LGBT Post : Why LGBT is Important in New Adult by Marie Landry

Hola and a big smushy WELCOME to our LGBTQ event which is here for the month of May. We have reviews, Guest Posts, Top Ten List and lots and lots of prizes all with a LGBT theme. The posts will be indexed on the side and I do hope you hop through … I have been so lucky this year!

Today, we have the lovely Marie Landry with a post about why NA LBGTQ stories are important. Her newest release (look at the cover…awesome) is a FF NA story and I HAVE to read it. It is on *the* list.

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LGBT stories are always important, whether you’re talking about teens, young adults, or adults, coming out stories or stories where characters are out and proud. It used to be difficult to find LGBT stories, but within the last few years, it’s become easier and easier, and I’m loving that there are so many to choose from, especially in different genres and age categories.

We first meet Sadie Fitzgerald in After the Storm, one of my young adult novels where she’s the best friend of the main character. There were always rumours about Sadie, and while she wasn’t trying to hide who she really was, she rarely confirmed her true identity, because it was hard for her to trust people. She came out in After the Storm, and a year later in her own book, Take Them by Storm, she’s out and proud, and being a lesbian is just one part of this complex, vibrant, wonderful girl.

So why are LGBT stories important in the New Adult category? One of the things I love best about NA is that it’s a time in a person’s life where they’re learning who they really are. High school can be emotional and complicated and messy, and sometimes it’s hard to learn who you truly are because there are so many outside influences (not to mention raging hormones!). In high school, especially when you’ve known the same people your whole life, it can be easy to be boxed in and seen as only one thing – popular, a jock, a nerd, whatever the case may be – but people are much more than just labels.

After high school, whether you go to college or out into the real world, everything changes. Nothing will ever be the same again. It can be a scary time, but it can also be incredibly liberating. And because of that, I think LGBT is important in New Adult, whether a character is struggling with how to come out, or they feel comfortable coming out, or they’re already out. Or even if they’re just interested in experimenting and discovering their sexuality or sexual identity. There’s a chance to meet new people – people who are possibly more open-minded and less judgmental than the people you grew up with. It’s a time to make your own decisions and learn who you want to be, what you want to do, what your future holds. So many things end once high school is over – friendships, relationships, certain ways of thinking.

In Young Adult books, we often see first crushes and first loves, and it’s scary and exciting and new, but with characters who are a bit older and maybe more experienced, it’s a completely different dynamic. Most of the LGBT books I’ve read have either been about teens or older adults, and I think it’s so important to see characters who are just starting out in the real world and figuring things out.

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Marie has the best job in the world—one where she gets to make stuff up for a living and shamelessly eavesdrop on everyone around her. She writes happily ever afters while dreaming about the day she’ll have her own epic love story to tell. Most days you can find her writing, reading, fantasizing about traveling the world, listening to U2, watching copious amounts of TV on DVD, or having grand adventures with her nephews and niece.

For more on Marie and her books please visit http://sweetmarie-83.blogspot.ca She also loves to chat with fellow book lovers, so feel free to tweet her @SweetMarie83 any time!

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Sadie Fitzgerald has always been different, and not just because she makes her own clothes and would rather stay home watching Doctor Who than party with kids her age. When it’s time to leave Angel Island for college, Sadie is eager to put her old life behind her. Small-minded people and rumors have plagued her for years, but with the love of her adoptive family, the O’Dells, Sadie has learned to embrace who she is. Now she’s not afraid to admit the rumors about her are true: she’s gay.

For the first time in her life, Sadie feels free to be herself. She dives into college life and begins volunteering at the local LGBT center, where she discovers her small-town upbringing left holes in her education about life outside Angel Island.

The world is a bigger and more accepting place than Sadie ever imagined. She’s finally found where she belongs, but with the reappearance of someone from her past, an unexpected new friendship, and a chance at love, Sadie soon realizes she still has a lot to learn about life, friendship, and love.