Thursday, July 30, 2009

Introducing HarlequinTeen: a Guest Blog

What kind of book becomes a Harlequin TEEN?
by Natashya Wilson, senior editor, Harlequin TEEN

As soon as Harlequin announced the creation of Harlequin TEEN , a new young adult fiction imprint, people wanted to know—what kind of books were we going to publish? The short answer: compelling teen fiction covering a variety of genres. The long answer….well, here is how the launch year of titles came to be!

First, I have to say, the speculation over what we’ll publish has been both exciting and, sometimes, amusing. Judging by a few recent blog posts, when people heard “Harlequin”, and “young adult,” some automatically thought of that outdated term ‘bodice-ripper” and pictured torrid stories of hormone-driven teens panting over first kisses and… more. Yes, most of our stories do include a love interest—whose real-life story doesn’t?! —but romance is just one part of what we’re about. Here’s the scoop on what to expect from Harlequin TEEN’s first year.

The first manuscript the company bought that would eventually become part of Harlequin TEEN was Maria V. Snyder’s story Inside Out. When Maria came to her editor with the project, we didn’t have the perfect place for it, but we knew we couldn’t let it go and bought the book anyway. Perhaps that was the spark the reignited the company’s desire to create a general young adult fiction imprint! This unique futuristic story features Trella, a quiet loner who accidentally becomes the leader of a rebellion while exploring forbidden levels and uncovering secrets of life “Inside.”

Due to Maria’s adult publishing schedule, Inside Out was slated for April 2010—and the hunt was on for more books. To start, we focused on authors who were writing stories with a paranormal/urban fantasy appeal. Harlequin looked at its current author base to see if there were more potential TEEN authors, and bestselling authors Rachel Vincent and Gena Showalter had what it took.

Rachel’s SHIFTERS series had really taken off, and Gena had a huge paranormal romance readership plus had already written several YAs for other publishers. Both authors came to their editors with projects we adored, and My Soul to Take, featuring a teen banshee, and Intertwined, featuring a teen with four souls living inside him, soon became the August and September 2009 launch projects for the imprint. Sequels to both will be out in 2010.

We were also fortunate to have two titles previously published under our Luna imprint that made perfect sense to reprint for Harlequin TEEN, both by bestselling House of Night author P. C. Cast. Elphame’s Choice (October 2009) and Brighid’s Quest (March 2010) take place in the fantasy world of Partholon and feature goddess-blessed heroines who must leave everything familiar and risk their very lives as they meet forbidden soul mates and face their destinies.

Word got out, and more projects began to trickle in, among them a memorable modern faery story from debut author Julie Kagawa. The Iron King (February 2010), the first novel of the Iron Fey, stars reluctant half-faery Meghan Chase and her perilous trip into the faery world, where she must rescue her little brother and resist falling for an icy faery prince who might as soon kill her as kiss her.

The hunt expanded to include a variety of story types. We found a fabulous fun contemporary story, Tagged (March 2010), by another exciting debut author, Mara Purnhagen. Tagged features a mystery graffiti artist and the girl determined to find the artist without being labeled a snitch or revealing her secret crush. It doesn’t help that she’s the police chief’s daughter…or that the artist may be someone she’s close to!

An unusual and thrilling opportunity also came our way around this time. We connected with the right people at ABC Family and acquired the rights to publish books based on their TV series GREEK! We’ll be publishing four stories based on the GREEK characters, beginning in May 2010 with GREEK: Double Date by Marsha Warner.
We were also excited to acquire books from popular YA authors Allison van Diepen and Douglas Rees. Allison’s contemporary story The Oracle of Dating (May 2010) features teen relationship buff Kayla and her Web site, through which she anonymously offers advice on the ups and downs of dating—getting herself into a bit of trouble and a turbulent romance of her own!

