This Genre/That Genre—Classifying Stories

Geralt/Pixababy
So Many Choices

by Normandie Fischer

Genre branding, not unlike author branding, is a hot topic in writerly circles. Querying authors scan agent and publisher websites, praying their work will be among the coveted.

I just returned from my second WFWA (Women’s Fiction Writers Association) Retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a slew of us gathered to laugh and learn and prod each other in our writing journey. We also discussed branding and what constitutes women’s fiction.
I thought I knew. But my definition was too narrow, so narrow, in fact, that I’d pushed my two latest works forward into the romantic suspense genre. A friend at the retreat actually approached me to say how brave she thought I was to have stepped out of women’s fiction—my comfort zone—to publish in a separate genre.

And yet. And yet.
Were Two from Isaac's House and From Fire into Fire to be marketed differently?

I just came across something in a blog hosted by Amy Sue Nathan, the author who first introduced me to the concept of women's fiction and who pointed me to WFWA when it was merely an email loop. Her post on September 29 was titled "Women's Fiction Merges With Suspense by Kate Moretti." Kate writes: "These novels [she discusses several] might be classified as suspense novels, but they have all the earmarks of Women’s Fiction. What they hold dearest is familiar to us: children, husbands, family, livelihood. Their journey is both external and internal – after all, you can’t risk everything and everyone you love and remain unchanged at the end. Life, and fiction, doesn’t work like that."

And this year, two finalists in the Star Award given by WFWA for the best in published women’s fiction wrote stories full of magical realism; one of these, by Scott Wilbanks, actually won. Okay, thought I, if those fit as women’s fiction, what about mine?

In the middle of asking this question, I did what I do far too often: I checked my reviews. (You never do that, do you?) And in checking them, I came across an interesting answer. Have you ever had that happen? Ask a question, find the answer in an unexpected place? Here’s what Carrie wrote on her blog, Reading Is My Superpower.

“If you asked me how to classify this book in a library, I’m not sure where I would place it. Two From Isaac’s House reads like Southern fiction but is very much a novel of international intrigue. You will want to … absorb the delicious way the writing lilts across the page, but … Fischer’s command of international suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat. And then there’s the new romance and the new friendships…. In a book that could go political in a heartbeat, the plot stays just outside that line and instead whispers a few subtle hints toward the spiritual that both surprised and touched me with their presence. Normandie Fischer’s latest book is definitely a dichotomy of genres, but I loved the result!”

More lovely words followed, but there the reviewer was, talking about crossing genre lines. Two from Isaac’s House seemed more suspense-y than my second Carolina Coast novel, Heavy Weather, slightly more edgy than any of my other books. And yet, was it edgy in the right way, edgy enough for diehard romantic suspense readers? And did the fact that it “reads like Southern fiction” affect its categorization?

Back when I first wrote the story (way back, a couple of decades ago), I wanted to create two characters who didn’t fit genre norms. (That should have told me something, shouldn’t it?) I’d already decided to set a story in Italy and grab some of the Middle Eastern angst from people I knew, but I wasn’t interested in heroines with black belts in karate or their sharpshooter male counterparts. I wanted regular folk who just happened to find themselves in a world peopled with spies and dead bodies. I wanted to know how they'd change and grow when confronted with the unusual and uncomfortable. The story won critical acclaim in manuscript form but languished on a floppy disc while I wrote other stories and other books. When I decided to bring it to life in the now of Israeli/Palestinian politics and to tie it to my Southern fiction by having the main female protagonist be from Morehead City, NC, I faced the classification quandary in real time.

My critique partner Robin Patchen said she dealt with the same issue in two of her suspense novels, which she has since rebooted as women’s fiction. I asked writer Jennifer Fromke what she thought. According to Jennifer, location differentiates my books, all of which have elements of suspense and romance but work as women’s fiction. (Obviously, I should have asked her way back when.)

Here I was with category/branding angst. At the WFWA Retreat, I met Kathleen Irene Paterka, a highly successful (and delightful) indie author whose early work hit a snag when acquisitions editors wanted her to revamp it—and her 35-year-old protagonist—into YA. Her mentors suggested she ignore them and go indie. She has never looked back because she can write what she wants, when she wants, and in whatever genre she wants—and she doesn’t worry about classifications.

