Taking the Mask off Classic Horror Tropes
How Three Horror Story Staples Can Appear in Every Genre When a writer approaches the Horror genre, deciding to leap into the deepest pits of despair and crawl out of it dragging a kicking and screaming manuscript, they often use popular movies and television shows as inspiration. They try to add jump scares and visual […]
Modern Tales
The Differences between Contemporary Fiction, Contemporary Romance, and Literary Fiction Romance is, without a doubt, the largest genre with the most voracious readers, and according to a K-lytics report from 2024, it has seen nearly a 100 percent growth in the number of searches it receives on Google even in the last five years. The […]
Navigating the Seas of Nautical Fiction
Gayle Leeson When delving into the world of Nautical Fiction, you might first imagine epic tales like Herman Melville’s Moby Dick or Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Although these classics—as well as books by Jack London, John D. McDonald, C. S. Forester, and Patrick O’Brian—undoubtedly hold a prominent place in the genre, […]
When Fantasy Invades Reality
Exploring the Fantastic in the Mundane with the Magical Realism Genre Jenn Lessmann An old man with giant, feathered wings is discovered lying face-down on the ground, and the whole town comes out to see him—until a carnival arrives, and they lose interest. For a moment, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s short story “A Very Old Man […]
How Fanfiction Can Reignite an Author’s Passion
Many years ago, I developed a desire to read more classics, so I thought about trying Jane Austen’s works. I had never read her books, but I’d seen a movie or two and enjoyed the stories. The only book available from the library without a month’s waitlist was Persuasion. After I read the book, I […]
Not Your Grandma’s Grim-Dark
Cozy Fantasy’s Otherworldly Settings, Lighthearted Escapism Offer Readers What They’ve Been Craving In February 2022, when Travis Baldree self-published his smashingly successful book Legends and Lattes, legions of readers found themselves craving more of a genre they likely weren’t even aware existed. It’s called Cozy Fantasy, and some of its most common tropes have been […]
Goggles and Gadgets: Analyzing the Elements of Steampunk
Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of the era; like “steampunks,” perhaps. —K. W. Jeter, in a 1987 letter to the science fiction magazine Locus […]
Keeping Things PG: A Guide to ‘Clean,’ or Sweet, Romance
In 2022, the Romance genre generated nearly one and a half billion dollars in sales, making it the highest-earning genre in fiction. It was also the fastest-growing fiction genre, contributing to 66 percent of adult fiction growth, according to statistics shared by data research group WordsRated (https://wordsrated.com/romance-novel-sales-statistics/). Clearly, people love to read about love. The […]
Writing Outside the Law with the Vigilante Justice Subgenre
Gone are the days where evil-doers stalk the night, chasing down helpless victims while the law struggles to keep up. Now, a new hero rises, one not afraid to toe the morally gray line in the name of what is right. Their actions can set up the perfect adventure for readers to dig into. More […]
Don’t Trip on the Cobblestones: Getting Historical Fiction Right
So you have decided to write a historical novel. Were you impressed by the fifty-year scope in Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow? Or perhaps you were intrigued by the spy craft in The Rose Code by Kate Quinn? Historical Fiction is expansive, stretching across time periods and crossing paths with several other genres. Its […]