Douglas Rees’s Majix: Notes from a Serious Teen Witch (July 2010) stars smart-mouthed Kestrel—don’t call her Susan!—a teen witch determined not to give in to the pressure to be like everyone else, even when faced with unfair detentions and nasty, unenlightened classmates. Don’t worry…Kestrel shows them all!

July 2010 also brings the re-release of a favorite novel originally published in Red Dress Ink, Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner. Carrie’s a teen genius—and hermit—on a mission to change her social misfit status, but does she have to dumb things down just to fit in?

We can’t wait to hear what readers think of each release. Let us know—which book are you looking forward to most? What do you want to see from Harlequin TEEN?



Comment here for a chance to win a copy of either My Soul to Take or Intertwined, or a Harlequin TEEN T-shirt. Contest will end on Monday @ midnight (eastern time).

Be sure to visit us at www.HarlequinTEEN.com, and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/HarlequinTEEN/) for the latest info. We hope to see you at our next blog tour stop, The Story Siren on August 5!

87 comments:

Lexie said...

I gotta admit when I first heard about Harlequin Teen my brain said 'oh teen romances!' but I'm sincerely glad that y'all will be having such a varied line-up! My Soul to Take was definitely a great book, Intertwined looks wonderful (haven't read it yet) and Inside Out is eagerly anticipated in my household!

(and those shirts are gorgeous)

Anonymous said...

How awesome, Please enter me! :)

lovestoread0708(at)yahoo.com

cindysloveofbooks said...

Please enter me please. You have some great books coming out. I am sure I will end up a fan of Harlequin Teen.

ColleenFL said...

It's great to read about all the new YA titles coming out. I'm not a teenager but I read a few YA books a month. Looking forward to all the new books!

Margay Leah Justice said...

I am really looking forward to both Intertwined and My Soul to Take. I've been reading a lot about both of them and they are very intriguing to me. It seems that most of the books (or a good portion) you listed here have a paranormal theme. Are there any that don't? And if someone were interested in submitting to Harlequin Teen, are there any special criteria you are looking for?

Margay

BreiaB said...

Another great post. I am enjoying this blog tour very much. Those shirts look awesome.


bbricke AT yahoo DOT com

Jenn's Bookshelves said...

Please sign me up! I'm very excited to hear about all the great YA books Harlequin Teen is releasing!

Joanne Levy said...

I LOVED Carrie Pilby and am actually looking forward to reading it again since I borrowed it from a friend the first time I read it.

I think I also remember reading a short about Carrie in an anthology of some sort and was sad that there weren't more Carrie Pilby books. Great choice for a re-release.

Aliens said...

With the authors name mentioned it will give me a reason to buy them for my nieces but read them before giving it to them. ;)
Please count me in.

AC said...

Already reading Rachel Vincent's My Soul To Take - the prequel really had me hooked! I'm a huge fan of Gena's Lords of the Underworld series so Intertwined will be an auto buy. Very excited about this new line!

Oh, and those shirts are soooo cute. :)

Anonymous said...

I love Maria Snyder's books. I can't wait for this book.I hope this new line will have anthologies of short stoies and novellas.
Cindysku07@aol.com

Brenda said...

This is so exciting! I know my three daughters will love reading these (as will I, since anything by Gena is on my TO READ list automatically.) Congrats on the new and exciting line!

californiameaghan said...

i am excited to read maria v snyder's newest book. i am a huge fan of her study series and can't wait to find out what this will be like.

meaghan_koci (at) yahoo (dot) com

MySharonAnne said...

What a cool guest post. I'm most looking forward to Inside,Out. It just looks amazing!

Unknown said...

I am most looking forward to Intertwined. I love the cover art and the book sounds fantastic. I can't wait to see what Harlequin Teen comes out with next.

Kate
neverendingshelf@gmail.com

Amy said...

I'd love to win a shirt!

I have to say that I've been impressed with Harlequin Teen so far. I already bought a copy of Rachel Vincent's book (since I'm a fan of her Shifters series!) and I have "Intertwined" on my GoodReads.com "to read" list.

