The Wicked We Have Done blog tour - Guest Post by Sarah Harian

Today is a day I have been excited for since last summer, the release of The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian! I was lucky enough to read this book earlier this year and it is one of the best books I have read in probably over a year (and if you know the amount of books I get through then you know that really is saying something). In celebration of the books release I have a guest post from the incredibly talented author, Sarah Harian.

 

The Wicked We Have Done by Sarah Harian

Synopsis

With elements of horror, thriller and romance THE WICKED WE HAVE DONE is perfect for readers who enjoyed Suzanne Collins and are looking for the next big thing...

Once a sinner, always a sinner...

Twenty-two-year-old Evalyn Ibarra had taken the normality of her life for granted, until the moment everything changed. Now, convicted of a horrifying crime, she will be one of the first to experience a new kind of punishment.

In the darkness of the Compass Room - an experimental prison - the morality of convicts will be tested, and they will be punished according to their performance. In order to stay alive, Evalyn must relive the events of the fateful day that has brought her here.

Consumed by her own struggle, she never expects to make friends amongst her fellow inmates, let alone fall in love. But in this new and terrifying world, such allegiances are dangerous - because no one will escape unharmed.

Try it for yourself! Amazon UK | Amazon

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Why We Need New Adult by Sarah Harian

As a New Adult author coming from the New Adult age group (heelllllooooo mid-twenties), I want to talk about why New Adult is a necessary category within the realm of fiction.

I am 100% a completely different person from when I began college. When I was eighteen, the person I was on the inside was completely the opposite of the person I was on the outside. Outside I was conservative, timid, and sexually stagnant. Inside I was wild, deviant, adventurous, and clever. Inside Sarah wanted to read about young women who were like Inside Sarah, but on the outside. Maybe so she could live through them. Maybe so they could give her the courage to become them.

Unfortunately, when I needed New Adult the most, it wasn’t around. St. Martin’s Press hadn’t even coined the term yet. Sure, I found edgy upper-YA books where I could relate to the characters. Theoretically, I could wade through general fiction or genre fiction in hopes of coming across titles with twenty-something protagonists. But these books weren’t the same as a novel that was for me, trying to communicate with me.

Enter the category of New Adult.

The New Adult category sings to people in their twenties. A New Adult novel carries the voice of a twenty-something protagonist, delving into their dreams, fears, loves, and screw-ups. A New Adult protagonist is a unique creature; they are somehow an adult and not at the same time. They can exist in a fantasy world, a dystopian world, or a world from the past or present, as long as they resonate with what it’s like to be newly independent and discovering exactly what it means to be an adult.

But Sarah, aren’t you simply describing coming-of-age characters that have existed since the dawn of fiction?

Yeah, I totally am, actually.

So why do we need New Adult?

New Adult fiction isn’t necessary because of what it offers all readers. It’s necessary because of what it offers college kids and people in their twenties. As a graduate, I now have some time to sift through the library, bookstore, or internet to find books with characters my age. You think I had time when I was buried underneath textbooks and midterms? Hell no! But I still wanted to easily find novels for the weekends, novels that were fast-paced, romantic, funny, edgy, or escapist. Novels that were kind of like the YA titles I loved, but spoke to me and my college-aged mindset. Novels that had the potential to mold me.

New Adult is about accessibility.

I’m sure a lot of people don’t think that twenty-somethings need that accessibility the way that teenagers do. We’re adults, so we should be able to take the time to dig through general fiction to find what we want if we really want to read. But I’m going to argue that twenty-somethings need to be catered to. As an eighteen, nineteen, and twenty-year-old, I didn’t even know where to begin to find books with girls who were like Inside Sarah.  Yes, we might be adults, but most of us still don’t know who the hell we are. Sometimes, reading fiction helps us explore what we could be. New Adult has the potential to shape our idea of what it really means to be young and independent and awakened. New Adult has the potential to be a nourishing supplement that will push us to grow in the direction that we want to grow in.

That is why we need it.

The Wicked We Have Done is published today in eBook priced £2.49

About the Author

Sarah grew up in the foothills of Yosemite, where she learned to fish, hike, and climb trees. She also had a soft spot for video games and fantasy novels, rounding her out to be perfectly equal parts of wilderness princess and super nerd.

Inspired by Carolyn Keene, Tolkien, and J.K.Rowling, she wanted to be a writer since she was eight. Her first attempted book was about twins who found a secret portal to another world in their basement. Between this creation and her first finished novel twelve years later, she dabbled in fanfiction and horror stories.

Sarah worked as a barista at Starbucks while studying at Fresno State, receiving her B.A. in English Education in 2010 and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing in 2013. She was lucky enough to score a TAship during graduate school and teach fiction for a semester.

Now, Sarah is working on the sequel to her new adult speculative thriller, THE WICKED WE HAVE DONE. She’s liberal, queer, Christian, and madly in love with her husband. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to be all of those things at once.

Her works are represented by Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. 

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