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Memoir, YA, Psych Thriller, Erotica - in the same series?

Thread starter thedark
Start date Sep 30, 2014

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thedark

Weaving through the night.

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Sep 30, 2014

#1

I know the answer. It's a bad idea to cross genre lines in the same series, isn't it?

I'm hoping I'm wrong. The books are calling to be written differently, but they're all the same series. But they are also each stand alone.

To put that better into context, my near-finished WIP is Book 3, a Psych Thriller about a young vigilante held in an underground base by a vindictive black ops group. I started out of order, because The Dark was just begging to be written sooner than the others.

There are four vigilante sisters -- identical quads. They meet over time, as news of the others' exploits hits the media and one by one, they discover they have sisters and they gather in New York City, like a young whirlwind of dark justice.

Book 4, the sequel to The Dark, is just begging to be an erotica. I could curtail that deeply delightful plotline and reshape it back into a Thriller. Same FMC as The Dark.

But Book 2 has young adult written all over it. It's the story of the third sister discovering she's got twins, going to New York -- the whole "sisterhood" and "superpower (not literally)" thing going on. With some fancy mental footwork, I can rearrange that plotline, or scrap it all together until I've got another thriller on my hands, or at the very least a general adult fiction novel. The MC is 16, and due to timeline issues for the overall series, I can't shift her age.

Book 1... well, I could use some advice on what exactly Book 1 is to begin with. I'm calling it "Intertwined" for now. You ever read a memoir, like Aron Ralston's 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, that switches between the present moment (trapped in a canyon with his hand crushed under a boulder) and the past (his life before, how he decided to go for a hike in a remote canyon without telling anyone where he was going...)?

I was thinking of doing something a little unusual, and intertwining a memoir with snippets of fiction. I was held in captivity for four years as a teenager, and I'm ready to write about it. The vigilante sisters of the above series were my escape during that time -- I disappeared into crafting their stories when there was no other place to run. For me, they were an integral part of how I survived, and they belong with my story.

That's the sentimental side of me talking. The "my god, I'm actually going to write about this, and soon" part of me.

Then there's the practical part of me. The writer. The "I want an agent and I want to be published" part of me. That part's asking if that's a good idea, or bad. Actually, no. I'm not asking that. I know I can do it, and do it well. I can intertwine the stories. I'm really more asking if one of the other books were to publish first, would it be weird for my fiction-invested audience to look to a memoir for the start of that series? The fiction element of Book 1 is the story of the first girl, waking up alone in New York City with a broken arm, no memory, and a crystal quantum computer around her neck (and yes, I know now that's a total trope for starting a story -- but I was 12). It's the story of the next sister, discovering she has a twin. Choosing between her first forever-home and her identical twin.

Conversely, I expect my own experience in captivity will come up in correlation with The Dark, and readers will be curious and want to read the memoir for its own sake.

So I've got myself a memoir with intertwined fiction, a young adult novel, a near finished psych thriller, an erotica (sidenote: they're 18 now), and book 5 is shaping up as a general thriller or mystery, with book 6 edging into SciFi.

*headsmack*

Can I do that? Should I do that?

I can modify and reshape the stories in my head before they're on paper -- make them all adult thrillers. But if I can make them each stand alone, can they live happily in separate genres?

Advice is most welcome. I'm at a good place to ask, for only one is written.

And on writing styles and my confidence therein... I do thriller well. I do erotica well. I'll do memoir well. I'm not as confident on YA, for I tend to play well with intense themes; dark themes. But deep down, I'm bound to have some fluffy YA sisterhood writing in me.

Chortle.

Thanks guys. This overly-explained and yet still vague question has been bugging me, and it's starting to really matter as I decide which book to write next, and how to write it.

I appreciate your help and your advice.

