Hi everyone at Give a Girl a Pen,

I wanted to share my exciting news. My debut novel, Dark Future a sexy time-travel romance, is coming out October 11th from Avon Impulse. And what can be better than a new novel out…a sale I tell you. Right now, Dark Future is on sale for .99cents at Amazon for a limited time. To whet your appetite here’s the back cover blurb.

Awakened in the middle of the night by a future version of herself, Kris Davenport is given a mission: go forward in time to save the world—and His life. Of course, her future self doesn’t tell her who he is, just sends her into an abyss and straight into an alien invasion.

He turns out to be ConRad Smith, the callous, untrusting Commander of Earth’s army and the world’s last defense. There’s only one way to know for sure if this strange woman is an alien spy—slice her throat. Except, he didn’t anticipate the heat he would feel as he interrogates the hot-tempered, warm-blooded woman. For a man whose sole focus has been survival, she’s more temptation than he can handle. But a world on the brink of destruction leaves no room for love…and time is running out.

Come check it out on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Future-ebook/dp/B005JSMM8Q

Thanks everyone for all your support. Happy reading!

KC Klein is the author of Dark Future, a sexy futuristic time-travel. She became serious about writing three years ago and was as surprised as anyone when her stories took a turn toward dark and snarky. Today, she divides her time between taking care of her family and driving in circles around Arizona, too busy creating stories in her head to pay attention to mere road signs. KC would love a visit at kckleinbooks.com.

This post was inspired from my own blog, and turned into something bigger and longer as a part of a contest. It also goes along with what Suzanne already wrote in To Genre or Not to Genre?
Here ya go::

My one, true aspiration is to be a serious, mainstream writer. I want the masses to read my work. But, I have no desire to sell out in order to make that dream come true. I fear I might have quite the opposite problem.

The first novel I am writing and will soon be querying has become an adult, dark urban fantasy. One of my readers described it as ‘twisted, adult fiction.’ And that was when I was still marketing it as a somewhat tame, young adult book. I have since changed it drastically and even added a ‘thriller’ tag. I’ve never been quite sure what to make of that early comment, but I took it as a compliment of sorts.

So getting to the point, here’s my potential problem. Is it a risk to send this work out into the ether as my initial foray? My reason for asking is simple. I have quite a few projects in the works, one being a memoir. It’s not exactly all puppies and unicorns, but it’s not death and destruction, either. Another baby of mine is an adult sci-fi / fantasy based on quantum physics’ take on parallel universes. So you see, I’m not necessarily a ‘dark fiction writer.’ Although I do rather enjoy that genre.

I’ve read many articles and blogs, along with The New York Times reviews, that describe most types of horror as not being true literature. Is this, in fact, how the world sees dark writing? And, if that is the case, will I automatically be typecast as a ‘so-so writer’ who might not get the deserved attention for a second book that is completely different?

Hence the title of this blog. Am I shooting myself in the foot, making it bloody impossible to step forward on said foot into the fascinating world of the writing business? I’m considering a small torch, but am not quite sure what would work as such.

Part of the aforementioned NYT book review states, “Why would a serious writer like Patrick McGrath want to play by the rules of an outdated genre and borrow the trappings of the Gothic novel?” This is just one of the things said about Dr. Haggard’s Disease.

Does writing horror or thriller novels automatically make the work rubbish, pulp, or junk? I don’t believe so, but (some) reviewers seem to disagree. And who am I to argue with them? Furthermore, if readers pay attention to these reviews, will I only be read by those who enjoy the genre? What happens when my next book is released? (I’m ever the optimist–I’ve not even finished my first manuscript.) Will mainstream readers want to read that novel, or will I be brushed aside as inane and egregious?

Again, my optimism tells me there has to be such a thing as mainstream, literary horror. Does it all have to go the way of fantasy and horror that’s considered dross? (Not that there’s anything wrong with those works–I’m quite the fan.) If this genre I’m hoping for does exist, can I be a part of it?

Do you know any of these answers, dear reader? As it’s quite obvious I’ve no clue, the point of writing this is to seek help. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this position. Even the darkest of dark needs a little light shed on it every now and again or else it might escape into oblivion. If only we writers could convince others of the existence of well-written horror, the topic of this essay would be a non-issue. And wouldn’t that be grand?

But for now, I’m stuck. I need a little shove out of the mud as my tires are spinning entirely too fast and my thoughts are getting nowhere as a result. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.

Do I risk the dark waters of the horror realm and hope not to drown on my way to the stream that we call ‘main?’ Can I? Yes–can I? That is the question. This is like Jeopardy in reverse. Go on. Push your buzzer. The fun in this game is no answer can be wrong. Maybe I can walk away with some money (twisted and backwards, I know. But hey, the game is antithetical, as I just said). Your incentive is that when I get that huge advance, I’ll then toss some cash your way for playing along with me.

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In the movie (made from a memoir) Postcards from the edge, the main character says what has become one of my all time favorite lines  “I am NOT a box, I don’t have sides!”  I love that quote.

For those of us who don’t write genre fiction, we flounder in a sea alone… it seems… trying to put labels and affix sticky tape on our writing to make it fit into a tidy box so we can sell it.  I find this alarming and unproductive.  Don’t get me wrong, I get the idea.  I know that it is sometimes our job, as writers (especially those of us at the “hunting for agent representation stage”) to make our books an easier sell.  To perfect that “elevator pitch.”  And it is true that if you can’t sum up your work in a few sentences, you probably don’t have a good handle on your creation or narrative.  But genre?  Puhlease.

If I had to put a genre on my novel it would be:

adult/upmarket/ literary/Gothic/women’s/historical/family saga/fiction.  That list, in a query, would get me deleted immediately.  But it is true.  My book spans genre.  As do many other novels.

One agent (who has my full manuscript right now) wrote on her blog about the YA audience and how old the protag needed to be in order to fulfill the genre criteria.  I posted a comment asking “What happens if your protag grows up?” She commented back, “It is best to keep your character one age.”

Hmmmmm. What does this do to literature?  What happened to coming of age stories?  Jane Eyre goes from child to adult, Heathcliff and Catherine, Dickens characters, etcetera.  And then there are wonderful novels like “The Notebook” that weave character’s ages in and out (Ahem, can we say BACKSTORY that worked?) and lest we not forget Stephen King and Peter Straub in their epic work The Talisman.  In that book the protag is thirteen.  YA?  Adult?  Horror? Fantasy? Epic fantasy?

I suppose we could all write our first novels in formulaic genre code and sell them.  But I don’t know how I feel about that.  Are we supposed to write for the market and the agents, or for ourselves and the readers that may be cross genre as well?  What do you think?