Was asked last night whether I'd ever consider writing "adult" books. My inclination, as usual, is to dispute the premise of the question, as I don't see the same unbridgeable chasm between "adult" and "teen" fiction that others seem so committed to. I'd approach and execute a novel narrated by a 40 year old exactly the same way I'd a. and e. one narrated by a 15 year old, mutatis mutandis. A demographcially-tailored "feature set" in a novel seems to me a terrible idea when you're trying to present an authentic character from the inside, whatever his or her age might be.
But it does occur to me that if I keep writing about these guys and I do it for awhile, as I plan to do, they're going to reach adult-hood (or as close to it as any of get in our society) fairly quickly. In fact, Sam Hellerman is already twenty-one when he pops briefly into Andromeda Klein, and both Tom and Sam would be in their early thirties at the current date if I'm doing the math right. So, there's your "adult novel" right there. All it has to do is get itself written.
As for how an adult novel might differ from a teen novel, I'd guess that an adult novel might be less dark, less cynical, less morally ambiguous and complex, less "meta", with a more conventional, traditional narration and plotline, a simpler vocabulary, and would be far more likely to resolve cleanly and tritely with an edifying lesson that makes the reader feel good about him or herself and his or her assumptions about how good people ought to think and feel. That's just a guess though. Stay tuned.
Posted by Dr. Frank at December 18, 2014 08:33 PM