Guest Post: Kimber An

Middle Grade On My Mind
By
Kimber An

Author of CRUSHED SUGAR, SUGAR RUSH, and SWEET BYTES a romantic YA Paranormal series set in Alaska http://www.kimberan.com/
                                                                                        

The Cover is Out!

So, you ever wonder what’s going through the head of the random author you come across in cyberspace or real life?  Well, if she’s got tears in her eyes for no obvious reason, one of her favorite characters probably just sacrificed himself for someone he loved somewhere deep in her imagination.  You just never know.  One author’s spouse calls it ‘Book-Brain’ and advises the general population to simply keep a safe distance.  
Anyway, I’ve got this big release coming up of my third novel, Sweet Bytes, and I’ve got edits and cover art and guest posts and updating sites and figuring out what cool Alaskan things to give as my grand prize for the release blog hop and so on and so forth.
So, what am I thinking about while I’m falling to sleep at night?  Is it how I use the word ‘so’ too much?  Um, no.  And it’s not even Sweet Bytes.


It’s The Questing Prince, a space fantasy about a hyperactive redhead and the bad boy from the wrong side of the galaxy.  I cut it out of a huge epic space opera I’ve had tucked away in my imagination for well over a decade.  So, I was laying there falling asleep (“So?”  AGAIN? Where is my editor when I need her?) and it dawned on me.
The Hero and Heroine of The Questing Prince are only fourteen years old.
My publisher, Noble Young Adult, only does older YA, like 18 and up, probably 16 at the very youngest.


Also, there’s another story that’s been nagging me like crazy and it’s set in the same fictional universe as Sweet Bytes.  It’s all about how Matt, the fully human ancestor of Joseph, the Oldblood Elder from the Ophelia Dawson stories, comes to be adopted by him.  Matt never knew his birthfather and his birthmother died of a drug overdose, leaving Matt at the mercy of the foster care system.  Certain he’s going to be stuck there for the duration, he sinks into depression.  Then, a long-lost family member shows up to take him in.  He only finds out afterwards that Joseph, his new foster-dad, is also a vampire.


The trouble with this story is Matt is only thirteen years old.  Um, that’s Middle Grade.
I don’t know, but I’ve had a hard time finding YA publishers who do young YA and Middle Grade.
So, (nooooo!) what’s a good little ePublished YA author to do?
Well, the good news is I’m so busy with the Ophelia Dawson stories that I don’t need to figure that one out for another year, probably.
I guess the lesson to take away from this post is that you can have an awesome story stewing in your imagination for a long time.  And that’s okay.
Or, it can dump on you like a ton of bricks overnight and take of running, like the Ophelia Dawson stories.  You just never know.
So (ooooooh, noooo!) just go with what works at the time.
Sweet Bytes comes out October 17th.  Here’s the blurb!
*



Ophelia’s escape from Martin, an Addicted Newblood, came at a terrible sacrifice.  Adrian, the boy she loves, is now infected and hunted like vermin.
As her new Protector, Tristan Li represents the Oldblood determination to destroy Adrian, along with all the Newbloods, addicted or not.
In her grief, Ophelia hates everything about Tristan, until his subtle strength empowers her to resist being turned into a vampire by the High Prefect.  
As Tristan helps Ophelia harness her empathic ability, his need for redemption rings in her heart.  Her own strength grows, along with her passion for freedom.
The veil of mourning lifts.
The evil of Martin returns.
Ophelia seizes ownership of her destiny.
*

Thanks for putting up with me.  Now, I must go back to work.  Uh, I mean sleep.