Genre

What genre do you write? Is it the same every time or do you criss cross into varied territories? Obviously, I like paranormal. I'm very comfortable there and know it well. But is that all I write? No. I've also published Sci-fi and I've written high fantasy, thrillers, and I've dinked around with horror and mystery. One thing you'll *probably* never see from me is straight contemporary. But that doesn't mean I don't read it or enjoy it.

Here's the thing. I STRONGLY believe in writing what you love. I do not advocate trying to write to trends or what you think will sell. EXCEPT that it's important to know what's out there and what is being sought and use your lovely brains to find ways to make what you love into something marketable.

Let me explain. Paranormal and dystopian are hard sells right now. Flooded markets make it difficult to get a look. I've mentioned before on this blog the idea of changing it up and making yours stand out from the crowd. But what else can you do?


MIX IT UP.

That's right. Cross-genres. I've written for adults and younger children before, but my preference is YA. And one of the wonderful aspects of YA is that genre lines are often blurred and almost encouraged.

Write a mystery set in the future. Or one involving paranormal activity like THE DEAD AND BURIED.  How about a contemporary with elements of fantasy? Think BEFORE I FALL. I've crossed thriller with paranormal for example. Fun!

Experiment with it. Write down a bunch of ideas and see what happens when you combine two together. Always think (forgive the cliche) out of the box.

So tell me friends, have you ever mixed genres? And how did it come out? What are some of your favorites?