I think that’s where I am—finally. I write what I write, and I’m letting it settle where it will. (Hoping Amazon categories agree with me.)

What about you? Has the branding dilemma smacked you in the face? Do you write in one easily defined category, no shifting around or smudging? Or do you like to color outside the lines?

If you’re traditionally published, what has your experience been with genre boundaries? Do you think there’s been a shifting in acceptance of the odd and unique? I know literary fiction has always had room for the James Joyces and the Virginia Wolfes, but if you write genre fiction, do you find your work constrained and forced to remain inside the boundaries? Obviously, Scott Wilbank’s publisher (Sourcebooks) had no trouble with a little magic thrown in to liven things.

Some of my contemporaries in RWA PAN use pen names for their different genres, but that feels awkward to me. I mean, how do they remember who they are when they sign books or write to fans? Have you considered writing under different names?

Pixababy
What to do?

Talk to me. I want to know your thoughts on branding and genre shifting—and on enlarging definitions within a particular genre.

TWEETABLES

I write what I write, and I’m letting it settle where it will.~Normandie Fischer (Click to Tweet)

This Genre/That Genre—Classifying Stories~Normandie Fischer (Click to Tweet)

See, separated books. Time to move the pics?

Normandie studied sculpture in Italy before receiving her BA, summa cum laude with special honors in English. Her women’s fiction titles include Becalmed (2013), Sailing out of Darkness (2013), Heavy Weather (2015), and more recently two filled with international intrigue, Two from Isaac’s House (2015) and the novella, From Fire into Fire (2016). Normandie and her husband spent a number of years on board their 50-foot ketch, Sea Venture, sailing in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. They now live in coastal North Carolina, where she takes care of her aging mother.
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She loves all things French and writes SoCal beach stories

The short version could likely be similar for a lot of women of a certain age: I’m a wife (41 years and counting), mom (adult son and daughter), mom-in-law, grandmother (two girls, one boy), a former teacher (middle school reading; subbing; tutoring; writing workshops); and now I’m well into that season of life defined by such things as: not concerned about coloring the grey; navigating through the Smart TV is a bit of a challenge; my mom doesn’t always know who I am; and middle age is becoming a tiny dot in the rearview mirror. I was born and raised in Moline, Illinois, and now live in San Diego.

Sally, you don't know this yet, but it was your book, Castles in the Sand, that made me know what kind of stories I wanted to write—stories about relationships. Tell us about your newest releasing book.

Oh wow! Really?! That tickles me to no end – and makes me grateful once more for how the stories touch readers in so many ways. I think your response is a first, though.

Heaven Help Heidi is set in a make-believe San Diego beach community, Seaside Village. It’s another story about women’s friendships at the Casa de Vida, a cozy group of rental cottages we met in Between Us Girls.

When Heidi’s life is turned upside down, she moves in. As a successful real estate agent, she never ever would have chosen this place to live. She struggles to adjust as well as to ask for and to accept help from the other residents.

Piper, a resident, faces her own life-changing decisions. Can she move beyond her grief over her fiancé’s death? Can she let go of a job she adores for something different? Can she let Hud into her heart?

Liv, Casa owner and woman of a certain age, mentors the young ones and deals with a deep hurt from her past.

By the end of the story, all three women are living examples of how God is never finished with healing us and is always creating something new in our lives. They’re in a space of love and acceptance.

Where do you get your ideas for your books? What sparked this story?

The seeds for ideas come from real life. Writers are observers. When something interesting happens, we write notes on paper napkins, palms, and receipts. I have learned to send myself a text message but that’s still not my first thought. The news also provides story ideas (and proves that life is stranger than fiction).

These seeds offer the starting point to ask “what if” questions. Imagining the answers is what develops into stories.

Heidi’s roots came from the idea for the Family of the Heart Series. I wanted to create a safe harbor for people, something we all desire. I’ve done many stories about marriage and family. With these new stories I wanted to explore the power in women’s friendships. (Harvest House suggested “family of the heart” after I had started. It’s a great phrase for the series.) From there I simply began to imagine women. The practical: what did they do for a living? The catalyst: what stumbling blocks might be thrown onto their paths?

