Guest Blog & Giveaway with Sherry D. Ficklin

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming back Sherry D. Ficklin. Her latest book Military Brats: After Burn is out now!

So, it’s a new year which means new trends in the YA book market will be making their appearances soon. I have a love/hate relationship with book trends.  Sometimes we fall into a trend that I just don’t enjoy, but there is SO MUCH of it coming out that it’s hard to find anything else on the shelf. For example, I’m not a fan of the snobby rich kid private school books. Now, some are okay, but it’s just not my thing. Same with werewolf novels. There are a few I really got in to, but most I just don’t enjoy.

And maybe it’s a case of seeing something in those genres done differently. Something that catches my attention, sparks my imagination, makes me think about the genre in a new way.

Trends I love are, and please don’t throw things, but I love vampire novels. I’ve been a fan since Buffy and Interview with the Vampire. I will probably always love these novels. Same with epic fantasy books. I was raised on Dune, the Hobbit, and yes, Harry Potter.  I love these kinds of amazing stories.

Some new trends I’m seeing are, for one, the Steampunk stuff. I’m finding that I really enjoy it. Which makes sense when I look back at some of my favorite movies/TV shows of the past decade.  I’ve noticed a few zombie books making the rounds. I recently read Dead Beautiful, and I think it was the best sort of zombie but not really zombie book I’ve seen.

As a writer, it’s very tempting to write to the trends. Not necessarily because we are trying to ‘cash in’ on a hot genre, but because we are so influenced by what we see and what we read. I know that if all I’m reading is vampire books, my characters often end up being, ta-da, vampires.  I think at that is a double edge sword. See, it takes a year on average to get a book from an idea on my laptop to the bookstore shelf. A lot can change in a year. My first book, FORESIGHT was a mythological fantasy and when I started trying to sell it all I got was, “why are there no vampires in this book?” because this was just after the phenomenon that was Twilight overtook bookstores everywhere. With my most recent novel, I had a similar problem because no one could figure out what trend it fell into.

Military Brats: After Burn is a teen mystery, sort of a throwback to those classic Nancy Drew novels with a bit of Veronica Mars attitude.  Because it wasn’t fantasy and it wasn’t paranormal and it wasn’t Gossip Girl, it left people scratching their heads. People were quick to throw it in the teen romance genre, just because they weren’t sure what to do with it.

GIVEAWAY:
 So, you tell me. Is there a trend that you love/hate? What do you want to see more of on the bookshelves? One lucky commenter will win a Military Brats prize pack that includes stickers, magnets, bookmarks, and even a set of Military Brats dog tags.

[To enter the giveaway answer Sherry's question above, along with your email address. Open to U.S & Canada. The winner will be chosen on January 31st]

Thanks for stopping by and letting me rant! Good luck and as always, happy reading!

You can pick up a copy of my new book Military Brats: After Burn here:  Amazon

Military Brats: After Burn

By: Sherry D. Ficklin
Website

 
Reece Barnet and her father have just relocated to sunny North Carolina, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point to be exact. It's another new town and another new school. But just as Reece is starting to fit in, a rash of bomb threats rocks her father's experimental aircraft squadron. When the authorities track the threats to Reece's school, she decides to do some investigating of her own. Unfortunately, the more she digs, the more it looks like her new boyfriend is the culprit.

When the unthinkable happens and her father is rushed to the hospital, it becomes a race aginst time as Reece fights to protect her father, clear her boyfriend, and discover the suprising truth of the person behind it all!