~ Anna

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Sep 30, 2014

#2

I'd read it, the series or whatever you form it to be. I have no clue if it would be a turn off to some agents or publishers (that I don't know) BUT I do know if you write it, there will in fact be an audience for it. I'd say go with your gut and write what you want to write about most. LOVE LOVE LOVE the whole idea of it all. I KNOW for a fact you can pull it off. As you know, I love reading your posts. And that's just a sweet little taste of your writing, so yes, I think it would be fantastic if you ask me.

Last edited: Sep 30, 2014

thedark

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#3

Undercover said:
It'd read it, the series or whatever you form it to be. I have no clue if it would be a turn off to some agents or publishers (that I don't know) BUT I do know if you write it, there will in fact be an audience for it. I'd say go with your gut and write what you want to write about most. LOVE LOVE LOVE the whole idea of it all. I KNOW for a fact you can pull it off. As you know, I love reading your posts. And that's just a sweet little taste of your writing, so yes, I think it would be fantastic if you ask me.

My god, I think I just blushed.

I don't blush easily.

Thank you, UC.

Lillith1991

The Hobbit-Vulcan hybrid

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Sep 30, 2014

#4

Undercover said:
It'd read it, the series or whatever you form it to be. I have no clue if it would be a turn off to some agents or publishers (that I don't know) BUT I do know if you write it, there will in fact be an audience for it. I'd say go with your gut and write what you want to write about most. LOVE LOVE LOVE the whole idea of it all. I KNOW for a fact you can pull it off. As you know, I love reading your posts. And that's just a sweet little taste of your writing, so yes, I think it would be fantastic if you ask me.

Seconding this post so hard right now. I think it would probably be hard to pull off but I can totally see myself reading a series like this. There's something just so interesting about the entire concept. Now, as UC mention, I don't know if it would make agents/publishers nervous so I can't say anything one way or another on that. But there's deffinitly a readership for such a series.

Last edited: Sep 30, 2014

Kylabelle

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Sep 30, 2014

#5

The further I got into reading this post, Anna, the more excited about this series I became. I do believe you can pull off the genre switching, and the memoir/fiction interweaving, and I too would read this, in a heartbeat.

That said, I am far from the one to give any practical advice whatever about publishing and agent representation and markets.

But, I love this idea and how you're treating it and as we know, rules are broken every day and sometimes successfully and no one can really predict any of it.

I'll be very interested in how this works out for you. Good luck with all of it!

Latina Bunny

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Sep 30, 2014

#6

I think this can work.

Sounds a good premise.

Just make sure you know who you're submitting it to.

Just one thing...

Are each part stand-alone-ish enough to be divided into individual markets?

The YA market may be different from the erotica market... How "YA" is this part of the story, really? You can have adult fiction with teen/child characters, you know.

It's a personal thing, too. For example, someone who reads YA or thriller may not like to read erotica, and someone who reads erotica may not enjoy the YA aspect, and someone who likes contemporary thrillers may not like the scifi aspects, etc. (As a romance, SFF and MG/YA reader, I would be annoyed if the author changed the genre and market in the same series.)

Maybe you can send it to a more general fiction market? Seems like most of the story is mostly a (literary?) thriller or suspense with a pinch of scifi?

Or, split the books among the markets?

Maybe when you get an agent with the first book, that agent can give advice about what to do with the later books?

Last edited: Sep 30, 2014

Jamesaritchie

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Sep 30, 2014

#7

It's a horrible idea. Particularly the erotica part. But you also have the cart seven hundred miles ahead of the horse. In fact the horse hasn't even been born yet. Write one of these novels, and sell it. Then we can talk.

cornflake

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Sep 30, 2014

#8

thedark said:
I know the answer. It's a bad idea to cross genre lines in the same series, isn't it?

I'm hoping I'm wrong. The books are calling to be written differently, but they're all the same series. But they are also each stand alone.

To put that better into context, my near-finished WIP is Book 3, a Psych Thriller about a young vigilante held in an underground base by a vindictive black ops group. I started out of order, because The Dark was just begging to be written sooner than the others.

There are four vigilante sisters -- identical quads. They meet over time, as news of the others' exploits hits the media and one by one, they discover they have sisters and they gather in New York City, like a young whirlwind of dark justice.

