Genre Mixing And Matching | INDIE Books

No one is going to come out and call Anne McCaffrey, one of the best fantasy writers to have ever put her words in front of people’s eyeballs (that bit of sprinkler opinion rain does not sparkle just on my lawn, but on many, many lawns across the internet), an indie writer.

(Side Note: She wrote the Pern series. That’s why it’s relevant. OK, back to the show!)

She was published traditionally, but did something that very few writers were doing, or getting away with at the time, which was cross genres.

And in an in your reading face, boom it’s freaking science fiction and dragons. What!?! sort of way.

Yep. She went there and hard!

And it is a bit of a mind blower…after you read the books. Because she is so good at the mixing it’s just this ridiculously good story while you’re reading it.

The stay up until 2 a.m. good, when you simply cannot keep your eyes open because you have work tomorrow and you have already done this same thing for the past two nights but you were able to make it longer but if you can just stay awake you will totally stop when you get to the next…chapter…

And your alarm goes off, you sleep through it, then wake in a panic and a flurry considering whether or not to take a sick day because you do feel sleep-deprived awful and consider which scenario would be best — staying home and reading or trying to read with the book on the steering wheel — because you fell asleep right when the results of the thing I can’t tell you about as the narrator because I would give a huge plot twist away (and there are many) and that would just be mean and I hate it when that happens.

(People who spilled the beans gleefully about The Sixth Sense and Fight Club I am looking at you.)

(I do have to say that I have been known to shout a line from Soylent Green in my best Charlton Heston over-angsty horror. I will not say it here, due to the above beans that would then be spilled. Though there may be a statute of spoiler limitations. But just in case — go watch it.)

So yes, the whole point — the Pern series seriously mixed genres and did it superbly and those books are loved by fantasy-only readers and science-fiction-only readers alike.

And why? Why does that matter? You ask, still curious but think you are starting to get it. Maybe. Possibly. You sorta think.

Well, Bob, if we go back to the end of our previous blog episode, there was serious talk of ix-naying all of a specific group of stories or genre because you already know in your heart of hearts you won’t like any of them.

No matter how much someone is telling you that reading the book led them down a dark obsessive path of sleep deprivation, decline in job performance and reckless driving.

(PS That is a good thing because that means they loooooved the book.)

And the whole idea of this particular blog post is to caution you about limiting anything as you will near guarantee miss out on many books that would have been your next favorite book.

Truly. I am not just typing that. I mean it from my deep heart places.

Because look – I am a ridiculously devote reader of all things amazing (that fall under my single sprinkler of opinion) and therefore I do not kid about this.

I mean, I do a lot of joking.

But I wouldn’t spend hours and hours writing this blog if I wasn’t bookmarks-to-the-wall passionate about reading.

And books.

And helping you find you next favorite one.

Because finding The One. The one you start to read and you are just gone.

In it.

Like flying in a dream.

FINALLY!

After trying and hopping and frustratingly bouncing along the ground or just hovering at best. Usually sinking after you gain some ’tude. (Of the alti-.)

And if I can help just one of you down a new undiscovered path that leads you to part the ferns and reveal the golden glow of your next favorite book…

Holy-moly guys. I would swoon.

With joy.

So, if this whole genre fusion thing, the wild west of mixing and matching genres that you say with your indie fusion reference that indie authors are doing is so great. What about traditionally published authors?

Why isn’t everyone doing it?

You do have some of the best questions!

Why, I would adore diving into that next week.

Because there are some very, very specific reasons why and how genre mixing can get an author into trouble.

Oh yes, I did that on purpose. A little bit of a whodunnit lingering question of “What Happened?!”

Well, I would love to tell you next week.

See you Monday and I hope it’s just a totally gorgeous every day for you.