Author Barb Hendee Guest Blog and Book Contest LIVE Here!
I tend to be invited to do “guest appearances” for a number of blogs aimed at writers, but when Rachel and I first decided I’d pop in here for a chat, she told me, “Be sure to aim your post at readers not writers.”
I actually had to think about that for a minute (smiles). It’s been a while.
But my mind quickly went to considering how a change in consumer demand has altered the way people like me are allowed to write books. Readers in recent years have given us a tad more freedom.
One area in which I’ve seen an explosion of change is the concept of “crossing genres.” Sure, there have always been a few writers who managed to get an idea that crossed genres past a New York editor, but trust me, even ten years ago, this was a good deal harder to do than it is today.
The reason for this was because ten years ago, Barnes & Noble and Borders had a LOT of power over the publishers, and cross-genre story ideas from writers were often rejected because an editor would say, “The reps from Borders and B&N don’t like to order books for their stores unless it’s very clear in which section the book should be stocked and displayed.”
JC and I sold our first novel, Dhampir, to a New York publisher in 2001. It was high fantasy, set in a medieval world . . . about a vampire hunter. So although JC and I were sort of blurring genres, the book would still clearly be displayed in the fantasy section. Several independent bookstores that we later visited had it stocked in the horror section, but it really isn’t horror.
Back then—and this was not that long ago—paranormal romance (as we know it now) was just gearing up, and urban fantasy (as we know it now) had not yet exploded into the popularity it currently enjoys
Even as late as 2008, I remember a few writers struggling with this. Richelle Mead is an acquaintance of mine, and we were visiting with each other at a convention right after her first Succubus novel was published. She said that some B&N stores were stocking it in the fantasy section, where it would sell well. Other stores stocked it in the romance section, where it just sat.
Now . . . urban fantasy is so huge that in some bookstores, it has its own section.
So, in 2011, I decided to take a risk in this changing market, where a variety of cross-genre novels seemed to be a whole lot more accepted, and I pitched a proposal for a medieval fantasy murder mystery series staring two gypsy girls. My editor bought it.
The first novel, The Mist-Torn Witches, came out in May 2013, and the second book, Witches in Red, comes out today. The third one, Witches with the Enemy, is drafted, and it comes out in May of 2015.
These stories combine magic, herbology, and romance . . . but the heart of each novel is a murder mystery to the point that this series could be stocked in the mystery section of a bookstore.
However, the series is normally stocked in fantasy—which is probably for the best—but I do suggest to readers that as you peruse a bookstore, take a chance glancing through sections other than those you normally prefer. You might be surprised what you find.
As we chat today . . . what your favorites in crossed genres? Vampire/romance? Western/ SF? Fantasy mysteries? Historical werewolf tales? Futuristic romance? Others? Do tell.
Buy a print copy of Witches in Red from Amazon by clicking here.
Buy a Kindle copy of Witches in Red from Amazon by clicking here.
Books in the Mist-Torn Witches series in the order they should be
read:
The Mist-Torn Witches
Witches in Red
About Barb Hendee
Author Bio:
Barb Hendee is the nationally best-selling co-author of the Noble Dead Saga (along with her husband J.C.). She is also the author of the Vampire Memories series and the recently launched Mist-Torn Witches series. She has a master’s degree in English and taught college for twelve years. She was born in the northwest, later migrated to Idaho and then Colorado, but she missed the rain and the moss too much and now lives just south of Portland, Oregon in the Willamette Valley with J.C. and their two young kitties, Ashes and Cinders.
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