Yay!

Shirley said...

I just ordered My Soul To Take from BN.com. Can't wait to read it. I've written a couple of young adult novels, unpublished, but still hopeful. Haven't sent it out in years, though. I'll be anxious to see what these books are like.

Vanessa Book ♥ Soulmates said...

Hi! I just received Intertwined by Gena Showalter and My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent! I'll be posting my reviews shortly!! I sooooo cannot wait to read them!! Woohoo!!

Vanessa
Book ♥ Soulmates

Amy said...

would love to win!
addoctedtobooks1993@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, I've been intrigued by this new line coming from Harlequin. My interest is piqued! I'm looking forward to reading one soon.

hsfargis@bellsouth.net

Jessica said...

Nice guest blog. I have an ARC of My Soul to Take and I can't wait to read it!

Anonymous said...

please enter me in the giveaway
I'm looking forward to reading alot of the Harlequin teen books buy mostly Gena Showalter's Intertwined

elaing8(at)netscape(dot)net

Anonymous said...

So excited about these new releases! Please count me in!

Sarah said...

I am so excited about all of these titles. Looking forward to reading them.

Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews said...

Wow what a great lineup of books!

Thanks for the cool contest and please enter me too!

mslizalou said...

I'm very excited about the Harlequin Teen line. I love reading YA books, and really love that I can share them with my 2 oldest nieces. Love the t-shirts!

Unknown said...

I've recently rediscovered Harlequin and can't wait to try Harlequin Teen.

Thanks!

Dottie :)

Lori A. May said...

Oh, wow! What a line-up. And bravo for adding a reprint of Carrie Pilby by Caren Lissner. That was such a fantastic story and I can see how that will work well for Harlequin Teen. I'm also excited to read about Tagged and The Oracle of Dating, both of which sound very promising. I can't wait.

Congratulations on such a well-rounded year ahead. It looks like my to-be-read pile will be growing with some great reads!

Lori A. May
http://loriamay.blogspot.com
www.loriamay.com
http://twitter.com/loriamay

Maryann said...

I am very much looking forward to intertwined!! please enter me :)

Unknown said...

(you don't have to enter me into the contest-- me being an adult with money, don't want to take away the chance of a teen who really wants to win the books/tshirt.)

Anyhoo, really looking forward to the Iron series by Julie K.

Would love to see more novels geared toward exotic cultures-- Asian-Americans, Hispanic/Americans etc, a historical mixed with time travel, and a dark, horror/mystery.

am looking forward to all the blog tours-- what a great way to promote HT and do some research along the way! :)

Kat
businessgurl@gmail.com
nummyz.com

Unknown said...

Ooh those books look good! Can't wait to get intertwined

Rain Maiden said...

I am another who can't wait for Gena Showalter's Intertwined. Glad to see Harlequin jumpin in. I will be sure to spread the word.

Jamie said...

I can't wait to read Intertwined and My Soul to Take. They look soooooo good and they are two of my favs authors.

melissa @ 1lbr said...

I am really impressed with how these first books sound. I can't wait for another Snyder book!

Count me in!

librariansbook(at)gmail(dot)com

Christy said...

please enter me!

Christy

A Passion For Books said...

please enter me! Harlequin Teen has a great line up and I am excited to read the majority of the books listed. I just finished My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent and I loved it.

I am really looking forward to Intertwined! And just love the intertwined tshirt.

Casey
paranormalfanatic@gmail.com

asdfjkl; said...

I read Intertwined and loved it! I can't wait until more Harlequin Teen books become available (or I get my hands on an ARC!!!).

Please enter me! :D

emailthebookworm(at)yahoo(dot)com

Tez Miller said...

I've been waiting for Inside Out ever since Maria first mentioned on her blog that she was writing it. I seriously believe that futuristic YA is the genre that currently has the best stories, so of course I'd love to read more :-)

donnas said...

