The Secret Lives of Rockstars Book One on Amazon!

The Secret Lives of Rockstars Book Two on Amazon!

 

Guest Post – Challenges of Writing New Adult
I’d never written New Adult before I wrote THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0778Q7NFR). My other series, The Aether Chronicles (https://www.amazon.com/Innocent-Darkness-Aether-Chronicles-Suzanne/dp/0738732486/), is YA fairytale steampunk.
THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS was originally my attempt to turn an adult project into a YA project. I tried writing a few chapters and just didn’t work—for that story or that character. However, I adored what I had created. These teen rockstars were fun to write. They had too much fame, money, and magic, and not enough sense. It was fantastic.

So, I ‘filed the serial numbers’ off and created a new story. I renamed the characters, gave them new personalities, backstories, and abilities. I moved the book to my hometown, Tempe, AZ and tormented them with summer heat. I wrote entire songs for the cirque-noir punk band in the book – The Freakshow. I shifted the story from urban fantasy to elf-punk, made Bitsy a steampunk, created the drakken (my dragons). It became a completely new story with new characters.
Even though my rockstars aren’t human, they were all basically 16-18ish in their respective cultures. Bitsy isn’t quite sure what she is, but it’s not human. Jules, her bestie and the band’s frontwoman is a siren. Aidan, the band’s bassist, is Sídhe (an elf), and Matt, the drummer, is an incubus. Bitsy is the band’s ringmaster, though she’s filling in while the lead guitarist is out with an injury—a little hard for her considering the has massive stage fright. But The Freakshow is her family, they mean the world to her. When an angel walks into a bar and demands she help him with his demon problem before a war breaks out, she is determined to not let her band and friends down as she tries to save the world.
Having my characters on a huge rock tour, on their own, and getting into all the mischief (and drinking) they do could be a little problematic. So, I aged the characters up so Bitsy and company were 18-21ish. While my non-human rockstars still have their magic fake IDs, they actually ended up drinking and swearing less as adults than when they were teens. This popped them up from YA into New Adult, which meant making some changes to the characterization and themes.
One of my favorite things about writing New Adult is exploring the ‘OMG, I’m an adult WTF do I do now’ feelings we so often have when we’re first out on our own. Those feelings of wanting to do the ‘adult’ thing, on her own, while not always knowing what to do really informed the Bitsy we see in the finished novel. This rock tour is her chance to prove that she can make it, as an adult, in the human realm—and no angel with a mission for her is going to stop that. Hopefully.
There’s not a whole lot of romance in this story, because Bitsy and company are a little busy saving the world, but there is a little, especially in book two. Bitsy’s not quite ready yet for some major romance, though she just might meet her match in Eric, a sexy dragon who’s helping her with her mission—and driving her crazy. There’s a lot of action, adventure, explosions, dragons, leprechauns, elven mobsters, and angels. I’m so excited that the second half of the story is finally out in the world.
I hope you enjoy the conclusion of THE SECRET LIVES OF ROCKSTARS (https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lives-Rockstars-Suzanne-Lazear-ebook/dp/B0777N31FR), and if you haven’t read the first book yet, you’ll want to start there (https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lives-Rockstars-Book-One-ebook/dp/B01KN7POAU). You can win copies of book one here (http://gvwy.io/8qhl67t)!
Rock on!