When Genres Collide | INDIE Books
It’s Not A Muppet
@ NynkevanHolten | Deposit Photos
I saw a creature of this ilk walking down the street a few years ago and did a double take. Aside from the fact that it is one of the cutest things I’ve seen in dog form, it also looked fake. Like I should be looking for Jim Henson, Big Bird, or David Bowie encased in inappropriate pants.
I did eventually realize it was a living, panting, drooling creature, with a ridiculously sweet personality. And I was told, quite proudly, by the “owner” of such a creature that the fur was hypoallergenic.
So dog lovers that hate to sneeze can have this live-action stuffed animal as a best friend without buying stock in Kleenex.
While that sounded like a super win, I still pondered the sweet creature…
…until the human attached to the cuddle-monkey showing me his belly in a way I was having a hard time resisting said, “Yeah, she’s a Labradoodle. A Lab and poodle mix.”
Sweet demeanor of the Labrador mixed with the hypoallergenic fur of the poodle.
And whammo! You’ve got yourself a whole new doggie day.
"But out of such are spawned great and gloriously new SOGs (standard operating genres) that are deeply loved, with no care or concern to lineage."
Congratulations! It’s A Genre…
@ Nathan0834 | Deposit Photos
(There is absolutely no reason to have another dog picture in here except that it is just stupid cute.)
So genres have been born the exact same way!
Though maybe a little less pedigree and precise genre breeding, and more authors openly frolicking about their writer meadows, mating different genres will-nilly in their stories. Like storytelling pimps there only to entertain the reader.
(I may have gone too far with the pimp metaphor.)
But out of such are spawned great and gloriously new SOGs (standard operating genres) that are deeply loved, with no care or concern to lineage.
Genres such as Romantic Suspense. (Romance and mystery just kept gettin’ busy.)
And this newest that I have just been made aware of, but may need to do some serious shopping for, and that one is called Romantasy.
Romance and Fantasy just kept getting together in author’s stories. Readers really liked them. More authors wrote it, more read it and suddenly – Romantasy was born.
Romance gets around.
Mixing Makes Great Reading
So mixing genres in stories is not new. Though indie authors are doing it like crazy and traditional publishing still pooh-poohs it until it proves itself popular (lucrative) and will allow it.
But ultimately this is a perfect example of why mixing genres, and what indie authors are doing in this new, free writing world, is so fantastic for readers.
New is great.
New is creative.
New will become the next old thing and then something else new will come along.
Like I said, fantastic for readers.
You can get the sweet and cuddly and not have to sneeze about it.
And if you love Romantasy, you will definitely love next week’s blog. Hang in and see you next week!!
@ Lopolo | Deposit Photos
(Just one more. Had to.)
(The cuteness is almost more than I can handle.)
Stephanie Writt
Writer, instructor, graphic artist and all around lovely soul, with a generous sense of humor (yes, I am totally writing this myself), takes delight in sharing her geeky knowledge and ridiculous joy in reading, writing and business. As the current Director of Operation at WMG Publishing Inc., she has the privilege and mischievous pleasure in writing this blog every week.
Crimes Collide, Vol. 1 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith
The First Volume in the Acclaimed Series!
For more than four decades, New York Times and USA Today bestselling writers Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith have been writing professional mystery short stories that have won awards and sold millions of copies, plus they have been acclaimed and enjoyed by fans over the entire world.
Now, for the first time, they collect 100 of their mystery short stories into a five-volume series called Crimes Collide. Fifty stories total from each author, with ten stories from Rusch and ten from Smith in every volume.
Volume 1 starts off the series with light or cozy stories. Beginning with Rusch’s “Stomping Mad,” from her Spade/Paladin series, about a “murder” at a science fiction convention and ending with Smith’s “Under the Skin of Death,” from his Cold Poker Gang series, where two retired Las Vegas homicide detectives solve a cold murder case, this volume puts puzzle-solving front and center from page one.
Fantasies Collide, Vol. 1 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith
The First Volume in the Acclaimed Series!
For more than four decades, New York Times and USA Today bestselling writers Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith wrote professional fantasy short stories that won awards and sold millions of copies.
Now, for the first time, they collect together 100 of their fantasy short stories into a five-volume set called Fantasies Collide. Fifty stories total from each author, with ten stories from Rusch and ten from Smith in every volume.
Volume 1 starts off the series with twenty mind-bending light or weird fantasy stories. No one does weird fantasy stories better than Rusch and Smith. Don’t miss this one!
Colliding Worlds, Vol. 1: A Science Fiction Short Story Series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith
For more than four decades, New York Times and USA Today bestselling writers Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith wrote professional science fiction short stories that won awards and sold millions of copies.
Now, for the first time, they collect together 120 of their science fiction short stories into a six-volume set called Colliding Worlds. Sixty stories total from each author, with ten stories from Rusch and ten from Smith in every volume.
Volume 1 kicks off the series with the theme “Cities.” Beginning with Rusch’s “The City’s Edge” about a man coming to terms with the truth of his wife’s nightmarish death, and ending with Smith’s “Shadow in the City” based on the song lyrics of “Here in the City” by Janis Ian, this volume grips and entertains from page one.
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