Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Inventing a Genre

Many of today's books are often described as "crossing genres," meaning they are not neatly categorized into one topic.

Although I often say I write Gothic vampire fiction, as it sort of describes the first book in the BryonySeries and prequel in progress, it's definitely out of place for books two and three and overall misleading when trying to find its audience.

Furthermore, readers of current vampire fiction have a certain fast-paced, paranormal expectation that they won't find in my books.

So I've spent some time researching genres and their descriptions trying to create one of my own. And now I have.

The BryonySeries is supernatural/literary.

Literary because it the books are (overall) slowly paced with a "slow, but steady build) with a emotionally introspective, character-driven plot.

Supernatural because they address the mysteries of life and death. Shadowy vampires, along with some paranormal and faint Celtic themes, lurk in the background with an overriding single theme: blood.

Now for the books:

Bryony: A 70’s teen trades her blood with a Victorian vampire for a trip back into time as his wife.

Visage: After trading her blood with a Victorian vampire, a 70’s teen plunges into a misleading contract, trapping her into another bargain to save a life.

Staked!: A 90's teen boy's delving into magic and immortality exposes identities, motives, and his
salvific mission. 

The prequel, Before the Blood, is a series of five incomplete novels told from four different points of views (John Simons, Kellen Wechsler, Henry Matthews, and Bryony Marseilles) that tell a complete story.

The first four novels provide background to the shaping of their characters and the motivations that drive their decisions, with everyone coming together in novel number five for the main events, a structure that's somewhat similar to a 1970's disaster film.

This better definition of genre, I feel, will help me find the audience. And I don't believe it will be a large audience.

But that's okay.







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