Thursday, May 5, 2011

You Know You're a Multi-genre Author When....

For the first four years I wrote, I fought my muse. A new idea in a new genre would sneak into my mental waiting room and I'd order it to take a number.

I had a plan, dang it!

All the experts said, focus on one genre, build an audience in that genre for 5 to 10 books, THEN, sneak over to another if you must and only do so under a different pen name.

Uh...oops!

Turns out, I had not even done that. Milla is a demanding little muse for all her buck o' five pounds in those goth boots. I did tip-toe over to a couple genres as experiments.

I fought her, but I did occasionally give in. And I loved the results.



Then along came Liv Starr and Love Lust, a paranormal erotica that wouldn't let me go. Milla was out to have her way no matter if I'd decided to avoid erotica for a while and focus on mainstream titles like Play Fling and Fierce Dawn.

Liv and Milla took over, conspiring to eat up my every thought. I HAD to write this story. So I did with the intention to simply get it out and move on. I wrote it. I felt better.

My critique partner couldn't put it down. What? Uh...but I'm not writing erotica anymore. Another author could not put it down. It blew my editor away.

Milla gloated and she and I at last came to an agreement. Going forward, we shall trust each other. I will write whatever is fanning my creative fires most, she will remind me to shut up and trust her. Nice compromise, right? I can see and feel a difference from it. In my writing quality and in my writing experience.

The experts are shaking their heads and pinching the bridges of their noses, but hey, while I do dabble in historical fantasy all the way over to romantic comedy, it's all romance.

Hot. Addictive. Gobble up in a day and crave more. Romance.

Just the way Milla--and I--like it.

If you enjoy a good wander across the genres, you, too, might be a multi-genre author.

:}Amber Scott

6 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Hi Amber,
Great comment on how to work with one's muse works and trust your judgment.
If we as the author have no passion for our work, why would our readers?

Linda Lovely said...

Amen to writing what grabs us and not trying to please some anonymous editor or follow a straight publishing wisdom path. The unexpected keeps life--and writing--interesting.

Sarah Raplee said...

So the fact that I wrote a suspense followed by a paranormal and am planning a YA steampunk isn't idiocy? AWESOME!!!

Thanks for your interesting and encouraging post, Amber. And Linda and Judith, thanks for the enlightening comments.

I feel right at home here at RTG. What a confidence builder it is to be a member of this group of adventurous writers!

Tam Linsey said...

You give me hope!

ElaineCharton said...

A little lare in responding but I have to say I know just how you feel. I kept trying to write straight romances and dead bodies kept showing up.

Paty Jager said...

LOL, Amber, I'm another multi-genre author. I can't seem to stay in one genre.