When I first started writing my series, The Crystal Crux, I never intended it to be a children’s book.  I wanted the story to be adult in nature and as my writing matured, so to did the themes and depths of sexuality and depravity.  That may sound frightening to some but I want a realism to my fantasy in that bad guys really are bad guys.  Many of them don’t live with morals and they will do anything, say anything, endure anything to get what they want.

I then realized I had children and grandchildren I wanted to read the book.  Some of them look at what I’ve written and just shake their heads wondering what is wrong with me.  What were you thinking old man?

So I decided it was best to clean the originals up and make young adult versions.  To do this, I have to deconstruct what I spent so many hours laboring over.  I have to decide what is inappropriate for a younger audience  and remove it.  I have to streamline the story because many YA readers don’t want the attention to details and historical accuracy many in the Epic Fantasy world enjoy.  And last, I have to do these things without losing the essence of the story, make sure I don’t remove things I will later need.

I recently happened across this article that says some publishers are beginning to do this with more books, especially inspirational stories.  They write a heavy volume for those that want all the details while producing a shorter, less detailed accounting that provides, more often then not, inspiration for a young audience.

Click here for LA Times article

I did produce a YA version of The Crystal Crux – Betrayal.

Upon further review, I have decided to re-edit that YA version and add a YA version of the new book, Blue Grotto to it.  This one book will be titled ‘The First Three Days’ since it covers the first three days of The Crystal Crux adventure.  I’m still hoping to release it before the end of the year.  Happy Reading!