Jumping Genres (Why I Ditched Romance)

One of the hardest decisions I had to make as an indie author regarding the publishing of my first book (Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream) was what genre to put it under. After much deliberation, I decided to put it in the Romance genre because it evolves into a love story for much of book 2 in the series (Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny). It did not fit the formula for "romance" but I argued that a great love story belonged there. In fact, I blogged about it a few weeks back. Still, it felt odd.

First of all, men really like the books and some have written reviews on them. These were not men that read romance. Because they were so adamant on the fact that they thought the books were great, it told me that I was missing out on a lot of male readers. Males who noticed that the book was a "romance" would skip over it. Also, it would not be recommended on Amazon or B&N for anyone buying a book other than a romance.These books are as much for men as women. How could I reach more men?

Secondly, I am not a romance genre fan. I seldom read them. I adore a good love story for sure. But the romance genre? Not so much. There is a hard and fast formula for the romance genre. Man meets woman (or  man meets man, etc if it is lgbt), they fall in love despite major differences, something happens that one misunderstands or takes one away, they are split apart, they come back together and they live happily ever after. Always. The story is the exact same story over and over.

When I thought of all of my favorite books, not one is categorized as a romance. They have love stories in them, but they are much, much bigger than "romance". They have flawed characters and plenty of angst. They were complete people, people who did ugly things at times.  Why was I limiting my books to a genre that frowns on that?

No, my books doesn't fit that romance formula at all. Gastien does fall in love. But decisions are not easy, life is not easy, and he has major flaws. Flaws that are not allowed in romance. He has suffered extreme abuses, both physical and mental. Sex is a way to feel close to others and a "high" that gives him brief, emotional relief from pain. He is not monogamous and says that up front. She accepts it. That is a no-no in romance. Never burst the romance readers bubble that people are not perfect, that falling in love does not cure everything, that happily ever after is not happy every second! That is not accepted.

Life is full of sadness, mistakes and regrets. Every major decision has repercussions. I don't understand a genre that hides from that. Don't get me wrong.  If people want to read the same storyline over and over and enjoy fairy tales, that is understandable. Some people have enough stress in their life that they need total escape. I get it. I like escape, too...but it needs to seem like it could happen. It needs to make me think. It needs to make me feel. I don't want to read fairy tales, and I don't want to write them. There are others much better at that.

So, after saying I was sticking to romance with angst in it, I made the switch. My books are now categorized as "historical fiction" and "family saga" (the latter because it is a series and will cover three generations). I was unsure about the change up until I pressed the buttons to change it. As soon as I did, I felt a peace. One could say that I gave up romance in the name of love. True love, the kind that really does exist, in spite of our being human.

THIS is where Gastien belongs. He is not a cookie cutter character, and he makes no apologies for what he needs in life to make him happy. He may not understand some those things ultimately makes him the opposite, but he definitely stands up for what he wants. Sophie is no pushover, though. She is a strong, vibrant woman who is able to accept his flaws because she understands the damage that was done to him and sees that he has issues he simply can't face. She loves him, in spite of his terms and those flaws. He learns to love because of her.They find a way to make it work, but not without problems.  Kind of like most of life. Nothing is perfect, Gastien less so.

I am not condoning abuse. Gastien was not abusive to her, at least not knowingly. They both were honest and up front about their needs and feelings. Accepting the imperfections and loving anyway. Isn't that what true love is all about? And isn't true love a greater story than romantic love, simply because true love happens so rarely? 

So, I guess what I am getting at is don't be afraid to change genre if you think you put your book in the wrong category.  It is okay to make a mistake.  We all do.  Especially my characters!

There Is Nothing Like Being Owned By Parrots

I have a life besides being an indie writer. You know I paint, but did you know I am owned by parrots?

There are dog lovers and then there are cat lovers.  They both give reasons why dogs or cats are the best pet you can have.  And, of course, we have all heard that cliche "Dogs are a man's best friend".  Dog lovers go on and on about dog's loyalty and how glad they always are to see you.

Hmmmpfffff.  You don't have a clue to how close of a relationship one can have with an animal until you are owned by a parrot. People who don't know much about birds think they must be boring.  Not so.  Most parrots have the intelligence of a three year old human.  African Grey parrots and Cockatoo parrots have the intelligence of a five year old human.  Animal experts now say they are at least as intelligent as dolphins and moneys...maybe more so.

Does you dog talk?  I did not say mimic.  I said talk.  There are still some "experts" that say parrots only mimic.  They obviously have not lived with parrots.  Or watched the videos of Alex, the African Grey.  He is dead now, but learned colors, sizes, shapes and could pick them out when asked randomly.  Some greys are being taught to touch computer keys to call up different photos of parrots.  They think in 10 years greys can video conference.  True, it won't be as in depth as us...but pretty cool.

