Writers Read: Gerry Bartlett

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Gerry Bartlett

Gerry Bartlett is the author of the newly released Real Vampires Know Hips Happen and eight previous novels featuring Gloriana St. Clair.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Bartlett's reply:

I’ve been hooked on the Young Adult genre recently. I know I’m not the only one since this segment of the publishing world is growing faster than any other and it’s not just teens who are taking the plunge. It is easy to see why readers of all ages flock to these books. Especially in the paranormal, fantasy segment, I have found the plots to be imaginative, fast-paced and gripping. This may be why we’re seeing books like Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series being made into movies, as well as the Beautiful Creatures series. And of course Twilight started this trend.

But back to the book I read recently. It was the culmination of a trilogy. Beth Revis started her Across the Universe sci-fi series with a book by the same name over a year ago. I got hooked. A huge space ship left Earth headed for a new Earth. It would take hundreds of years to get there and a frozen crew is on board, including a teenager who accompanies her family. Book 2, A Million Suns, carries on the story of what happens inside the ship as some of the “frozen” are thawed.

I just finished reading Shades of Earth, the conclusion of the series, where the girl and her love interest, a teenager who must take control of the troubled group who lands on the new Earth, finally get there and encounter something no one could have predicted. The writing was excellent throughout the series. I was in that huge space ship, feeling claustrophobic right along with the teenage girl.

I could list dozens of equally engrossing YA books that have hit bestseller lists and for good reason. Yes, you may encounter violence and, no, you won’t see detailed love scenes. I don’t miss that. If I want erotica, I know where to find it. What I do enjoy are the clever plots, the breaking of unwritten rules and budding romances that make me remember what first love felt like. Does that sound like your kind of story? It has become mine.