Hello. My name is
Scott, and I write Urban Fantasy. Wait, no, that's what I did two weeks ago,
before the revelation, before Dragon*Con.
Today, in my post-D*C era, I write Contemporary Fantasy. And the funny
thing is that I haven't changed a thing. I still write the same novels, but my
genre perception has shifted thanks to the wisdom presented at Dragon*Con.
I've heard the advice
not to worry about genre. Let an agent or editor figure out into which Fantasy subgenre
the book should fall since the writer is not typically the best judge. That's
all well and good after the fact, once the book is sold and the decisions on
how to market it are made. What about when a writer is discussing his work with
publishing professionals or other authors?
When talking about my
book, framing it in terms of genre is a natural thing. It's meant to set a
certain expectation or set of rules in which the plot unfolds and the characters
develop. So, when talking about my book, Knight of Flame, I start off by
telling people it's Urban Fantasy with strong romantic elements. Here’s the
kicker…I was wrong.
But, Scott, say it aint so. I wish I could. I feel kinda silly
about it, actually. Thank goodness I came to the realization myself instead of
having someone have to point it out to me. I don't claim to know a lot about
this industry into which I'm trying hard to break into. In fact, I know fairly
little. That's why I keep asking questions,
hanging with those who do know about this crazy business, and attending
different cons and seminars. Look out World Fantasy, you're next.
I got my first inkling
of my genre faux pas early on. I'd been trying to identify my niche, my
stand-out factor. What made my Urban Fantasy novel unique? I realized that one
of the differences is POV. My novel has multiple POVs. I haven't seen that much
in UF. Most UF stories turn upon the axis of a single driving
character—typically a badass detective or bounty hunter protecting their slice
of the world from the nefarious creatures of the night.
I was good with the
multiple POV thing. I started talking that up and building my case on how my
book differed from the others. That went well until I started asking questions
of NYT bestselling UF authors about it and got some strange looks. Perhaps
there's a reason there isn't much multiple POV in UF.
It seems that the
general consensus about UF is that the pacing is very fast. That single POV
ass-kicker drives through the story at a very fast pace. The characters don't
typically amble about smelling the flowers. They find and fight the badies
threatening their town. The tone is dark and gritty, like the dirty streets and
water of the cityscape in which they prowl. UF is the noire of the Fantasy
genre.
And that's where it all
went crazy. Yeah, I see the dark and the grit and the detective aspect of UF
stories. Mine decidedly did not have those elements. I realized the only things
my novel and UF had in common was that it occurred in a city (for a little
while) and brought magical elements into a real-world setting.
Sorry, but that's just
not enough. So, Knight of Flame is not Urban Fantasy. It's Contemporary or
Modern Fantasy. It doesn't have the grit and dark tones of a Faith Hunter, Jim
Butcher, or Kim Harrison novel. It's more like the sense of wonder and
camaraderie of the Companions of the Hall from R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten
Realms books. I loved the interplay between Drizzt, King Bruenor, Wulfgar,
Regis, and Cattie-brie. They fed off each other while they saved the world from
utter destruction time and again. I wanted to make sure that my characters had
that type of relationship and wrote that in from the beginning. Duh. I should
have realized.
The book held true to
genre, but the writer got lost somewhere along the way.
That's not the only place I got lost. This
being my first trip to Dragon*Con, I spent a fair amount of time wandering the
floors of the Hyatt and the Marriott. When I did find the right room at the
right time, I learned and I'll be passing some of those other lessons on in the
coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Have fun,
Scott Against the Shadow, burns a noble light.
