It's a pleasure to welcome Karen McCullough as guest author here today. We share authorship in Stacy Juba's amazing authors' anthology 25 Years in the Rear View Mirror -- and I was excited to discover the wide range of books Karen writes. It works well for her, and she's willing to talk about how the genres blend in her writing life.
Writing Across Genres
I’ve
been writing for almost thirty years now and I’ve been published for
twenty of those. I write mystery, romantic suspense, paranormal,
fantasy, romance, and science fiction. Frequently I combine several
genres in the same book.
Nearly
all my books are described with more than a single genre label. A GIFT
FOR MURDER is mystery with romantic elements, while A QUESTION OF FIRE
is romantic suspense and WIZARD’S BRIDGE is romantic fantasy. I
recently outdid myself for crossing genres with my original ebook,
MAGIC, MURDER AND MICROCIRCUITS, which (I swear!) has elements of
mystery, fantasy, suspense, adventure, romance, and possibly science
fiction.
It’s fun to let my imagination take me wherever it wants to go, but it’s not a great strategy for career success.
Most
people who build a following do so by writing a series of similar books
or at least books in the same genre. Think Stephen King, Janet
Evanovich, J.K. Rowling, etc. (Some are even accused of writing the
same book over and over, but that’s a different blog post.) Most authors
find success only when they are known for doing a particular kind of
book or series. Not necessarily the same book, but similar to each other
in some important ways. Publishers and fans expect it.
So
I knew that writing so many different sorts of books would practically
guarantee I’d never go far in the publishing world. And yet I’ve done it
anyway.
I had to.
I
don’t know if I have a short attention span or get bored easily, but I
find it drains me to do two books in a row in the same genre. I keep
wanting to do something new and different with each new story I start. I
need a new challenge, a fresh direction.
It’s
not like I’ve ever made a decision to write in multiple genres. It’s
just worked out that way. I can only write the stories my creative brain
comes up with. Apparently I have a wide-ranging imagination, and one
that refuses to be contained in the same box time after time.
When
it came down to making a choice between writing what needed to be
written and writing what might give me a chance for a more successful
career, I chose the path of writing what I had to write.
Karen
McCullough is the author of more than a dozen published novels in the
mystery, romantic suspense, and fantasy genres and has won numerous
awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy. Her short fiction has
appeared in several anthologies and small press publications in the
fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. Karen McCullough invites you to visit her website at http://www.kmccullough.com and her blog at http://www.kmccullough.com/
SPECIAL TREAT: Pick up a free copy of the anthology 25 Years in the Rear View Mirror with this link: https://www.smashwords.com/
3 comments:
Thanks for anthology. Enjoyed your posting and look forward to reading your stories. Added to TBR list.
It's nice to meet another writer who likes to write in multiple genres. Thanks, Karen and Beth, for participating in the blog tour!
That code expires Sept. 20 so if anyone sees the post after that, just leave your email address in the comments and I'll get Beth another code.
Love your covers, Karen.
Hi Beth -- Thanks for hosting me at your blog and letting me rant about mixing genres!
Post a Comment