Great post. Thanks! I am really looking forward to this line of books. I cant wait to see what else comes out soon and is in the works. So many great authors already on the list.

Right now I really dont know which I am looking forward to more My Soul to Take or Intertwined.

bacchus76 at myself dot com

Lori T said...

I am really looking forward to Intertwined. You have some really great books coming up. I would love to be entered.

Anonymous said...

Sigh. Even though I'm a guy... romance books are my one weakness.

CrystalGB said...

I am looking forward to Intertwined and My Soul To Take. I am a fan of Gena and Rachel's books.

cindy said...

I'm glad that Harlequin is branching out to the YA audience. I have read nearly all of Gena Showalter's adult books and looking foward in reading Intertwined when it comes out. I also downloaded the free e-book from Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Lose, and loved it, and will be goig to buy My Soul To Take.
Congrats on the new line of books.

Jeanne Ryan said...

I have been counting the days until Rachel's My Soul to Take is out. There is something extra special about having the first book of a new line. I got Intertwined at RWA Nationals in July, but haven't had a chance to read it yet.

It is great having books to share with my daughter. She has her own collection of paranormal romance now. It gives me room to have more books on my shelves.

The shirts are as gorgeous as the covers.

lunasea16 @ comcast.net

Unknown said...

I am very impressed by your line-up and look forward to seeing what else you have in store for us. I'm halfway through "Interwtined" (I picked up the arc at RWA nationals) and can't wait to pick up "My Soul to Take." The gurlz in my dance class are also very excited about the books too. Those shirts are amazing! Please enter me. suzannelazear (@) hotmail

Lilixtreme said...

Most definitely can't wait for "My Soul to Take." I've read all of Rachel Vincent's novels up to Pride, and am still looking forward to getting Prey sometime soon. The Shifters series really shows just how much potential Rachel has a writer and YA seems like the perfect next fit for her. Really want to get my hands on a copy of her new series, after all I am part of the YA generation myself being only 13. LOL!

lilibethramos@live.com

Jennifer K. said...

I'm so excited about this book line! And hearing that there will be books based on Greek? Yay!

Rachel498 said...

Both of these authors are great! Id love to enter.

Anonymous said...

Looks like you have some great books coming up! I'm most excited to read My Soul to Take, personally. The teaser (My Soul to Lose) was awesome! :)

-Rebecca

Ashley N said...

Awesome. Consider me entered. Can't wait to get my hands on My Soul to Take.

Ellz said...

This was a great post. You have some titles listed that I have not heard of yet. My wish list keeps growing!

Babycat said...

Great post!!!! Count me in to be entered....

Caitlin

Anonymous said...

I'm excited to read MY SOUL TO TAKE and INTERTWINED. Not to mention a new novel by P.C.CAST. These authors rock!

The MY SOUL TO TAKE shirt is beautiful!

Kat Duncombe said...

When I heard Harlequin teen, I also thought about them being romances, but I love romances so I was pretty excited! CANNOT wait for My soul to take or Inside out (recently discovered maria snyder and lover her). Fingers crossed that I win :)

Purdypirate said...

Every Single one of those titles sounds amazing. I got an early copy of my soul to take and was unbelievably blown away. I'm so glad and excited that the books are actually starting to be released now.

Jen said...

I'm a fan of Gena's and have been waiting for Intertwined from the moment she posted about it. I'm psyched to see my other faves publishing more stuff and can't wait for Maria V. Snyder's book too.

Please enter me as well.

Anonymous said...

Count me in i think its awsome that all my favorite authors are banding together

Pamk said...

I've already got My soul to take on the way and I love Gena's books too. so looking forward to this series. They all sounds fanastic.
scrtsbpal at yahoo dot com

Paradox said...

I can't wait for these books!!! They all sound completely awesome and I want to read them!!!

paradoxrevealed (at) aim (dot) com

Anonymous said...

