Meet Emma Silver

I’m delighted to welcome fellow Crooked Cat author, Emma Silver, to my blog today. Emma is the author of Blackbrooke and Blackbrooke II: The Guardian, and her new novel for young adults, Blackbrooke III: King of Queenswill, will be published on 14 October, 2014.

Emma has something to say on the issue of:

Teenagers and Love

 I still get a lot of raised eyebrows from people I know who decide it might be time to read Blackbrooke.

“Ooh, it’s a bit racy.”

“I wouldn’t let my fifteen year old niece read it. It’s too rude.”

If you’ve not read it, let me put this into context for you…

Liberty Connor is the main character and, by book number three, her virginity is intact.

There’s a bit of kissing, but that’s as far as it goes.

So, what’s the problem?

When probed, these people (and they tend to be older readers, teenagers don’t tend to have an issue with it, funnily enough) explain it makes them uncomfortable that seventeen year olds are having ‘relations’. Yes, that’s the exact word they used.

It’s a tough one. Seventeen is young to be considering romance, but, hold the phone…

It happens!

Writing teenagers is a tricky one. I was seventeen once, and I don’t remember being tucked up in bed, reading Enid Blyton with my Barbie torch.

I’ve never set out to push the boundaries or challenge people’s thinking, I just wanted to be honest. Plus, it’s fiction. These kids live in a town that’s gated off from the rest of the country. Oh, and they share that town with the Crits, who kill people for food.

Quite frankly, I’m a tad peeved people don’t talk about that aspect a little more!

The last person to try and tell me Blackbrooke was Mills & Boon for young adults was greeted with the question: “So, the mythical creatures ripping humans to shreds and scalping kids in broad daylight didn’t bother you?”

That’s different, apparently.

Extreme violence we can handle, and we even happily let our kids be entertained by it. However, present them with a couple over the age of consent sharing a kiss and discussing the possibility of sex and it’s all a bit too much.

I’ve learned to smile through it and shrug hopelessly when I’m questioned about it now.

I also recommend they stay the hell away from Fifty Shades of Grey.

Thank you for that, Emma.

Blackbrooke III: King of Queens is released 14^th October, courtesy of Crooked Cat Publishing.

You can follow Emma on Twitter: @emma_silver or head to her blog: emmasilverauthor.blogspot.com.