So while I am visiting NYC this week, I am happy to have a few guest bloggers stopping by. And today I have the lovely Amalia Dillin talking about a hot topic--defining genre. It used to be (and in many ways still is) very important to know where your book would be placed in the bookstore. This is the debate going on with the New Adult genre right now--should they be shelved in mainstream, YA, romance, a whole new section? But with the availability of ebooks (and self-publishing) these days, it's becoming less of an issue because online there are no shelves (though there are categories.) Readers can pick up a historical paranormal New Adult romance if they want. And writers can write them. : ) Yay for that. I love genre crossing books (I just finished and adored Kristen Callihan's Moonglow, which is a historical paranormal romance AND mystery, lol--and that's with a Big 5 publisher.) So hooray for variety.
Now, over to Amalia...
Forged By Fate and the Great Genre Debate
by Amalia Dillin
As a writer, genre has always been something I’ve struggled with. For me, it felt like an artificial construct of the marketplace into which I had to smoosh and bend my story until it fit. And it’s a tricky business, figuring out where a book fits best – some books with clearly fantastic elements still make their way onto the “literature” shelf, while other books with similar or the same elements, are entrenched under the “fantasy” label, or hidden away in the “romance” aisle.
My novel, Forged By Fate is one of those books which could fit in more than one place in a bookstore. The story of Adam and Eve begins at the creation of the world and continues through the present day, with a lot of hop scotching through history in-between. When pressed, I call it Contemporary Fantasy (and so does my publisher), but it also has strong historical influences which might make it closer to an alternate history or even, in parts, historical fiction, and it definitely has enough romance to fall under that banner, as well.
But playing with mythology kind of requires that interesting mix of genres. After all, our first epics are both historical fiction and romance, fantasy and literature! Homer didn’t worry about labels when he wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, and while Snorri really *tried* to make the gods human, he didn’t give up all their fantastic powers and abilities – Baldur still becomes invulnerable because his mother can talk to plants and animals and extract vows, for example. And what is the Trojan War but the result of the romance of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy, the love story of all love stories?
So in Forged By Fate, Thor walks the earth, making friends with the common folk; Eve protects her people from divine retribution by learning to tame animals with a thought; and Adam wages war between Assyria and Egypt, Carthage and Rome, Macedonia and the East, always searching for some way to make himself a god among men in the process. And throughout it all, there is the slow, devastating process of falling in love.
But what does it mean to fall in love, when you live forever? What does a relationship look like, when you’re immortal? Zeus and Hera definitely didn’t have a happily ever after, and Odin sure didn’t show any fidelity to his wife, Frigg. So what about Adam and Eve?
Hopefully you’ll want to pick up a copy, and find out!
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Blurb:
After Adam fell, God made Eve to protect the world. — Adam has pursued Eve since the dawn of creation, intent on using her power to create a new world and make himself its God. Throughout history, Eve has thwarted him, determined to protect the world and all of creation. Unknown to her, the Norse god Thor has been sent by the Council of Gods to keep her from Adam’s influence, and more, to protect the interests of the gods themselves. But this time, Adam is after something more than just Eve’s power — he desires her too, body and soul, even if it means the destruction of the world. Eve cannot allow it, but as one generation melds into the next, she begins to wonder if Adam might be a man she could love.
Forged by Fate available now, from World Weaver Press!
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What do you think of the new genre-crossing books? Which have you read that you loved?