#UKYASpotlight is a month-long event across social media to promote YA books by British and Irish authors (resident and national). For more information, click here.
About the Authors
Mark Illis has written Running Away For Beginners, The Impossible and The Impossible: On The Run for teenagers. The second two have a weird, fantasy element and were optioned for TV, the first one is a more realistic story, although it does feature a caravan full of dogs. Mark’s also written books for adults, a lot of TV, and a zombie movie in which he had a cameo as a zombie. Mark lives in a beautiful small town in West Yorkshire with his wife, his cat and his two children, (but the cat and the children aren’t around that much).
Gina Blaxill writes thrilling novels for young adults. Most of them feature angry girls who want to shake the world up. Her seven YA novels include dark feminist thrillers LOVE YOU TO DEATH and YOU CAN TRUST ME and fairy tale retellings ALL THE BETTER TO SEE YOU (Little Red Riding Hood) and GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT (Hansel and Gretel). Her favourite genre of book is a good old fashioned whodunnit, the more red herrings the better – and, as the owner of three imperious cats, her least favourite plot device is fictional pets in peril.
About Their Books:
Title: RUNNING AWAY FOR BEGINNERS
Author: Mark Illis
Pitch: A boy called Jasper, who’s 15, finds out he’s got cancer. So, obviously, he runs away with his three friends. And that goes wrong pretty quickly. A funny, exciting and heartfelt story about friendship and resilience, that arises from personal experience.
Find on Goodreads.
Title: LOVE YOU TO DEATH
Author: Gina Blaxill
Pitch: Someone is obsessed with Mia Hawkins – the girl who has made herself into Mia’s doppelganger. But when her doppelganger turns up dead, that is only the beginning… Stalking, toxic love and obsession.
Find on Goodreads.
What do you think is special about UKYA?
Mark Illis: I love that this is a fairly small, vibrant, diverse community that’s all about people who love books. It’s a fantastic way of connecting with readers and writers, and discovering new stuff. It’s a door that opens on possibility, which is always a good thing.
Gina Blaxill: YA books set in the UK! This sounds super basic, but USYA still has such a prevalence in bookstores and on TBRs. UK teenagers deserve their unique experiences to be acknowledged and explored in the books that they read.
What distinguishes a YA book from middle grade or adult? Why do you think it’s so popular at the moment?
Mark Illis: YA has great characters and strong stories, along with sharp edges, glittery bits in the corner of your eye that make you think Wait, what’s going on there? It’s not afraid to engage with big subjects, but it never forgets that it has a duty to excite and entertain you, and maybe surprise you or shock you too.
Gina Blaxill: YA is special because it is about all the firsts we encounter when we’re on the brink of adulthood – which is one big reason I think it is so addictive! A lot of Adult readers of YA look back on firsts fondly (or mess them up), so there’s a weird kind of comfort or nostalgia appeal – whereas genuine teenagers might be looking for fictional experiences that mimic where they are in life, and may provide a different kind of comfort (and even guidance). Characters are figuring the world out independently without the guidance they would receive from parents, guardians and teachers in MG (though a supportive parent is always welcome in YA!) but don’t have the experience or cynicism that adults have when navigating similar challenges. Those are the key differences for me. As for its current popularity, for adults, I’d say that some of that is because YA stories tend to get to the point more quickly than adult novels, and for teens, well, there’s a little thing called BookTok you may have heard of…
There has been a lot of talk about the adultification of YA and what that means for teen readers. What sort of balance do you think UKYA strikes between teens and older readers? Do you think this balance needs to shift in a particular direction and how?
Mark Illis: ‘Teen readers’ is a tricky category, because there’s a massive difference between 13 and 19, and for that matter there’s a massive difference between any two readers of the same age. I think the writer needs to think back to themselves as a teen. What would they love? What would excite them, or disturb them? What would they find scary or funny? That’s the pool I swim in.
Gina Blaxill: I don’t think the balance needs to shift. Adult readers of YA are valid, and I don’t agree with pushing them out – but neither do I agree with authors consciously or unconsciously writing their YA books with adult readers in mind. That morphs YA into something else. I actually think the real issue here is that there’s no Teen section in book stores – i.e. another category between MG and YA. Books for readers who’ve moved up from YA are there, but it’s not necessarily easy to identify them in a massive YA section, which will include teen titles alongside crossover titles that are very much adultified. My own books are a case in point – the fairy tale titles are younger YA, aimed at readers who’ve just moved up from MG, whereas Love You to Death/You Can Trust Me are targeted at the older end. The content reflects these two different audiences – in the thrillers, there’s swearing, dark and adult themes and sex, while in the fairy tale books you’ll find no swearing, the odd chaste kiss, and although there’s darkness, it’s far less adult in tone. And yet they all share the same shelf space. That’s just confusing, and I’d suggest sets readers up for possible disappointments/buying books that turn them off or even being put off reading.
How do you think UKYA will evolve in the coming five years?
Mark Illis: I love the fact that I don’t know. I want to be surprised.
Gina Blaxill: Teen titles receiving their own category would be nice – but I can’t see that happening, at least, not in book stores! I think we’ll see more titles that reflect the world we inhabit and the technology we use, directly or indirectly, and we’ll probably see some current genre trends dwindle and some new trends pick up.
For more interviews, check here and don’t forget to check instagram (here) for book recommendations from these authors and more!
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