I created Casa residents as minor characters, incorporating a variety of life experiences. Piper came along in Between Us Girls, a fashionista who offered exactly what Jasmyn needed when her clothes were stolen. She intrigued me. How was she dealing with her deep grief? (Current news: Iraq and Afghanistan and our great losses.) I chose to make her a major character in the new book.

Heidi came from—I’m not sure! LOL. With the large population here in Southern California, real estate is a huge deal. Every other day an agency ad lands on our doorstep or in the mailbox. (Last week I received a nifty tool from one of them: a flashlight/screwdriver! It’s better than the magnets and notepads.) I decided Heidi could be successful in this work, happy as a lark, good at what she does. What could bring her down? The economy and a physical injury that disrupts her everyday life for months on end.

Did anything strange or funny happen while writing this book?

Roaming several blocks from home one day, I happened upon a walled courtyard. I peered through the locked gate and laughed. It was totally the Casa’s courtyard! The cottages weren’t there (the place is an inn, although it doesn’t look like one), but the ambience enveloped me exactly as I had imagined my characters feeling when they entered the Casa.

That's so cool about that courtyard! Did you always want to be a writer?

Always! Reading fiction kept me sane as I was growing up. More than an escape or entertainment, it remains a source of insight. A favorite quote of mine is “stories give us eyes other than our own with which to see the world.”

The thought of writing fiction was a wild and seemingly unattainable dream. Until I was 35 years old, I believed Carolyn Keene lived in New York City along with every real writer in the U.S. Seriously.

Where do you write, a coffee shop, attic nook, or a cave?

Today I’m actually in the process of moving from a bedroom to a corner in the living room. Last week at a consignment shop I found a “secretary,” a small desk with drawers and nooks and a hutch. Next to it is a narrow window; I can see a slice of the patio surrounded by a low concrete block wall. Between my potted succulents on it, I can see heads and shoulders of people as they walk by. The neighbor’s hot-pink bougainvillea droops into the space. This makes for dappled sunlight.

I’m partial to desks. Okay, I drool over desks. For years I wrote on a huge one that I’d bought at a Salvation Army. I left that in Illinois. At our next house I claimed a bedroom (without a bed) as an office and filled it with a brand new desk and matching bookcase. Three books later, a wildfire claimed that set and the house.

I wrote the next couple of books on a folding table in a bedroom. Eventually I bought an inexpensive, drawer-less desk and enjoyed it. But, seven years later, it’s saggy. The alley outside the window and the bed are totally disrupting the feng shui… So here I am. 

Sally, of all your characters, which was your favorite and why?

As a group, the women in The Beach House hold a special place in my heart. I had never tried to write from four points of view before, but those ladies marched front and center into my imagination before I realized what was happening. Jo, Molly, Char, and Andie carried me to a new writing arena.

Padre Miguel (Ransomed Dreams) is an all-time favorite. He would show up and take over. I never knew what he would do or say. And I didn’t even have a bio on him beyond the basics: he was short, a priest in Mexico, loved God, and had a faith was as big as all outdoors.

Share a few of the techniques you learned that changed the way you write.

Outlining is necessary for me. I learned this early on from a multi-published author. Like her, I could write scenes, but stringing them together into a coherent story took some forethought.

I’ve learned to trust the process. My outlines aren’t as detailed as they were early on. Although I never planned exactly how a story would end, in recent years I’ve seen how organic storytelling can be. Once I have the big picture in place (plot, setting, characters, theme), the story can unfold. I might know Point A and Point B, but situations and characters get me from one to the next when I don’t have a clue.

Now for the fun: Tell us 3 things your readers might not know about you.

• My all-time favorite movie scene is from Stranger Than Fiction, when an author (played by Emma Thompson) meets her fictional character (played by Will Ferrell), in person.
• I’m 5’ 7”.
• During college, I lived for one semester in Grenoble, France, and I love all things French.   

If you were a musical instrument, what would you be and why?

A clarinet. It can be made of wood and uses a reed (both earthy). It has shiny keys (a little “glitter”). The sound is low and smooth, a steady undercurrent that supports other instruments. Alone, it can make beautiful music…when it’s played right. 

