New on OUTLIERS ONE MORE THING: Genre? What Genre? by Heather Graham
- D. P. Lyle
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
OUTLIERS ONE MORE THING: Genre? What Genre? by Heather Graham
So . . .
During the pandemic, a writer became a little overwhelmed—not by the number of stories that friends were putting together for different benefits, but by the conversations regarding Covid. Do we or don’t we put it in! We should, we shouldn’t!
Then one night she saw a great documentary on the Romans leaving Britain and she wanted to work on an historical novel—and then she decided that she should put Merlin’s daughter in it!
Her contracts were for mysteries at the time, but she wanted to write this and so she did! When one of her sons asked her what she was doing, she excitedly told him that she was working on something that had nothing to do with Covid, she was adding fantasy to mystery and there wasn’t going to be any Covid in it all.
Of course, he reminded her about the Black Plague!
She groaned and ignored him. But when she finished the book, her company was only interested in mysteries and so she resorted to an old pseudonym and published it on Amazon.
She’d never heard the word “romantasy” until she discovered through a reader that she’d just written one!
Well, then, strangely enough, her next contract asked for a few romantasy novels!
Well, hm.
What she learned from that is really something she already knew. It’s important to think commercially, but it’s equally important to write what you love.
Okay, the writer was me. I was the kid who grew up reading everything. Mom was from Dublin, Dad, Scottish, and I swam in history books, but she loved gothics, they both loved Poe, my dad was a diver, a swimmer, and had been Navy, so I had all kinds of books on our military, Europe, American history, and you name it!
My first sale was a short horror story to Twilight Zone in Canada. My next—first book—was a category romance. Then, historical fiction. Then, vampires! A creepy shop in New Orleans . . . mysteries, young adult . . .
I can’t say that I know what’s right. I’ve been lucky, I know. Some people say that you need to brand yourself and I’ve seen that done very successfully. But others out there like to write in many genres or in more than one genre. That can work, too.
So . . .
It’s a bit the same as when you go to a conference. (Hoping to see you at Bouchercon this year—I’m the location chair!) But seriously, you’ll hear a lot of wonderful advice. But here’s the thing—every single career will be different. And different things will work for different people. The moral of the story is that you can do all kinds of things, you’ll hear all kinds of things, but there’s one really important thing! As long as the real desire is there and you love writing, your journey will be different from everyone else’s journey. We’re all unique. Remember to keep loving what you’re doing, soak in what works for you, and know that everything won’t.
Just don’t stop! As long as you don’t stop, you’re on your way, on your own very special journey into the wonder of books, stories, and being a writer.
And remember this, too—the act of writing makes you a writer! Then you take it on the path that’s going to work for you.
Heather Graham
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