What Genre Do I Write in?

Today's guest author, B. Swangin Webster, is the mother of five grown children and the "Nina" of seven grandchildren. She continues to write because if she didn't, she believes she would stop breathing. "Live life with passion" is her motto and this is something that she does every day. She has written two successful novels that strike close to reality, yet people still ask what genre her work falls into. Today she explains.

What is the genre I write in?

Well with a name like B. Swangin Webster you may assume, erotica. WRONG!

I write Contemporary Dramas. It can also be called Urban Drama.

Next question…oh, like street lit? WRONG!

Contemporary/Urban dramas are nothing like street lit. There are no drug dealers in my novels (well one time there was but he was just passing through) and there are no women stripping for money or marrying a man for money.

Street lit is hard core literature that has taken the literary world by storm. Most street lit novels will have titles that include the word, (pardon my language) Bitch and Nigga. Most likely they will have covers with stacks of money on the cover or a scantily clad woman or man.

My novels have none of that. Yes, it may contain the word Bitch but not in EVERY conversation.

Contemporary dramas are stories that can be lived right now. They could be your neighbor’s drama and most of them are LIFETIME movies. You know; the ones that have the stalker, the mistress or the missing child. 

What I write is taken from today’s headlines and fictionalized to put you in the middle of the situation and have you going through all of your emotions. If you don’t use at least 4 (or 5) emotions (well some say there are 6 emotions; but that’s another blog) while reading my novel, than I haven’t done my job.

So take a look at one of my novels and see what I write. Don’t assume that you won’t read an urban or contemporary drama because most movies that aren’t mystery, suspense or action are in fact contemporary dramas.

Give me a try and see if you enjoy it. Please feel free to contact me after you do; I’d love to hear from you. Just write to bswanginwebster@gmail.com - and make sure to LIKE my fan page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorbswanginwebster

From Genesis to Exodus

Today’s guest blogger Deliah Lawrence is an attorney who enjoys creative writing. Her debut novel, Gotta Let It Go, a romantic-suspense novel set in Baltimore, won the 2011 Finalist Next Generation Indie Book Award in the multi-cultural fiction category. She has now completed her second novel, and shares some thoughts and feelings about that experience.

When I wrote my first novel, Gotta Let It Go, a romantic-suspense novel set in Baltimore, I had no intention of writing a sequel  much less a series. But after my family, fellow writer friends and fans started clamoring for more, I thought, hmmm…why not?  So, I set off on generating ideas where my protagonist, a former burnt out prosecutor would dive in head first against the warning of her detective lover to solve the murder of a judge, someone very close to her.  This sparked the genesis of the sequel titled, Gotta Get It Back.

Well, life got in the way and the story stayed dormant for a while… a very long while. The longer I stayed away from the novel, the more I got pestered by folks, via phone calls, text messages, emails, and social media asking, “When’s the new book coming out?” “Aren’t you done yet?” “What’s your excuse this time?” and the list goes on. Of course, I knew it was all done lovingly so that I could get back into the creative writing seat and get it done. But it wasn’t easy.

Some days, the words wouldn’t come flowing like I wanted to. I would get distracted, move onto another project and create even more distance between myself and the storyline.  However, it wasn’t until I decided that I wanted to see my characters again that I became fully committed to finishing my second novel.

Toward the exodus of my novel, I learned a few lessons. First, I told myself that if the motivation for the characters didn’t work, it was okay to start again. Second, I was forced to see what really worked in the story and cut what didn’t. Third, I asked myself the tough questions such as “What is this novel really about?” “Are the voices consistent?” “Are the characters likeable?” “Is it all gelling?” This was all in an effort to ensure I had something readers wanted to get their hands on.

Now that Gotta Get It Back is finished, I look forward to the editing process and then getting it published. In the meantime, I’m imagining new ideas for book number three, Gotta Have It All, so I can take it from its genesis to its exodus. Can’t wait to embark on that ride!

Ms Lawrence is fulfilling her passion of being a writer. You can visit her at www.thewritepen.webs.com.

Name That Genre

In conversations at the Philadelphia Writers Conference this weekend I learned of the common belief that “genre” only exist so booksellers will know where to shelve books.  However, I think that genre labels serve a purpose for readers, helping them to select their next book based on their own tastes.

When we established Intrigue Publishing we decided to narrow our focus more than most small presses.  We would publish only genre fiction, and only four specific genres at that.  However, over the last two years we have found it challenging to define the books we want to publish.  It’s even more challenging when you consider all the sub-genre books can fall into.

For example, one of our four genres is crime fiction.  That encompasses thrillers and mysteries.  But thrillers can be international, or political. They can be military or spy thrillers, action/adventure books, caper stories, or novels of suspense that can sometimes border on horror.  Similarly, mysteries can be noir, hard boiled, police procedurals, or cozy (excuse me, I mean traditional mysteries.)   We love them all.

We also publish Young Adult (YA) fiction.  I believe YA to be an audience rather than a genre, and those young readers enjoy EVERY kind of fiction.  We’ve published Y-As that could be classified as science fiction, fantasy or espionage thrillers, but a coming-of-age story would fit us too.

We’ve been looking for sensual romance books, but keep getting erotica.  Not the same thing, people.  Keep it romantic.  A lot of paranormal writers like Sherrilyn Kenyon hit the right spot.  So do Jude Devereaux and Amanda Quick.

And then there’s urban drama.  We’ve learned that when most people see “urban” they think “African American” which was not our intent.  No "street lit" please.  And contemporary drama tends to bring in chick-lit and we are NOT looking for Nicholas Sparks.  Our first example is 

B. Swangin Webster's upcoming "Let Me Just Say This."  

Maybe we need a new label for the books we want to publish.   So, help us out - not for bookstore shelving, but to help authors know what to submit to us. How shall we label the stories we’re looking for? We want fiction with strong characters facing real life challenges - things that happen every day in American cities. These are stories of personal struggle and triumph. Help us define this genre, because we know a lot of women who want to read these books.