Pick a Genre, Any Genre

Although I'm still waiting for my Genesis feedback, I did get my Touched By Love feedback this week, and that was really exciting. And educational. As I read through the comments, I realized I have a long way to go! But it was a little bit of a relief, too. Huh?

Now that I've proven to myself that I'm not going to be one of these writer prodigies that come out of nowhere with their first breakout novel...the pressure's off. :) I'm going to hone my craft just like the rest of authors everywhere do.

But as I read through my feedback, I realized that part of my problem is that I need to pick a genre. YIKES! I love chick lit (uh...oops...I believe the appropriate category is "women's fiction" now) and love to write in first person. I love romance, as well. And the book I entered in all the contests was labeled a romantic suspense, as there definitely was a suspenseful thread. However, I wrote the heroine's POV in first, the hero's and villain's in third. I've seen books written like this and enjoyed them, mainly because I felt so close to the main character.

My epiphany is this: I was trying to write chick lit as romantic suspense. I'm not going to say this isn't possible. I'm sure somebody somewhere did it. Oh, I know one! Gayle Roper's Fatal Deduction was written this way. First person heroine, everyone else in third. Loved the book and blogged about it here. But maybe this doesn't work for me. I like my plot line, so I'm going to keep with the romantic suspense...but I'm seriously considering going to third for this book. The rest of my women's fiction can be in first.

The difference was in the voice of the heroine. I like first because I can vicariously put myself, my thoughts, my feelings, in the manuscript with ease. It's like I imagined the story happening to me. Way cool. But I'm snarky, sarcastic, and sometimes even formal in how I think, which might not transalte well into the voice of a heroine in a romantic suspense in first (in fact, I'd say it did not translate well based on the comments). But this type of voice works great in chick lit!

So what's a girl to do? I'll be rethinking this question over the summer, for sure.

Q4U: Anyone else had a problem like this? If so, did you feel you had to stick to one genre to work it out, or were you able to combine your genres satisfactorily? Lemme know!

It's All About the Inner Journey

So I recently finished Sweet Caroline, another chick lit-style book written by Rachel Hauck. Visit her site here. It struck me as different for several reasons, but the first and foremost was that the heroine didn't end up with the love interest as you might expect. There was the promise of something more between them, but it wasn't the culmination of the book.

This book put to mind that the true focus of this style of book is the heroine's journey, not the romance. And I'm such a romance-a-holic, that this can be a little disappointing! But then I thought about the true message to these type of books could be so much more powerful without the "fairytale" ending.

Let's face it...fairytale endings don't happen in real life all the time...so why should they in books? I guess there is the argument that since they don't happen in real life much, then we want to at least read about them. Maybe even so much so that when we read a book or watch a movie that doesn't end with everything neatly wrapped up and all strings tied, we get upset. So I think I'm going to try to have a happy medium in my writings. Maybe not everything will work out the way the heroine wants, but she'll dang sure get the man. Maybe?

Just some musings I've had today.

Faux Pas Fiction

I'm a fan of romantic Christian fiction for women, particularly the genre known as "chick lit." The more I read of this genre, the more I find myself wanting a bit more in terms of character development.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 4 adults suffer from a mental disorder...TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. This percentage isn't translated into Christian fiction much (that I know about, at least). Women (and men) struggle with depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, eating disorders...you name it, yet the romantic chick lit genre is certainly silent about them.

As a result of this omission, I believe that I've found my niche as a writer after three years. My intimate acquaintance with these disorders (among others) paves the way for me to weave how they affect women and their relationships with others into the pages of fiction.

So for now, I'm working on a book about a social worker with post-traumatic stress (PTSD). I've completed a book about a woman grieving the loss of her husband and dealing with the reluctance (and guilt) of moving on.

My hope is to get published and bring hope and healing to women everywhere who might struggle with these same disorders or know someone else who does. Once the pain and confusion some people live in as a result of a mental health diagnosis is brought to light, I hope others will have more compassion and understanding, as well.