In her book Writing & Selling the YA Novel, K. L. Going lays the terminology out: "Psychologist Erik Erikson, known for his research into the development of identity, defined a young adult as a person who is between the ages of nineteen and forty (Childhood and Society, 1950), but in literature we use this term to define books written for those between the ages of twelve and eighteen."
Ouch - I turn forty tomorrow!
I've been reading many books on writing as this benchmark approaches but this is the first to point out the cusp that I'm on. I've heard life begins at forty. Obviously it's because one is a mature adult at this point.
A total lunar eclipse, the winter solstice and the New Year are all localized around my 40th and all represent astronomical events - perhaps renewal or even rebirth. Thus I've decide to focus on a YA novel as I enter this new phase of life. In this way, at least, I will stay a YA writer.
Yea - I turn forty tomorrow!
I was told a few days ago that forty is a novelty; forty-one is rough. The reality sets in. I resolve today, before my birthday and before the New Year, to be a published fiction writer by my 41st birthday. The publishing world is slow so it won't be my novel, but I'm submitting my short fiction.
I've laid down the gauntlet. Stay tuned.
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