YA Series/ Adult Sexy Spin-Off

Before you read my craziness rambling, I want to ask...“Can you think of a YA series that you wouldn’t mind having a spin-off Erotica?”

WARNING!!! This started out as just throwing something out there, but as I sat here and typed, it turned into a very heated rambling of crazy talk. *eek*

I’m not sure if you heard the news…but Andrea Cremer just contracted with Penguin to do an Erotica trilogy (not currently named), in the world she created where both of her YA series take place (Nightshade and her prequel, Rift.)

When my best blogger friend made me aware of this news, I was ecstatic! Because I thought I might like something like this that Andrea writes; especially, in the awesome Nightshade world she created! So, obviously, I’m absolutely thrilled for Andrea Cremer! But I guess there are a lot of pretty upset people over her decision. So I’m now left here thinking… “What’s the problem?”

I want to be VERY clear so that everyone reading this is fully aware of one very important thing here…I am NOT a fan of Erotica books! They freak me out…NO LIE! Normally, I stay at least 10 feet away from any book that someone would consider “hot or sexy” (my hot or sexy is always YA.) Yes, I’ve read them, and a couple times I’ve gotten to a particular scene where I just couldn’t bring myself to go any further, and I immediately returned the book to its owner! I’ve read some racy adult books with some brief, minor, sex scenes, but I’ve also read a handful (no I won’t give numbers) of a few really hot and heavy Erotica books. But, yep, after I read the last one which was probably about 2 years ago, I haven’t picked one up since. So while I’m sitting here thinking that I really want to give Andrea’s new books a try, am I going to force myself to read the whole trilogy? Or even the whole first book? No! If it makes me too uncomfortable I’ll stop and probably recommend it to one of my friends who like them. But, yes, I like Andrea’s writing style and the world she’s created so, naturally, I’m curious to see how hot and heavy these books will get.  I want to meet new characters in the Nightshade world!  But most of all, I’m also curious to see if I’ll like them.

So I’m now sitting here debating in my mind both the positives and negatives of this issue. I think that the most legitimate concern for most readers is the need to keep YA and Adult in clearly separate categories. Are there going to be teens who are really obsessed with the Nightshade who will pick up the adult series? Probably! If I plan to, why wouldn’t a teen? So, would it ease peoples’ minds if they knew that Penguin will be marketing, and making it fully clear, that the new book series is Erotica? Or clearly marketed for the adult audience? One of my very favorite YA authors, Richelle Mead, writes some pretty racy adult books! And after I read her YA series (Vampire Academy), I gave one of Richelle Mead’s adult series a try. And guess what? I own them all and they’re signed! Have I read all of her adult books? No! Because, once again, they make me feel uncomfortable. But if you know much about Richelle Mead, she has got a lot of really obsessive teen fans, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them are picking up her adult books and giving them a try.

So let’s look at it this way. I personally think that it would be unfair to say that since Richelle Mead wrote such a popular YA series that she shouldn’t write an Adult series using the same pen name, or even publish a book series about the same fantasy world she created for her YA series! That’s her name to use as she sees fit, and her world to use in the manner she prefers. And of course she would need to find a publisher that will agree to it as well. That is what Andrea Cremer did, and I think it’s awesome!

The one thing that I find the most bizarre about this whole thing is that most of the complaining and negativity I’ve come across are comparing Andrea’s new series to 50 Shades of Gray! Like this is the only reason Andrea Cremer decided to write her adult Erotica trilogy. Hello! Can everyone stop talking about those dang books? PLEASE?!?!?! Are they REALLY that awesome that we are now going to see the comparison of 50 Shades of Gray in every Erotica book review out there? Oh…please! Erotica is not new! And I highly doubt that Andrea decided to write her new Erotica trilogy "just because" of the success of 50 Shades of Gray! A lot of women just never talked about these books until now, or they never tried reading them until everyone started talking about it! Almost every female “adult reader” I know has read a racy adult book BEFORE 50 Shades of Gray, and most of them really like, if not love, them! Have you ever seen the crazy obsessive fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood? Richelle Mead has A LOT of majorly obsessed teen fans, and I don’t see people saying that she only wrote her adult racy books because of 50 Shades of Gray. Or that she only wrote them for the money! Oh right, that’s because they were published BEFORE the 50 Shades of Gray hype! So is it fair to say that since homemakers across the country (or the PTA president) are now proud to say they’ve read 50 Shades of Gray, that all YA authors have to be bashed because they want to explore writing something more adult?  If 50 Shades of Gray wasn’t all over the news, or wasn’t the only topic brought up when talking about books with someone who normally doesn’t read, do you think that people would still make a big deal about Andrea’s new trilogy? How do you know that this wasn’t something Andrea thought about 2 years ago? Why are people so quick to judge someone by assuming that being an author is about the money? If you know anything about the typical book author, you’d know that their salary isn’t all that great based off of the hours they put into writing and promoting their book.

OH! I do want to point out that this spin-off trilogy that Andrea Cremer is writing could not possibly be about the main characters in the Nightshade series. If you’ve read any of Andrea’s Nightshade books then you would understand WHY I say that. The series is not anything like: 1. The heroine picks up the guy; 2. The End; and 3. A year later we have an Erotica. NO!!! If that’s what you think this trilogy is about, then you are wrong. It can’t happen; it’s not at all possible! If you want to know why, read the Nightshade trilogy and you will know that it just can’t/ won’t happen. Can I say that another author won’t do that? No. But if they want to, and the publisher is up for it...so be it!

I would hope that the people who are the most upset are upset only because the new Erotica series takes place in the Nightshade world. Once again, I get it! So, I started thinking about other book series I’ve read that I wouldn’t mind having “that world” in a sexy adult spin-off! And here they are:

1. Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter world! You know that she could produce a super hottie shadowhunter...who has troubles controlling the ladies.
2. Vampire Academy spin-off with a hot dampire or moroi! I know! A dhampir from Scotland and a dhampir from Spain!
3. OH! You know that Tahereh Mafi would be the queen of a super steamy book!
4. Now, I’m not going to lie! I wouldn’t mind if Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins was racy! But I’ll be OK with her making another Nephilim! But he better be as sexy as Kai! Yum!!! *fans self* If you’ve read Sweet Evil, then you for sure would like it if she could make it HAWT!
5. Hello!!! Why the heck is Jennifer L. Armentrout writing YA??? She was born to write one of those steamy books! Hey Jennifer, can you make sure it is in the Covenant world? Pure meets human!?!?!?
6. And, finally, Lauren Oliver’s Dilirium! Now I’m not quite sure how she could pull it off since the “procedure” could mess up an adult. But maybe it could be a female woman that the procedure didn’t work on???

Those are my picks!!! So, that leaves me asking YOU, “What series would you like to see for a spin-off Erotica?”  Or do you find this whole thing barbaric?