How we Change with the Tides

So many of you probably are aware that I had another author name, for more adult books and honestly, I wanted it. However, recently I found another author with the second pen name I had. This partially broke my heart because I didn't want to have a name the same as someone else. No other author has B. L. Vang, partially because Vang is not common for writers. There is a painter who is called B. L. Vang, as in Brenda Lee Vang. I do feel like one day I should work with her on something just because I want to. But that's another day thing. ANYWAY~~~ I had a very real conversation with some people, one being an indie author who only writes YA books. She said she only wants to write YA because it's not fair that the popular books/genres are filled with smut, or spice. This is not to shame anyone who reads, or wants to write it. Obviously, I had a name for me to write more of a smut based book. I love them but also it's hard to write them without being cringy and I refuse to write them underaged. I know teenagers have sex, but I can't bring myself to visualize teenagers doing the deed, while writing about it.

One thing my mom said to me, not about writing actually, it was about drinking. We got on the subject of certain weddings we had attended this year, and the one we had the most fun at, was the one where they served texas tea and fresh lemonade. The one we were bored at, and honestly didn't enjoy was the one where alcohol was the main focus. My mom said, "If you have to have alcohol in order to have fun, how much fun are you actually having." I thought about how if the book you're reading is main focus on spice and that is all you remember, how good was the book? Is the book a focus on getting to them to do the deed or them fighting against the injustice that is happening. My favorite shows that I have been watching at Asian dramas, and there is no spice, barely any touching and when they do, it's a moment, and I squeal and kick my feet. I want my books to be that way.

I might write the spice scenes for my own enjoyment, locked away in my vault, if I choose to. But ultimately, I have decided that I will remain under one pen name for now, you never know about the future. However, I want to remain, to the point that I will write YA, and New Adult, with no spice. I want to be known for my plots, my characters, and my writing. Not my spice.

Also...my best friend has stated multiple times, they don't read the spice in any book. It's boring and they hate the scenes. It usually isn't plot forward, so if I did write one, it wouldn't even get read by my biggest fan haha