Me, Please?
I can't wait to get my hands on My Soul to Take.

tetewa said...

I'd like to be included! tWarner419@aol.com

Unknown said...

Would love a chance to win.

shylaloulou@gmail.com

MBC YOUTH said...

Both series (Intertwined and My Soul) look to be fabulous! I enjoy adult books by both these authors!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I'm so excited. I love Gena's book and P.C. Cast's books. :) They are amazing. I don't think I've read Rachel Vincent's books... I guess they're on my to buy list now. :)
By the way the shirts look really good.
- Ola

Debbie's World of Books said...

I cannot wait for Intertwined and My Soul To Take. I love Gena Showalter's adult books, I'm a huge fan of YA books so this looks like the best of both worlds! dasuzuki at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Hi :)
What a great idea.
I line of YA books by a huge publishing house. Having MY SOUL TO TAKE as one of the first is terrific. I hadn't heard of the other two authors, but I am checking them out now.
Also, I'm going to be Following HarlequinTeen on Twitter.
All the best,
twitter.com/RKCharron
:)

Anonymous said...

oooh...oooh... me... pick me... I am really looking forward to reading both books!!!!

throuthehaze said...

count me in please!
throuthehaze at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

This is spectacular, count me in please. Cheers~

blacklisted_monkey(at)yahoo.com

Sara M said...

I've already read Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Take, and it was absolutely amazing. I'm really looking forward to Gena Showalter's Intertwined.

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I thought I entered....hmm...guess not. I'm looking forward to a lot of these from Tagged to Intertwined.

-Lauren
lauren51990 AT aol DOT com

Unknown said...

HEY! Great contest! I'd love to be entered!

spectrum.realm(AT)hotmail(DOT)com

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to start reading all of the wonderful titles to come.

StyleVamp said...

Please enter me in the give away..I have been wanting to read Intertwined for awhile :)

Unknown said...

I can't wait to read Intertwined. Huge Gena Showalter fan..have all of the LotU and Atlantis books!
Please enter me!!

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention what I was looking forward to XD, I'm excited for them all but Intertwined sounds fantastic

blacklisted_monkey(at)yahoo(dot)com

ThePiedPiper said...

Hey, looking forward to everything. I have a question, how does the Harlequin Teen Panel work? Is it to late to join? If not when will it be up and running?

danetteb said...

I'm looking forward to them all. I love reading YA books and urban fantasy/paranormal twists intrigue me.

Hugs, Danette

Janece Suarez said...

My Soul to Take, and Majix looks and sounds awesome. Both my teen daughter and I LOVE fantasy in our YA book!! =)

kariteimo(at)gmail(dot)com

Janece

Anonymous said...

LOL, funny story. When my mom say the word Harlequin she was like, "WTF are you reading?!?" But that didn't deter me from liking MY SOUL TO TAKE!

Please enter me! My email is dreaming.of.books(AT)gmail.com

Great guest post, BTW!

Erica said...

All the books upcoming for Harlequin Teen sound great! Those shirts are amazing.

I ♥ Book Gossip said...

How great!

Please count me in.

cindyc725 at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Can't wait for more Gena Showalter novels!!! Count me in!

Rebecca Herman said...

This imprint sounds great. As for what I'd like to see, I'd love to see some more "traditional" fantasy type stories - with magical lands, wizards, princesses, etc. Urban fantasy is very popular these days but I still like the old fashioned "medieval" like fantasies.

Anonymous said...

Awww, thanks for mentioning my book, Lori and Joanne! I'm very honored to be part of next summer's lineup. The line as a whole is so diverse - I am so excited about reading the books!!

Walt said...

Caren Lissner's Carrie Pilby is a good choice. I pray that they give her a better book cover this time.

Hanna said...
Looking forward to My Soul to Save, Tagged, Teenage Witch and Carrie Pilby (woman cannot live by scifi alone!)