When I started reading early on in my life, I read
pretty much everything I could get my little hands on, mostly with my parents’
acquiescence. Although, there were those times when I hid some frowned upon
sci-fi pulp—handed to me under the table by no other than my grandmother!—under my mattress,
only to find the cheap pamphlets in my school-book drawer. So much for trying
to deceive a mother.
It didn’t seem there was such a thing as strict
“genre” then; one was more likely to follow an author rather than a set subject
matter. Well, except perhaps the book club offerings my mother had subscribed
to about the pampered mistresses of Europe’s kings. Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, Lola Montez, Désirée.
Yes, even Cleopatra got a bad rap as a courtesan. It was mild 1950s ‘heaving-bosom
eroticism’ foisted upon a romance-hungry readership needing an escape from their
trying post-war struggles or--as in my case--a girl's awakening curiosity.
These days, it seems writers need to package
themselves neatly into specific genres in order to aspire to some measure of loyal followers.
Anything else they might produce is apt to fall by the wayside. And – heaven
forbid – if several genres are combined under one hat, writers are apt to be chided
or – worse – abandoned; although, the imaginative and curious reader might laud
them for not producing cookie-cutter sequels, one after the other, siphoning
off from a first success.
My Legends of the Winged Scarab series, for instance, spins Historical Fiction into a modern-day thriller, to continue with post-apocalyptic adventure, ending with international intrigue - only to loop back to the mysticism of Ancient Egypt.
Then, under the same author name, up pops the sweetest-ever cat together with his animal shelter buddies.
To confound things even more, a book of poems and short stories gets thrown into the fray.
And let's not forget about Edward, Con Extraordinaire, a small "teaser" of things to come for the versatile Brit who keeps popping up in the Legends.
The marketing pundits might say "not smart."
But what’s a writer to do who writes from the heart and not necessarily the head?
I would love to hear how readers feel about it all.
Then, I lastly must admit, there is a novella of perhaps literary pretense. In order to make it more visible (or palatable) the poor thing has endured several title and cover changes.
And just for reading all of the above:
It is On Sale for 99c just for you - February 25 - 29, 2016
