Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight, a weekly feature hosted by Tinasbookreviews and celebrates indie, self-published, up& coming and debut authors. This week I have the pleasure of introducing readers to:
CYNDI TEFFT
Faith and Sex in YA lit
by Cyndi Tefft
I was reading through the posts on Tina’s blog (thanks for having me!) and noticed that she reads a variety of Christian literature. My debut novel, Between, is a young adult paranormal romance novel that, while not technically in the Christian genre, does address issues of faith. It also has some relatively steamy love scenes, so is geared more towards older teens.
In preparation for the launch of Between, I contacted YA book bloggers to set up reviews and interviews. Many of them have a Review Policy noted (which is sooooo helpful) to help authors and publishers know what types of books they'll accept for review.
I've come across several (say dozens) that don't accept books with religious themes or tones. I find this curious, since I have come across only one or two who specifically note that they won't take books with mature sex scenes. Most of those have been tweens who note that their parents read the blog.There have been countless blogs about sex in YA (how much is too much, should it happen on the page or off, should there be consequences, what about protection, etc...). There hasn't been nearly as much talk about issues of faith, though I would wager that most kids have to come to terms with where they stand on religion, too.There was a Twitter #yalitchat session a while back on this very topic (faith in YA). I loved the interaction and the thoughts expressed by those tweeting. It was a great chat and something we should talk about more often.I'd love to see issues of God, faith, spirituality and religion as a part of a teen's coming of age experience be poured into YA books and accepted by readers (and bloggers). While Christian literature certainly has its place, we shouldn’t necessarily tag anything with faith themes as belonging to that genre.
Let's not be afraid of talking about God anymore than we're afraid of talking about sex in YA. Everyone will have a different opinion, and that's a good thing as long as we're respectful and kind.
The good news: Since the launch of Between on June 1, reviewers have consistently noticed the themes of faith and spirituality in the book, but all have stated that it doesn’t come across as preachy, but as central to the story. I couldn’t be more thankful about that!
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Between is available in both print and ebook format from a variety of online retailers:
Ebook only: Smashwords, Apple
Print only: Createspace, My website (signed copy)
Print and ebook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
There are a variety of ways to connect with me online: My blog, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Shelfari, and LibraryThing.
**Thanks so much Cyndi for those thoughts on faith in YA. I do read a lot of variety in books and include faith based novels in the mix. I think the genre has plenty to offer readers. The bloggers Ive come across have always been respectful of my own faith and Im suprised by how many of us are Christians, Catholics, Baptists, Mormons and the list gos on. I think Im always looking for that YA novel that has a character dealing with real life issues including faith aspects presented in a way that doenst come of as cheese-fluff or generic preachy thumping.
GIVEAWAY
Today thanks to Cyndi, she is giving away one Ebook copy of Between. Everyone is welcome to enter, just leave a comment. Winner will be drawn July 1, 2011.
Between by Cyndi Tefft
It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent.
After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates.
Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries?
sounds really interesting, especially the scottish fella!
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Cyndi's the best... and Between is pretty darn good too! Good luck to all who enter!
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you have a great blog, I have bookmarked it into my favorites as it has helped me alot in writing my literature review. I wil also recommend it to my friends.Thank you
ReplyDeleteThe Saturday Spotlight with Cyndi Tefft & Giveaway <-- that's what i was looking for
ReplyDeleteDissertation Literature Review