What's Your Flavor?

There was a recent article that made the rounds very quickly in the romance writing community. Fast on the heels of a NY Times article that pointed out how wonderfully romance fiction was selling in the bad economic times, came an article from the online edition of a Delware paper whose author chimed in on the same debate, but with the condescension and derision so familiar to us romance authorly types. "Bodice rippers" haven't been seen in decades (having quickly faded out of favor after their introduction in the 1970's)yet the terminology still remains and is bandied about with vigor and snide smiles whenever the chance comes to bash the genre.

And this woman freely admitted she'd never read romance, proceeded to hold up the small sub-genre of the mystery baby and the sheik seeking a concubine type of Harlequin novel as the main thrust of the genre.

A few folks took it to heart - as did I - though many were lackidaisikal in there response.

My thought was that there is no other genre of popular fiction so frequently and universally sneered at as romance. And my only conclusion can be that it is because it is a genre written almost entirely by women. Those men who write romance - oh, yes they do! - James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks, et al - are treated as authors of "fiction" and shelved on the fiction shelves while women, no matter their sales track record, are segregated within the "romance" section (remember, that there can be no equality in segregation).

What it prompted me to think of - besides how best to phrase my retort to the columnist in question, and wondering how the other non-concerned romance authors looked at the world and their craft - was the sheer wealth of genres of romance that now exist and are enjoyed, world-wide (and yes, world-wide is absolutely correct).

And I know about these genres because I cannot manage to tie myself down to a single, specific genre, but keep being lured away - enticed, if you will - by so many various ones. Perhaps it is my Gemini mood swings, but I just love them all. Well, mostly all. Frankly, I don't do sweet, inspirational or Christian (and that will come as a shock to, well, no one). But everything else? Hell, yes, I'm game!

So here we go: Contemporary romantic comedy; romantic suspense; paranormal romance; urban fantasy; occult paranormal romance; erotic romance (contemporary, historical, paranormal and horror); fantasy (even high fantasy); romantic mystery (really mysteries, but with romance involved); historical romance (Victorian, Gilded Age, Civil War, Scottish, Wild West, Revolution, Crimean War, etc.); historical women's fiction (WWII); futuristic; erotica; and category romance (Blaze, here I come!). Not to mention novellas and shorts which I've just come to write.

Just a short year or two ago the advice was to stick with one genre. Don't diversify or your editors will be upset! But then again, there was the rule of thumb a while back that said NEVER mention that you have a sequal or an idea for a series - they'll think you're stuck up.

NOW? Hell, you have a series, they'll LOVE you. Write more than one genre, ka-ching, you're tapping into a bunch of difference customer pools. With e-books the opportunities abound for an author to write multiple genres. And branding oneself makes it easier to be multi-branded - multi-genred, if you will - and still find a loyal following.

Because my writing runs to spicey, spicier, spiciest (FIRE!), I expect that I won't have any trouble at all garnering an audience. It isn't as if I'm going to write inspirational sweet fiction with nary a smooch on Monday and on Friday turn around and publish dominatrix-laden BDSM erotic romance. I won't be shocking anyone. They'll know what they're going to get from me. Whether they like history, or fantasy, or contemporary, dramatic, or comedic, they'llknow it will be MY VOICE and my level of smokin' sex and what I feel I do best: great characters, neat dialogue, terrific description and a rollicking plot. Oh, yeah, did I mention? None of my stuff is calm or particularly introspective. I do big, loud, boisterous romance. Nothing small or quiet about me. I'm not Melanie, I'm Scarlett.

Count on it.