Heaven Help Heidi

Young and successful real estate agent Heidi Hathaway is totally in control of her own life. That is, until an accident leaves her injured, unable to work, and questioning the purpose of her life. That’s when she moves to the Casa de Vida, an ocean-side community that becomes so much more than a place to rest and recover.

It’s there she meets Piper Keyes, a young woman reeling from the loss of her fiancé in Afghanistan. Piper knows Jared isn’t coming home, but she struggles to open her heart again.

The two women couldn’t be more different, but they need each other now. In their friendship, they discover God’s grace and mercy, and with that comes hope, healing, and the promise of new love. 

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Interview With Our Founder, Gina Holmes--Win an Autographed Copy of Driftwood Tides!

Gina Holmes is the founder of Novel Rocket, regularly named as one of Writers Digest’s best websites for writers. Her debut, Crossing Oceans, was a Christy and Gold Medallion finalist and winner of the Carol Award, INSPY, and RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice, as well as being a CBA, ECPA, Amazon and PW bestseller. Her sophomore novel, Dry as Rain was a Christy Award finalist. Wings of Glass has been named as one of the best books of the year in 2013 by Library Journal and was a SIBA Okra pick and a finalist for Romantic Times’ Reviewers Choice Award. Her latest novel, Driftwood Tides is in stores now. She holds degrees in science and nursing and currently resides with her family in southern Virginia. She works too hard, laughs too loud, and longs to see others heal from their past and discover their God-given purpose. To learn more about her, visit www.ginaholmes.com.

Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter. 

To be entered to win an autographed copy of Gina's latest release, Driftwood Tides, leave a comment. One winner will be drawn. Winner announced tomorrow. 

Gina, you've come a long way since starting this blog back in 05 to chronicle your first novel journey. I'm sure you've learned a lot since your first novel, Crossing Oceans, was published. How has becoming an award-winning and bestselling novel changed your life?

The truth is not all that much. I still work as a registered nurse, spend too much time sweeping up dog hair and wish there was more time in the day to just be. One of the gratifying changes has been the respect I've garnered post-publication that I didn't before the first book hit the shelves. A lot of people in my circles thought writing was a waste of time at worse, an amusing hobby at best. I think people listen to me a bit more when I give advice. I was prepared in a lot of ways of the reality of being on this side of the publishing fence having done so many interviews on Novel Journey and Novel Rocket. Even knowing what I did, I still kind of thought the amount of work, particularly in the promotion arena would ease up by this point, but it doesn't. I think that part tires most authors out and I'm no exception.

Tell us  a little bit about your newest release, Driftwood Tides.



Driftwood Tides, in stores now!

Driftwood Tides tells the story of an aging, alcoholic driftwood artist turned beach bum, Holton Creary, and young Libby Slater. Libby grew up with an absent father and a loving but cold, socialite mother. Leading up to her wedding, Libby and her groom-to-be go through genetic testing and she learns her blood type doesn’t match either of her parents. She confronts her mother and is reluctantly told that she’s adopted. She goes searching for her mother, Adele, only to find her husband, Holton Creary lying face down on the carpet of his Nags Head beach shack.

She lies about her real identity until she is finally found out. Holton does not welcome the news. He never knew the wife he had given saint status too had given up a daughter for adoption. Together the two search to find the truth about Adele, Libby’s father and themselves.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

 At its heart, Driftwood Tides is really about discovering who we are, whose we are, where we belong and the need to accept and bestow forgiveness.

Why did you set the novel in Nags Head?

 Oh, how I love that place! I’m not sure there’s a more peaceful setting in all the world. And the further out I get from civilization, the happier I am. I love the sand dunes, the untouched nature, the quaint towns. Just everything! (Well, except sand in my bathing suit maybe J)

You seem to have a recurring theme in your novels about absent fathers, why do you think that is?

When I was 6 years old, I was packed up by my stepfather and driven to my father’s house. Overnight I had a new Mom, new sisters and brother, house and life. It was as traumatic an experience as I can imagine. There were few explanations that made sense to me and I missed my other family desperately. I think ever since I’ve been trying to settle some pretty deep-seated questions. Writing books is wonderful for that.

