Do you like one, specific genre of m/m romance or do you like multiple genres? Is there one genre or troupe that you simply can’t stand? I tend to enjoy many genres, but it depends on my mood and my purpose for reading at that given moment. It’s just like food. Sometimes, I want comfort food, and sometimes I want a nice, balanced meal. Sometimes I even want a salad. Sometimes I want a Susi Hawke and J.D. Light book, and sometimes I want a Rhys Ford or Riley Hart book. It is what it is.
*shrugs
Despite this, when I started writing, I didn’t have to think too hard on what genre to begin with. I had just finished reading ALL of Hannah Walker’s books, and I wanted more sci-fi, m/m romance, damn it! I’ve read a lot of great stories in this genre, but there just aren’t many available. So, I decided to pick up a story I had started over eight years ago. I had maybe a thousand words written in it.
In October of 2018, I finished my debut novella, The Mercenary’s Mate, and The Blue Solace series was born.
I uploaded it to Amazon and then started thinking about Book Two. There was a problem, though. It was fall and the leaves were finally changing. Pumpkin spice everything was everywhere. I wanted to read a seasonal contemporary romance, not write a sci-fi romance.
There were some good ones coming out soon from my favorite authors, but it would be a couple of weeks. Now, am I a patient person? No!!!
So, I sat down and wrote a book I wanted to read – Falling for the Omega. Writing it was a completely different experience from writing The Mercenary’s Mate. As much as they have in common, they are still very different.
Writing a book in my sci-fi series takes more concentration, time, and effort. I absolutely love it, but it’s a bit draining. A full, 90,000 word novel would take me ages and I would need a ton of breaks, so I’m glad I’m dedicated to novellas.
The Hobson Hills series, on the other hand, is a complete joy to write. It’s refreshing and pure fun. The books in this series are shorter, which explains some of it, but they’re also fluffier and happier. For me, writing one of these is like drinking a yummy latte from Starbucks. It’s comforting and gives me the warm fuzzies.
Does this mean that I’ll ever stop writing my sci-fi books? Uh, is Mal Reynolds boring and unattractive? That would be a no. An extra big, NO.
I love writing in both of my series and fully plan to keep at it, and I’ve found the best way to stay on track is to alternate. I’ll write a longer, more complex book, then follow it with one of my light and fun Hobson Hills books.
It works for me!
What genres do you enjoy? Are there any that you simply can’t stand?
I like all genres. Romance of any kind is my go to though. 😀 The things I cannot stand in my books (not really genres, more like tropes?) are lots of angst (a little is ok), characters that are too stupid to live, cheating (This is a big no-no for me. It ruins my enjoyment of the book and characters), or the cliche of miscommunication/misunderstanding leading to the MCs breaking up until they get back together. I hate not finishing a book and try to plow on through, but sometimes I just have to give up because I get so angry at the stupidity of it all.
I adore books that have humour in them. Doesn’t matter what genre it is. The ones with humour tend to stick more in my mind then one that has say, suspense. Suspense is good too. 😉 There is a fine line when writing stories IMO. Too often it’s too easy to guess the plot. Usually the plot is so obvious that the book becomes boring. That’s why I love your books, there is always some twist that I don’t predict along with the humour. J.D. Light, BA Tortuga and Julie Garwood are some others that I enjoy that have humour in them. There are some others but I can’t think of them atm.
I have a bunch of MM romance authors that are automatic buys, they all write MM romance but different genres of it. Mary Calmes, Sean Michael, Andrew Grey, Amy Lane, Rhys Ford, the first 2 mentioned above, and you. Just to name a few. 😉 I have eclectic tastes in romance books, so I’m always on the lookout for new books/authors.
I’m with you. I like pretty much all genres. One of the normal troupes I will never write is rockstars. I can’t stand them, no matter how well written they are.
I also feel very strongly about cheating. I’ve tossed books across the room a time or two.
Another pet peeve of mine is when one MC doesn’t respect the other for some reason. For example, my sister loved one particular author that always had the same plot. One MC would assume things about the other MC and treat them like garbage. Then the truth came out and they all lived happily ever after with minimal apologies or explanation. Boo!!!