The Amulet, first of the series, is almost 
ready to go to Amazon for e-publishing! I have tweaked and formatted and agonized enough. So why am I scared?
It doesn’t fit comfortably into a category. How will the right audience find it?
Young Adult, yes, but its audience will be women between 15 and 95+. Some men will like it, too. Most novels in the YA category are either Vampire, Fantasy, Paranormal, or Romance (with sex more often than not). The Amulet isn’t any of those. A bit of paranormal helps the plot along, but doesn’t dominate in any way. A bit of romance heightens the fun, but is secondary to the main plot.
A lot of people like me don’t like books reeking with lurid, provocative sex scenes. That’s why we go to YA instead of Adult fiction. I guess we’re not grown-up enough for the heavy stuff.
Historical Fiction. I wish there was a subcategory called Light Historical Fiction, indicating that the reader won’t get bogged down with a lot of facts and foreign terms. Who cares what the Latin title of the treasurer is? Using a Latin term means the reader has to remember what it refers to. Or social norms. If I say my characters can ride horses and wander safely (more or less) all over Gaul, I shouldn’t have to include a treatise on society’s treatment of women in Rome vs Britannia. The research has been done, so you can be confident that if I say it could happen, it could.
Have you read Roman or Greek plays? They are fascinating studies of humanity, and just like Shakespeare, they are relevant today because the human condition does not change. You understand what’s happening by watching the characters act out their lives, not by having a lot of justifications and explanations thrown at you.
My books are like that. I put you into the time period, 2nd Century AD, and then get on with the story.
Buying The Amulet. Yes, please do buy it. It’s cheap! I’ll post the info on how to get it as soon as I send it in to Amazon. If you like it even a little bit, please tell your friends so they can try it out. Remember, what strikes one reader as superb, may not seem so to another, and vice versa. Just so you know, of those who have pre-read The Amulet, over half have been over-the-top enthusiastic about it. The others have kept silent, thank goodness.
Victoria Paulsen 