Some people may know that I started out writing contemporary romance. Eight of them in fact for Kensington Publishing’s defunct ENCANTO romance line. I had written those novels over the course of about three years and I wanted to challenge myself by writing something totally new and different. Being a fan of The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I wondered what I would do if I mashed the two genres — suspense and vampires — and tossed in some romance as well. That’s how THE CALLING IS REBORN series was created. Little did I know I would be sucked into a world of both regular and paranormal suspense for the next ten years. WOW! But like I had before, I felt myself craving doing some different and definitely something lighter. That’s how ONE SUMMER NIGHT and WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER came about as well as the TAKE A CHANCE Military Romance novellas.
It is a risk to mix genres like that. For an author it’s like playing roulette because you never know if you’re going to have a winner and make a reader happy. Ultimately, that’s one of the big end goals – happy readers. But there is also another goal: loving what you do as a writer.
Will writing in multiple genres work? It has for some people, but I always caution first-time authors to focus on one genre for at least a few books. Develop a following before you go off and try something different. If readers like you, they will follow. If not…
Publishing is a crap shoot for sure. If you’re going to be a winner in the long run the most important thing is to be passionate about what you write.