Book 4, the sequel to The Dark, is just begging to be an erotica. I could curtail that deeply delightful plotline and reshape it back into a Thriller. Same FMC as The Dark.

But Book 2 has young adult written all over it. It's the story of the third sister discovering she's got twins, going to New York -- the whole "sisterhood" and "superpower (not literally)" thing going on. With some fancy mental footwork, I can rearrange that plotline, or scrap it all together until I've got another thriller on my hands, or at the very least a general adult fiction novel. The MC is 16, and due to timeline issues for the overall series, I can't shift her age.

Book 1... well, I could use some advice on what exactly Book 1 is to begin with. I'm calling it "Intertwined" for now. You ever read a memoir, like Aron Ralston's 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, that switches between the present moment (trapped in a canyon with his hand crushed under a boulder) and the past (his life before, how he decided to go for a hike in a remote canyon without telling anyone where he was going...)?

I was thinking of doing something a little unusual, and intertwining a memoir with snippets of fiction. I was held in captivity for four years as a teenager, and I'm ready to write about it. The vigilante sisters of the above series were my escape during that time -- I disappeared into crafting their stories when there was no other place to run. For me, they were an integral part of how I survived, and they belong with my story.

That's the sentimental side of me talking. The "my god, I'm actually going to write about this, and soon" part of me.

Then there's the practical part of me. The writer. The "I want an agent and I want to be published" part of me. That part's asking if that's a good idea, or bad. Actually, no. I'm not asking that. I know I can do it, and do it well. I can intertwine the stories. I'm really more asking if one of the other books were to publish first, would it be weird for my fiction-invested audience to look to a memoir for the start of that series? The fiction element of Book 1 is the story of the first girl, waking up alone in New York City with a broken arm, no memory, and a crystal quantum computer around her neck (and yes, I know now that's a total trope for starting a story -- but I was 12). It's the story of the next sister, discovering she has a twin. Choosing between her first forever-home and her identical twin.

Conversely, I expect my own experience in captivity will come up in correlation with The Dark, and readers will be curious and want to read the memoir for its own sake.

So I've got myself a memoir with intertwined fiction, a young adult novel, a near finished psych thriller, an erotica (sidenote: they're 18 now), and book 5 is shaping up as a general thriller or mystery, with book 6 edging into SciFi.

*headsmack*

Can I do that? Should I do that?

I can modify and reshape the stories in my head before they're on paper -- make them all adult thrillers. But if I can make them each stand alone, can they live happily in separate genres?

Advice is most welcome. I'm at a good place to ask, for only one is written.

And on writing styles and my confidence therein... I do thriller well. I do erotica well. I'll do memoir well. I'm not as confident on YA, for I tend to play well with intense themes; dark themes. But deep down, I'm bound to have some fluffy YA sisterhood writing in me.

Chortle.

Thanks guys. This overly-explained and yet still vague question has been bugging me, and it's starting to really matter as I decide which book to write next, and how to write it.

I appreciate your help and your advice.

~ Anna

Ralston's is a memoir. That it uses the flashbacks that way doesn't really change what it is.

This is interesting.

Have you written more than the theoretical (in a numbering sense) book three that you're working on?

I think maybe the way to do this would be to work on the memoir next and see where it gets you. I'm not sure why you want or feel there should be fiction involved in it - is it to make it part of the quads story or for its own sake?

Here's why I think that might be the way to go (and it's obviously simply opinion and I don't know you past posts and add additional disclaimers and salt and etc. here pls.) - this is, obviously, all very dear to you, and very longstanding, for, again, obvious reasons.

What really stood out to me in the post was the thing about the girl waking up being tropey. You know it, you were 12. That's cool, and it may indeed some day become a YA thing, and these all may be different things that in some way go together, though yeah, YA, erotica, memoir, sound like a weird sell to be parts of a single series, to put it mildly, heh.

