Okay, here\u2019s the thing about genre: I don\u2019t know where I fit.<\/p>\n
The first novel I ever wrote . . . (well, let\u2019s be honest, it was the first novel I tried<\/i> to write) was a terrible science fiction story about a civil war between the Earth and the moon. It was amazingly awful and it clocked in at just over 50,000 words.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d written it for a class and my professor gave me a kind and much understated critique:\u00a0 \u201cIt needs work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boy did it ever. I think there was only a single scene in the entire novel where she\u2019d penned \u201cThis is good.\u201d Everything else was a blood bath of editing marks and suggestions.<\/p>\n
Still, though, I was undeterred. I had the overconfidence of youth and I was sure that my genius would eventually be recognized. (Did I mention that during the writing of that novel I had decided that dialogue was overrated and that the reader would spend most of their time in the characters\u2019 minds and the majority of my novel would be told through story action? I don\u2019t think I can accurately describe what a train wreck this was.)<\/p>\n
Under the tutelage of this same professor I also attempted several horror short stories. Years later, I would describe those efforts as truly awful and my professor set aside her tact so she could agree with me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey really were,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ouch. Can a brother get an emotional Band-Aid?<\/p>\n
I am nothing if not resilient, so I shrugged off this body blow and continued to work. At the same school, but under the guidance of a different professor, I completed two mystery novels, one as an undergrad and one in graduate school. Both stories were gritty and hard-boiled because, you know, I\u2019m hard core and deep in the streets.<\/p>\n
The results: both lacked authenticity, neither was compelling. As my newfound mentor put it, \u201cMaybe you\u2019re too nice for this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was. I still am. I\u2019m admittedly soft, and semi-privileged, so unless snark ever becomes deadly, I\u2019m pretty much harmless.<\/p>\n
But I still wanted to write, damn it! So I kept at it, even though I had no idea where I belonged.<\/p>\n
The things I write about now, more often than not, either amuse or intrigue me. I love crafting a good joke and I\u2019ll create an entire piece of flash fiction around a character speaking a single line of dialogue just because I think it might produce a chuckle. I also like to be freaked out, so I\u2019ll go dark if I\u2019m in one of those kinds of moods.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m not consistent, and if I\u2019m honest, that worries me a bit.<\/p>\n
The novel I just completed is called Diptastic<\/i>. It\u2019s part mystery, part adventure, more of a treasure hunt than anything else, and it\u2019s mainly me just screwing around and trying to be funny. When it was time to slap a cover page on that bad boy so I could send it out to some of my friends, I froze at the line just under the title.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the place where you\u2019re supposed to put \u201cA Mystery Novel\u201d or \u201cA Horror Novel\u201d or \u201cA Suspense Novel.\u201d I didn\u2019t know what to say, so here\u2019s what I wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiptastic: A novel that might make you laugh, unless you\u2019re dead inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
I like it. It works for this story and I think I\u2019ll keep it. But I have no idea what I\u2019m going to do the next time out.<\/p>\n
I never do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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