Thursday, May 19, 2011

You know your an......

... ADD writer when you can’t seem to stick with one genre.
I’ve always considered myself a romantic suspense writer.

I love to read suspense and thrillers and mysteries, so it seemed natural for me to write along those lines. But I also love a good love story I watch a lot of the supernatural shows like..Supernatural. But in 2006, while considering my romantic suspense novel Forget Me Not (Decadent Publishing-2011), an editor at Kensington asked me to write a “hot” contemporary novella for an anthology she was doing. So, after awkwardly stepping away from my suspense world, I wrote the book and sent her the first couple of pages.
She loved it, but before she could continue with the plans for my novel and novella, she left the house. A year later, I parted with my agent and sold the book, which became Her Will His Way, to the electronic publisher, Cobblestone Press.

Anyway, after that sale, I went back to my suspense table and began writing another novel and before I realized it, I’d added more supernatural elements. I should mention, the second novel I wrote, titled Dark Obsession, is a mainstream woman’s fiction with….you guessed it, supernatural elements! I think I lean toward the “dark side” because it’s what I know. Being Mexican and Honduran, I grew up hearing about the ‘superstitions’ and stories of spirits and witches and bad magic, so it became natural to include it in my work.

So, although I can’t seem to commit to one genre, I still prefer to call myself a romantic suspense paranormal author, yeah it’s a mouthful.

So, what about you? Do you find yourself jumping genres? And does it stop your progress?

8 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Hi Terri,
I've played around with different meshing of genres and finally came up with Contemporary Romantic Women's Fiction because I don't really write straight WF nor do I write straight Romance.
What has most recently stopped my progress in my writing is Romancing The Genres Group Blog. Glad you're a Genre-ista!

Judith Ashley said...

I do wonder if 'superstitions' and stories of spirits, witches and bad magic really are 'paranormal'. What do you think? Can you write a book that includes superstitions, spirits and witches without it being paranormal?

Terri Molina said...

That's one of those slippery slopes, I think. It would probably depend on the house publishing it. Some would list it paranormal, while another may call it gothic or even urban fantasy. =)

Tam Linsey said...

I love your genre, Terri - ADD! I smiled all the way through your post.

Sarah Raplee said...

Enjoyed your post, Terri! And yes, I've written both Romantic Suspense and Paranormal Romance with suspense plots (or Romantic Suspense with paranormal characters, depending on which editor you ask.) I'm planning a Steampunk YA Romance. I guess I do genre-jump, although the genres seem related IMHO. :)

I'm trying to decide what to do next. Conventional wisdom says to focus on one genre for a while, but my gut says otherwise. With all the new opportunities and changes in the industry, I don't think the One-Genre Rule is set in stone nowadays. What held me back was not having a well-thought-out career plan. I'm working on that now.

Terri Molina said...

Thank you, Tam. =) we now know where my son got his ADD. hah

Sarah, I'm in the same boat. I have three stories I want to work on, each a different genre. I'm trying to convince myself to just write the one I want to read first.

Vonnie Alto said...

Terri--You should put "Romantic Suspense Paranormal Author" on your website. It would make a great tag line for you and your site.

Myself, I straddle different genres too--paranormal and historical but I prefer to think of them as both paranormal--contemporary paranormal and historical paranormal.

Yes, they do have different voices. My historical voice is very different from my contemporary voice (which interestingly has a historical flavor to it. That's why I've realized that I'm probably a historical writer even when I write contemporary paranormal.

Paty Jager said...

Terri, I can relate! LOL I write more or less western based historical, contemporary, paranormal. And I recently finished an action/adventure. I can't seem to stay content in one genre. But I try to keep the western element- cowboys or Native American- in all the stories. My one grounding point.
Interesting post. I may be contacting you when I start writing my second action adventure. It's set in Mexico City. You might have some contacts I can visit with.