My parrots will look at me out of the blue and say  "I love you."  When was the last time your cat said that?  When they are tired, they say "Time for night night" or "See you tomorrow".  If I don't act immediately, I hear "Let's go.  Let's go."

Some think parrots are dirty and have bugs because they are always pecking at themselves.  Not so.  They are cleaning feathers and rearranging feathers to get warmer or cooler.  Parrots ARE messy.  They throw things and their feather dander gets on everything.  There is lots of vacuuming done in my house and we have air purifiers.  But guess what?  Their poop does not stink.  Not one bit.  Nice, huh?

Parrots are not for everyone though.  They are very, VERY high maintenance.  They need one on one time daily.  They need to legitimately be part of the family.  As flock animals, they like to be involved and included.  They can't be put in a cage and left there just because their feathers happen to match your decor.  Some parrots actually go insane because of bad treatment.  They are a commitment for decades.  Do you get rid of three year old humans when you tire of them?  That is what it is like if you "get rid of" parrots.

Don't get me wrong.  I love dogs and cats.  I also love snakes and other reptiles.  But there is no other animal in the world that can have a deeper relationship with you than a parrot.

We have a male White Capped Pionus named Kazoo (16 years old) and a female African Grey name Melanie (20 years old).  Kazoo could live 35 years and Melanie could live to be 75.  People ask why we chose animals that have the intelligence of human children and will live (one of them longer than we have left here) so long when we are childless by choice.

My answer?  Well, yes they can bite.  They are messy and can be loud.  They are demanding.  However, they will never do drugs, total my car, need money for college, or marry someone I can't stand.  That is more than a fair trade-off, if you ask me.

Oh-oh.  Gotta go.  My "bosses" are ready for breakfast.  Kazoo is saying "Wanna eat" and Melly is yelling "Good Morning."  I don't want to be written up.

Writing Fiction in a Different Time Period

As an indie author writing novels that take place during a past time period, I must be my own policeman when it comes to making sure my story stays true to the period. Yes, it is fiction, and you can have things happen that didn't really happen...but it still has to be within reason.

Gastien lived in nineteenth century France. Therefore, I can't say that he drove to Au Lapin Agile for a drink! You may thing this is a "duh" when writing, but it is so easy to mess up. For instance, one beta reader caught it when Gastien used a twist on an old saying by stating: "I may have just arrived off the turnip truck...". There were no trucks then, she reminded me.  Oh. Right!  It quickly got changed to "I may have just arrived off the turnip wagon..."

I am now writing the third book in The Gastien Series, which will be titled Tristan Michel: Bloodline of Passion. It starts in 1909. I have about 17,000 words done.  Friday I started reading it aloud to my husband, Dave. Tristan Michel calls his sister in New York City to tell her that he is moving his family to New York from Paris. All of a sudden, I paused. Could that have happened?

It has been too many years since my history classes as a student. Way too many. So, I looked it up on the Internet. Whew, I thought, phones WERE in use then. No problem. Still, it haunted me. This morning I searched deeper.  Yes, phones were in use, but the first intercontinental call did not happen until 1915! Now I know that Tristan Michel must send a telegram. 

If you are using a big event that actually happened in history in your fiction, make sure the facts are right. For instance, if I wanted to use the Great Flood of Paris that happened in 1910, I better not have any of Tristan Michel's relatives die in it. No one died in Paris itself, and they all lived in Paris.  Well, actually, one soldier did. So, if he was related to Tristan Michel, I would be safe. Does it matter? To a some people, no. But to a reader that knows French history, you better believe it does. It makes the story unreal to them. Fiction is fiction, but while the reader is reading the story it needs to seem real.

I am talking about major historical events. Tristan Michel is an architect. Because it is fiction, I certainly can have him work on some major buildings wherever he lives in the USA. The facts about who built each building are not major events. Not many care or know who put the windows in which building, or who made the plans for most of the buildings in our cities.

Gastien's clothing was vastly different than others during his life. Because people from all over the world came to Paris and Montmartre there were what we would call "flea markets" and used shops featuring all kinds of goodies. Therefore, it was possible that he would buy clothing from other cultures and wear it. Plus, he was an artist and they tended to dress oddly.
He even wore pants that fit him as capris, although no one else was wearing capri trousers at the time. It works, because he was a "bohemian", the group he was part of and where he resided.

Have fun with your characters and what they do, but make sure that it fits the era you are writing in, or at least can be believable because of the character and situation he or she is in. Use the Internet to find out details of major events, how people dressed, and what major things were or were not available to them during that time period. It will take you longer to write the story, but you will end up with a novel that readers can enjoy as real during their time spent with your characters.

Happy Writing!