Genre Confusion
Even though my book Polar Night has been published and is
now available thanks to the amazing people at Ink Smith Publishing, I confess
that I still have no idea what genre it belongs in.
The main character is a cop, but it’s not a police procedural
and I don’t really think it would qualify as a mystery. A large part of the
story takes place in a city and it has a significant paranormal factor, but I
don’t think it would be considered urban fantasy. I definitely don’t think it
fits into the fantasy category. I consider it a suspense story or a thriller,
but I’m not sure if the paranormal factor precludes it from being categorized
as suspense. Is paranormal suspense a genre? If so, I’m not aware of it.
When I first started reading publishing advice in earnest,
one of the main things I read about was that writers should imagine what
shelves their book would be on in the bookstore. I browsed Barnes & Noble
and found myself nearly having a panic attack because my book didn’t seem to
fit anywhere. I almost didn't query it because I had no clue what to put as its
genre.
I sometimes wonder if we focus too much on genre. And, I
can’t help but think that many books could fall into two or more categories.
There are some books that fit neatly into categories such as mystery or science
fiction, but I would guess that there are just as many that don’t.
Have you read books that straddle the line between different
genres? For the writers reading this, have you ever struggled to pick a genre
for one of your books?
Thank you, Cherie for having me as your guest today!
You're welcome, Julie! And I, for one, have had cases of genre confusion or a story that mixes genres, so I feel your pain. I have no problem with you calling your book a paranormal thriller or suspense. :)
Also, Julie is hosting a giveaway on her blog, so be sure to stop by to enter.
Also, Julie is hosting a giveaway on her blog, so be sure to stop by to enter.
When Detective Danny
Fitzpatrick leaves his hometown of Chicago and moves to Fairbanks, Alaska he
wants nothing more than to escape the violence and heartbreak that left his
life in pieces. Numbed by alcohol and the frozen temperatures of an Alaskan
winter, Danny is content with a dead-end job investigating Fairbanks' cold
cases. That all changes when a pretty blond woman goes missing on the winter
solstice, and Danny stumbles upon some surprising connections between her
disappearance and that of another Fairbanks woman three years earlier. Forced
out of his lethargy, Danny sets out to both find the missing woman and solve
his own cold case.The investigation points Danny towards Aleksei Nechayev, the handsome and charming proprietor of an old asylum turned haunted tourist attraction in the Arctic town of Coldfoot. As he tries to find a link between Nechayev and his case, Danny's instinct tells him that Nechayev is much more than what he seems.
Danny has no idea that Nechayev is hiding a secret that is much more horrifying than anything he could ever have imagined. As his obsession with finding the missing women grows, Danny finds his own life in danger. And when the truth is finally revealed, the world as he knows it will never be the same.
To Purchase: Amazon US / UK
Julie Flanders is a librarian and a freelance writer who has written for both online and print publications. She is an avid animal lover and shares her home in Cincinnati, Ohio with her dog and cat. Her debut novel Polar Night, a suspense thriller with a supernatural twist, is now available from Ink Smith Publishing. Find Julie online at her blog, and on Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.
Julie Flanders is a librarian and a freelance writer who has written for both online and print publications. She is an avid animal lover and shares her home in Cincinnati, Ohio with her dog and cat. Her debut novel Polar Night, a suspense thriller with a supernatural twist, is now available from Ink Smith Publishing. Find Julie online at her blog, and on Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.
