful Creatures had a male POV.

Neither did I. It was a nice surprise!

dragonjax · Jun 28, 2010

Sean Wills said:
I'd like to see a paranormal YA with a male protagonist. The 'default' gender of paranormal protagonists seems to be female, and (from what I've read) they tend to be written with a female readership in mind. It would be interesting to flip that on its head.

(Needless to say, anyone who knows of a book like that should tell me what it's called immediately.)

The third book in my YA series has a male protag. I'm in the middle of writing it now. Rah!

kaitiepaige17 · Jun 28, 2010

I hope YA Paranormals (especially romances) with male protags will become more popular. I think that's why I'm starting to get bored with the genre (besides my own

)

ceenindee · Jun 28, 2010

shaldna said:
in terms of the creatures?

hmm. i'd like to see a couple more gory werewolf books

Ditto! I'm working on one now. The werewolves that are getting to be popular these days (Blood and Chocolate, True Blood, and Shiver come to mind) are a little too wimpy for my taste.

Thirsty, by M.T. Anderson, and Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld, have male protagonists, for those looking for them. Both vampire books.

I haven't gotten sick of vampires or werewolves yet, just the cookie-cutter romance that comes with them. I like it better when everyone is terrified.

What would you like to see in YA Paranormal?

Inappropriate smiley INCOMINGGGGGG!

Zombie lovin'

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Speling & grammer murderer, Sorrie!

Speling & grammer murderer, Sorrie!

Seeing newness all the time

sleeping the sleep of the sleepless

Inappropriate smiley INCOMINGGGGGG!

Inappropriate smiley INCOMINGGGGGG!

Speling & grammer murderer, Sorrie!

Ich heiße Superphantastisch!

Outside the box, with the werewolves

Inappropriate smiley INCOMINGGGGGG!

sleeping the sleep of the sleepless

practical experience, FTW

I write stuff and break boards.

Inappropriate smiley INCOMINGGGGGG!