Crossing Oceans

The novel you’ve written that seems to be a fan-favorite is Crossing Oceans, do you ever

see yourself writing a sequel?


I love that book too. Makes me cry just thinking about certain scenes. I would love to write a sequel, prequel or off shoot stories. I love those characters dearly. I’m under contract for three different novels, so I’m not sure when I’ll have the time, but I’d love to explore Craig’s story and of course, Bella’s. I miss Mama Peg very much!

You’ve said that your favorite novel you’ve written is Wings of Glass. Why is that your favorite?

It was a deeply personal novel to write. I grew up watching my mother in abusive relationships, and then two of my sisters. I swore it would never be me, until that is, my (then) boyfriend hit me for the first time and I found myself making excuses for him. I've matured a lot since then and have done a lot of work on the flawed thinking that I learned growing up. I see so much of it in women around me though and Wings of Glass was my answer to that burden on my heart.

What do you like most about being a writer? Least?

 Most, I like being able to have a platform to share lessons I’ve learned in my life that I know others would benefit from. And more than that, I just love to tell a good story.

 Least, would be the unpredictability of the business. Sometimes it seems so random and the lack of control makes me uncomfortable sometimes. (Which is probably right where God wants me!)

 Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

 My advice is pretty much always the same. 1. Write. So many people want to have written but don’t actually do the work. 2. Get to a writers conference because there’s so much  you don’t know, that you don’t even know you don’t know. If you don’t you’ll be spinning your wheels for years, wasting valuable time. 3. Run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore and buy yourself a copy of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. Then apply it. (Best money I ever spent!) 4. Join a good critique group and get a nice thick skin, ‘cause you’re sure going to need it!

If you could go back to the pre-published writer you were, knowing what you do now, what advice would you give her?

Well, I wouldn’t have told myself how many novels I’d write that would never see the light of day, because I would have given up. I wouldn’t have told myself how little money there is actually to be made or how lonely writing can sometimes be. I wouldn’t have told myself that I’d still have a day job with 4 novels out in stores, including 3 bestselling novels… okay, but that wasn’t your question… I would tell myself to relax. Some of this, most of this is, is out of your hands, and that’s okay. It’s not going to be at all what you think it is, but it’s going to be so much more. You won’t get rich, but you will touch lives. At the end of the day, that’s going to be exactly what will fulfill you.

Where can readers find your books and more about you?

 Thanks for asking. My books are in B&N, BooksaMillion, Amazon, Lifeway, Parable, Family Christian and hopefully a good number of independent bookstores. You can find me at Ginaholmes.com. 

"[Driftwood Tides] moves like a serene sea: gentle,persuasive, and transformative. Much in the same way time and the elements turn driftwood into something beautiful, Libby and Holton learn that they, too, can change for the better. Readers will delight in this story of redemption and growth." Booklist

"Holmes weaves a superb story of discovering how to forgive." Romantic Times

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Facebook Launch Parties ~ by Normandie Fischer

Sailor and baby-boomer author Normandie Fischer wrote stories while cruising Pacific Mexico. She’s a former sculptor and editor with Southern roots, whose plans to sail the world came to an abrupt halt when her mother developed dementia and needed care at home near the small port town of Beaufort, NC. Becalmed is her debut novel, to be followed by Sailing Out of Darkness.

On Facebook Launch Parties: A Pressure Release Valve

Before Becalmed released, my publicist and I went back and forth on the value of a Facebook launch party. Half the writers we polled loved their experience; half hated it.

I don’t know about you, but the idea of chest-beating, begging, or any of the other things the marketing folk say we’ve got to do to sell our books just about sends me over the edge. I’m the sort who’d rather sit at the back of the gathering and watch what’s going on around me. I like chatting one on one; I don’t like being the object of attention.

What’s more attention-grabbing than the obvious me-me of a Facebook launch party? We beg folk to drop by, comment, speak to us, please, and, oh, don’t forget! We Have Prizes! Free Books!

That begs the next question: Just why should anyone care about our words? I mean, if someone already wants my story, it’s probably because we’re buds. But for the rest of the not-yet-known public? The folk who may have seen my face or read my name, but to whom I’m nobody? Why should they be interested in this particular book out of all the others published? (At least until the reviews come in and word of mouth acts as its supposed to.)

