For the next two weeks, Murder She Writes will be bringing you our favorite blogs from the past. Then on Monday, January 4th, 2010, we’ll begin a new year with new blogs!
Today’s favorite blog from the past was written by Jordan Summers. There’s also a giveaway of an ARC of the second book in her Dead World trilogy, SCARLET. Enjoy!
SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT…AND OTHER INJURIES I SUFFER FROM
Jordan Summers
I swear I start out with the best of intentions, but somewhere along the line things go horribly awry. I cannot for the life of me seem to focus on one genre. Yes, I know doing so would enable me to build a steady readership, expand my fan base, and keep my agent from yanking her hair out, but I can’t do it.
Believe me, I’ve tried.
I start out with a nice simple vampire idea, and then poof, a gargoyle ends up in my story. Actually, not only does the gargoyle invade my story, it takes over like it owns the place. I truly envy writers who’ve found their niche and focus all their attention on it. What does that feel like? Bliss, I bet.
Me, I’m like a shotgun blast going off in a crowd, intent on hitting everything and everybody within firing range.
No, I’m not ADD, so I can’t even use that as an excuse. (No offense to those who suffer from ADD.) I’ve come to the conclusion that my mind prefers the scenic rural route over the bustling highway. The ride’s sure been pretty, but the behavior has hindered my career.
Although I continue to build name recognition through my releases and my blog, readers don’t know where to ‘put’ me nor does my name tend to jump into their minds when they think about authors who write ‘X’. When pressed, they say I write funny action-adventure stories. I suppose that’s not a bad description, even though it’s not entirely accurate. Unfortunately, funny/action-adventure won’t exactly forward my career if the stories are also time-travel, urban fantasy, contemporary, and historical. And we won’t even talk about the dark humorless tales that I’ve just published. Where do they fit?
Win the ARC!
By now, I’m sure several of you are saying to yourselves, why don’t you just pick something and stick with it? Certainly sounds easy, doesn’t it? I swear I have tried. (Let the wails of frustration begin.) I thought focusing on paranormal novels would help. I love my new ideas, but even they don’t fall neatly into a specific category of paranormal. I’ve heard them described as horror romances (there’s a lot of death and blood), sci-fi thrillers, and dark urban fantasies. I’m like a genre-crossing magpie. Ooh, that looks shiny, new and interesting. Let’s add it to our story idea and see what happens.
Now I realize that as time passes the lines/genres begin to blur. Thank goodness. This makes me extremely happy. Or should I say it will, once they get to my category. *g*
Any other magpies out there?
CONTEST: Post a comment for your chance to win a copy of SCARLET!
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