I have tried to answer many of your questions in this post. Please email me with additional questions at authoratmhelrich.com.
What age would you recommend for your books?
As a middle-school English teacher, I can tell you that my first book, Etania’s Worth, is barely appropriate for eighth graders. Even then, it would have to be an eighth grader with a higher reading level. As one of my students said, “It was slow, but then got really good at the end.” So, to them, even though I have plenty of action, they found themselves bored. Others couldn’t understand the various races/people groups, despite multiple times where I explained it. Also, there are several scenes which may be disturbing for younger readers, including several deaths and a murder.
As for Etania’s Calling and Toothbreaker, these books are definitely for older teens (15+) and young adults. There is drunkenness (shown in a negative light), an implied sex scene (off the page), and drug usage (shown in a negative light). Teenagers who have seen Iron Man 1 would be find reading this book. Others who are more sensitive would not be a suitable audience.
For future books, I plan to have the same audience of older teens and young adults. I believe in portraying Christian values in my books, so I will always portray sin in a negative light. I do not wish to glorify evil, even as describing the horror of it.
Below are links to answers of questions that took a bit longer to answer, so I made them individual posts. Again, if you have additional questions, please email them to me or ask them on Goodreads.
How Long Did it Take You to Write Etania’s Worth?
How many books will you write?