A question about my favourite genre this month for the IWSG question of the month.
This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post, in which we share our successes and failures as writers, our insecurities, in fact. Anyone can join in, just sign up at the IWSG Sign-up page, write a blog post on the first Wednesday of the month, and go back to that sign up page to link with everyone else–or a goodly sample. Our host is Alex J Cavanaugh, and cohosting this month are:
Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox!
What is my favourite genre?
Despite starting out writing gentle, clean, interesting mysteries set in a fantasy world populated by guinea pigs (really, that is how the Princelings of the East started!), I do not consider myself a fantasy writer, a children’s writer, nor one for Middle Grade or YA. I’ve inhabited the MG world for the last fourteen years or so, and I decided I’ve grown out of it.
But there are still MG books I enjoy, just as there are YA books I enjoy (mostly written by other insecure writers here present).
scifi–fantasy–time travel–crime
I’ve always said I like scifi best, but there’s lots of scifi I don’t enjoy at all. Especially long boring ones by authors like… naming no names. I like fantasy elements, alternative worlds, but not high fantasy, dungeons and dragons type. Recently I’ve even stopped enjoying time travel books, largely because they seem overly intellectual. Or maybe they miss out on that essential feature (for me, anyway) a good story. Is it dull characters? Or ones I don’t relate to?
If I look at the genre I’ve read most this year, I suspect it’ll be crime. I read crime to relax, because I don’t write it. I then don’t feel that twitch when something is not to my liking, or it ignores the standards we insecure writers are trying so hard to perfect. Then, because my favourite writers more or less have to write at least a book annually (sometimes of each of their series), I’ll be reading two or more of their books each year.
puzzle–twist
I like books with a puzzle in them. That may be a twist, or it may be a situation that challenges the reader to work out exactly what is going on. So I suppose that implies ‘mystery’, but I steer clear of mysteries that are really psychological thrillers in disguise. I think that with the world the way it is, I have far too much angst about the things our ‘elected’ representatives are doing to ruin it, than to waste time reading someone else’s invented tensions.
Maybe that’s why I’m reading a fair amount of non-fiction at present. Biographies of people who have led worthwhile lives, in particular. Did you notice Terry Pratchett’s biography came out last week? Along with the latest Elly Griffiths which I reviewed early that week. It must be the start of the Christmas present book season. Sigh.
So, then: characteristics?
Yes, the question was: What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?
Answer: entertaining, thought-provoking, and well-written.
And as KL asked in last week’s comments, do I choose a Best Book each year? Yes. Watch out for the Book(s) of the Year post somewhere around New Year’s Day 🙂
and finally…the IWSG Anthology
Another book that came out in last month was First Love: The Art of Making Doughnuts.
The sweetness of first love…
Could a fiercely independent cop’s heart be stolen by the guy who makes her favorite doughnuts? Will a maid who used deceit to snare a mail-order husband get a dose of her own medicine? Can her handsome neighbor rescue a modern-day “princess” from a tenacious ex-boyfriend? Can two strangers in a rideshare be honest enough to fall in love for real? Can you remember your first love? How about your second? Third? Fourth?
Featuring the talents of Linda Budzinski, Melissa Maygrove, Michael Di Gesu, Sylvia Ney, Katie Klein, Kim Elliott, Templeton Moss, S.E. White, Denise Covey, and Sammi Spizziri. Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will touch your heart and rekindle lost feelings. Prepare to return to that first love…
Release date: September 6, 2022
Print ISBN – 9781939844880, $14.95
EBook ISBN – 9781939844897, $4.99
Romance – Clean & Wholesome (FIC027270) / Contemporary (FIC027020) / Historical (FIC027050)
186 pages, Freedom Fox Press, an imprint of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Yes, short stories. My favourite genre is probably short stories 🙂
I enjoyed reading this and have similar feelings on most of what you said Jemima.
What do I look for in a book, the elements of surprise I love a book to surprise me! I like a well told story and an unusual settings or way the was it is told.
My favourite genre anything but possibly sifi 💜
Hi Jemima – yes your answer rings true … though I usually read non-fiction. Reading is the important thing … cheers Hilary
Quite a few sci-fi and fantasy fans out there. You have a good number of MG years out there. I’d love to write in different genres too.
I used to read a lot of middle grade and young adult fantasy but can’t get into it anymore. I really like contemporary fantasies, mysteries, and thrillers more.
Thanks for sharing the IWSG anthology!
Not good with twists I’m afraid.
Ooo. A best books post. I look forward to it. I love a good mystery, but I’ve been getting into sci-fi/fantasy lately, too.
Cheers!
I seem to write, at least some, in pretty much all the genres I read, though like you I’ve dropped away from writing for kids, now that I no longer have a connection with the MG crowd. I do still enjoy reading some of it, though. No thrillers or true crime for me, but I read mysteries (always with an eye these days to how the story works). And I read non-fiction, which I have no ambition to write. Natural history, history, biography. Outdoor adventure stuff (dangerous, at my age. Makes me itch to go forth and do likewise sometimes).
I love a good twist! I am usually very good at predicting the ending, but when it truly baffles me, I really enjoy it 😀
I like books with a puzzle in them as well, Jemima. And twists just add to the pleasure of reading, so long as they are set up properly. I’m learning so much about MG from you. Thank you so much! Have a great day!
I like short stories, too 🙂