You can see how this whole thing gets to me, an introvert who loves people, but only in small doses. Who welcomes friendships, but wants them to be meaningful. Who is happy to discover that folk like her story, but doesn’t want to be the one pressing it on them, thank you very much.

So. I decided to diffuse attention on Facebook by sharing the launch party with other writers. As soon as I found six enthusiastic women’s fiction authors whose work I admire and with whom I’d developed a relationship—mostly online—my burden lifted. I could spend my energy promoting their stories on my launch and, in doing so, relax about my own. Their involvement guaranteed attendance, if only for the time each of them had the helm. Because they brought different personalities to the discussion, it remained lively for the entire day.

We found snatches of humor, especially when the author on board from noon to two had trouble logging in. The hilarity grew as one of her friends promised to stand by the water cooler to keep watch, another promised to check the halls, and I tried to help her figure out the log-in issue. We eventually got her there, but the humanness of the incident and the jokes that surrounded it added to fun. And you know what, the gal at the water cooler won the drawing for our missing author’s book (along with an e-book of Becalmed.)

My 85-year-old mama drew names from a hat of those who’d commented during each period, and a winner went home with a paperback from that author and an e-book from me. After my two hours, the winner took home both an e-book and a signed paperback of Becalmed.

I have no way of knowing if I gained new readers in the process, but I do know that I had fun and got to know a few other writers—and their fans—just a little bit better. Pressure off, fun on.

And isn’t that how we’re supposed to work as believers? Lifting up others and not worrying about the results in terms of us? I figure if we’ve got the Big Guy on our team, we can do whatever it is our hand finds to do—and do it with all our might—and then trust Him with the outcome. Certainly He’ll guide us to the path in this marketing thing that will bring the greatest glory where it belongs. Which is certainly not on us.

A plug here for Silver Seas PR, whose creativity I glommed onto when I hired them to hold my hand through this morass of media.

Please feel free to grab your own copy of Becalmed in either softcover or e-book at Amazon. Or order it through your favorite indie bookstore.

Becalmed

With her days chock full - designing jewelry for the shop she co-owns with her best friend, sailing her sharpie, and hanging out with girlfriends - Tadie Longworth barely notices she's morphing into the town's maiden aunt. When Will, a widower with a perky daughter named Jilly, limps into town in a sailboat badly in need of engine repairs, Tadie welcomes the chance to help. Her shop becomes Jilly's haven while Will hunts boat parts, and Tadie even takes the two of them sailing. It's the kind of thing she lives for, and it's a welcome distraction from the fact that her ex-boyfriend Alex, aka The Jerk of Jerks, is back in town. With his northern bride. Oh, and he's hitting on Tadie, too.

Those entanglements are more than enough, thank you very much, so it's almost a relief when a hurricane blows into town: at least the weather can match Tadie's mood. When Will and Jilly take shelter in her home, though, Tadie finds herself battling her attraction to Will. Even worse, the feeling is mutual, tempting them all with what-ifs that petrify Will, who has sworn never to fall in love again. Mired in misunderstanding, he takes advantage of the clear skies and hauls Jilly out of there and back to his broken boat so fast, Tadie's head spins.

With the man she might have loved gone, and the man she wishes gone showing up on her doorstep, Tadie finds herself like a sailboat with no wind; becalmed, she has to fight her way back against the currents to the shores of the life, and the man, she wants to have.

If you're in the vicinity, of the Chesapeake Bay, I'd love ot have you come aboard:

Sea Venture, a Hudson Force 50 ketch, set sail July 2013 to begin Normandie's book tour. Her schedule includes:

August 1 Arrive at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Find places to anchor in and around Georgetown, MD, Chesapeake City, MD, and C & D Canal.

Aug. 28 Arrive in NYC.

Sep. 30: Leave NYC for trip south.

Oct. 15: Arrive Baltimore, MD.

Oct. 20: Arrive Annapolis, MD.

Various stops along the Western Shore of Chesapeake Bay.

Nov 1: Arrive Portsmouth, VA. Back through the ICW to Beaufort, NC.

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