Author in Search of Her Genre
Books that fit into a genre usually attract more readers. Mystery? Romance? Paranormal romance? Paranormal teen romance?
Or steampunk, perhaps. Genres have lots of subgenres. From Urban Dictionary: "Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting…." Which is cutting it pretty fine, in my view.
With so many subcategories, you'd think most any writer could find her or his proper bookshelf.
But I have yet to find mine. Or at least one that is recognized.
My three novels — Cobalt Blue, Sister India, and Revelation — could be categorized as:
*Spooky sexy novels about religion
*Stories of the plausibly supernatural
*Metaphysical mysteries
*Poking around in the sacred and profane
*Odd
Cobalt Blue is by far the toughest volume to shelve. Still, it could fit a number of places:
*Literary visionary erotica
*Fiction on addiction
*Gritty tales of alchemical sex
*Midlife breakdowns of disturbing origin
*Sagas of difficult and uninvited religious experiences
*Shockingly-dark-and-yet-gloriously-transformative crises in the lives of women
Reviews will sometimes praisefully call a book or movie "genre-busting." But show me the shelf in a store that contains such books.
We just need more genres, that's all. Enough genres for everyone. So that I and my three peculiar "children" will cosily fit in.
Categories: enhancing creativity
Tags: Cobalt Blue, revelation, Sister India
Comments
and then there are generalists who devour whatever we can get our hands on to read. I have found reading to be no-calorie which is very beneficial to my physical being. I love all three of your "children" each for its own reasons. What most amazes me as a reader is the interplay between private thought and in-the-world speech, most strongly (for me) in Sister India. Having read and practiced Ira Progoff "At A Journal Workshop" (since 1976) the night-dream like character of the writing suits me strongly. I really like the strength of female lead character. Even in Revelation, I was intrigued by the spouse. Her way of being attracts and fascinates me at a deep place. She allows me to have sympathy for the walls-come-a-tumbling-down mid-life experience of the sophisticated congregation's preacher's mid-life.
Wow, what a wonderful review, Bob. I very much appreciate it. And, as it happens, I once participated in an Ira Progoff workshop, which was a helpful experience. I remember some of my trance “dreams” there vividly. Couldn’t keep myself going on the journals for long though,
I don't care what they are, I just like 'em! <3
Thanks, Beth. I’m like you and Bob (up above) I just plow into books without much thought about category.