I’m not very skilled at categorizing genre fiction, and this weakness helped account for several failures on my journey to publication. I’m getting better at it now. I understand what makes something speculative fiction–but spec fic is showing up everywhere these days, threading its way through science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, romance, and even women’s fiction and historicals.

Now, for me, romance is easy to understand as a genre. The rules are clear and established. The focus must be on the relationship between the protagonist and his or her lover. It must have a happy ending. For Nocturne, I write romances with dark paranormal twists. So I even know how to complicate romance.

But women’s fiction? I apparently write it too, and I’m going to need to learn how to speak intelligently about it, but I’m still groping for a good definition. Agent Scott Eagan tries to explain it in this article, and I found it interesting and enlightening. Anybody else wanna help me out with their understanding of the genre?

“The Scroll Thief: a Tale of Ithian” by R. F. Long

Love is the wiliest thief of all.

A Tale of Ithian

Malachy and his sister rely on his talents as a thief to survive the dangerous streets of Klathport, former capital of the once-great kingdom of Ithian. Stealing a few papers should have been a simple job. Instead, it nearly costs their lives and throws them into an improbable alliance with a shape-shifting official, a desert tribeswoman, and a healer of enchanting beauty.

Cerys is far more than a simple healer—and the roots of her mission go deeper into the past than anyone can know. She needs Malachy’s skills to recover a stolen scroll, one that can be used to rewrite history and, in the wrong hands, release the dark powers of the Demon Realm.

Her mission was supposed to atone for a dreadful, long-ago act. Instead, it unleashes a chain of events which sees them pursued through city and desert by the fearsome Dune Witch and a killer known only as His Lordship. Romance, tragedy, and adventure blend in a tale of a magical land on the brink of war, and five unlikely allies who, by putting their lives—and their hearts—on the line, have the opportunity to finally set things right.

But at a terrible cost.

Warning: Contains scenes of graphic violence and torture, captivating magic and beauty, two dashing heroes, three gutsy heroines, several love stories and a heartbreaking sacrifice.

BUY IT HERE!
Read an excerpt HERE.

At first, the CW’s hit television show, Supernatural, didn’t sound like something I’d like. I’m not big on episodic monster-killing dungeon crawls and a story about two brothers running from the law in a muscle car sounded like a throwback to the Dukes of Hazard. But upon the wildly enthusiastic recommendations of my friends and family, I rented the first season I’d missed and popped in the disk.

Now, one thing Supernatural knows how to do is grab viewers with a stunning premise. A mother walking into her baby’s room to find a dark stranger standing over the crib…it’s iconic. The very first few minutes of that very first episode were so gripping that I was hooked. Sure, that first season was a little rocky. It was hard to swallow the idea that our heroes lived off of stolen credit cards and fake IDs, but the whole thing went down a lot smoother when I realized how brilliantly the writers used unusual and creative interpretations of ancient lore.

Smart writing and sassy dialog carry the show, but it’s the celebrated bro-mance between Dean and Sam that make it something special. As a romance writer, I suppose I should be wishing for the Winchester boys to find true love with the girls of their dreams, but this show is really a love story about family. The unfolding family drama intensifies and matures each season. The writers are just as clever with their supernatural elements. They have an unfailing instinct for what will horrify–they know that evil in the guise of an innocent child is more upsetting than an ugly monster. They know how to twist the things that bring us joy and show us the ugly sides. So I’m a total squealing fan girl.

And while I’m not going to give away any spoilers, let me just say that the Season 4 Finale had me sitting there with my jaw dropped open. Not many shows do that.

Given that I write Greek Myth-inspired paranormal romances, one of my favorite episodes was about the siren. (Feel free to add that as an entry to my autumn contest in which you could win a gift certificate and a book just for brainstorming with me!)

So how many Supernatural fans do we have out there and are you more partial to Dean or Sam?

Is ABC’s Flashforward going to be the new Lost? Everyone seems to be asking this question, but they mean it in the good way. Yet, when I ask this question, it is with great trepidation.

As a writer of speculative fiction, as well as a fan, I can appreciate a great premise. Like the shiny new Joseph Fiennes show, Lost started out with a bang, and was compulsively watchable…at first.

Within a few seasons, it had meandered so far away from any central theme or coherent plotline that I only continued watching it for comedic value. Lost sucked a legion of fans into a byzantine labyrinth of clues and complexity, promising that it would all make sense in the end, only to continually let viewers down with long delays and laughable plot twists.

Flashforward is supposedly based upon a novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer, so presumably the writers actually have an end in mind. A blueprint, if you will. And I find that comforting. But then I saw a kangaroo on my screen hopping past a very serious looking FBI agent while an annoying voice over told me that this might just be an important clue and instead of being intrigued, I winced because this isn’t a game I want to play!

If Lost was the devlishly handsome ex-boyfriend who cheated on you, Flashforward looks enough like him to make you wary. But maybe he’s a grown-up version that you could actually take home to meet the family. Let’s hope!