However, I can't help but wonder if putting the memoir on paper, and maybe discussing the quads and how they were part of your experience, would, in some way, not bring them together for you. Perhaps in a way that'd focus your further energies on something you're not yet anticipating.

I'm not saying what you've got here is bad; I don't think it is (not that my opinion matters). I think it's interesting but it is, as you note, scattered across areas in a way that's problematic for what you envision.

If you were to go to the heart of the matter, as it were, and get to your own story, it may sort of shift how you see their stories, or how you need to get their stories out separately, if that makes any sense. Or, it may not and you can ignore me.

Liosse de Velishaf

Banned

Sep 30, 2014

#9

The main reason many agents or publishers might object is a marketing issue. Memoir, Thriller, YA, and Erotica all have very different markets, at least among the general book-buying public.

That said, if you want to do this or similar, I would suggest not writing one of the books as YA. I would also note that YA is not a genre in the same way as the rest of these. It's an age-based marketing category. I think you'd be better off writing that book as an adult novel that just happens to have a teenaged character.

Also, the process for selling a memoir is a bit different than selling commercial fiction. A lot of agents and many if not most publisher imprints tend to be somewhat specialized in the clients and books they take on, so there would also be the complication of finding an agent or agents and publisher or publishers who have the skill and the interest to sell a complex project like this.

Imagine writing the query letter(s) for this project.

No matter what, this is likely to be a difficult venture.

This is strictly on the business side of the question, though. I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't give it a try.

Latina Bunny

Lover of Contemporary/Fantasy Romance (she/her)

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Sep 30, 2014

#10

Liosse de Velishaf said:
That said, if you want to do this or similar, I would suggest not writing one of the books as YA. I would also note that YA is not a genre in the same way as the rest of these. It's an age-based marketing category. I think you'd be better off writing that book as an adult novel that just happens to have a teenaged character.

Also, the process for selling a memoir is a bit different than selling commercial fiction.

That's what I said, too.

I just can't see YA and erotica mixed in the same series.

If the YA is standalone-ish enough, then it should be seperated from the series (or written under a different pen-name or something).

From what I see in some erotic publishers/imprints vs YA imprints/pubs, I'm pretty sure there is a different market there, but I don't have any publishing experience, so I could be wrong...

Oh, I forgot to ask: Is memoir fiction or non-fiction? It sounds like a fictional story based on some real experiences, but is that a memoir? I'm asking for real, because I'm not familiar with how memoirs are supposed to be. Are they usually non-fiction?

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

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Sep 30, 2014

#11

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Memoir is technically nonfiction. A few agents list it with fiction, however.

From things I've seen elsewhere on the site, the OP's personal story is similar to the book(s) mentioned in the post.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Latina Bunny

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#12

Ah, so the OP will have to find an agent that specializes in memoirs. So maybe two or more agents, depending on how many fields the agent specializes in.

I mean, the OP has quite a range of genres there: thriller, nonfiction?, scifi, YA, erotica. It may be tough to reach all of those audiences. For example, I know some people in real life who would read and watch contemporary thrillers and mysteries, but aren't into having scifi elements suddenly thrown into it. (Unless it's a scifi thriller.)

Ooh, random idea: maybe the YA and/or erotica book or books could be turned into New Adult fiction? Either that, or just make it into adult fiction. (Sorry, still hung up on erotica and YA.)

Anyway, this is all speculation, since the above-mentioned books may not have been written yet. Thedark, why don't you try finishing (and editing) the current book that's just "begging to be written", and then get some beta-readers to help, etc.

Maybe by the time you've finished the "third" book, it may have changed to the point of affecting your series game plan.

Last edited: Sep 30, 2014

thedark

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#13

You guys rock.

Just a little clarification overall. The Dark, book 3, will be finished in about three weeks. It's been through betas (though I'm planning on a final round), and it's all edited and pretty (in a dark little way). I'm thinking ahead to when The Dark is out on query. I understand what a long process that can be, and I'm planning which novel to write next. This is a big question I've asked -- it reframes everything, from the direction the novels take to my agent search for The Dark.

And I appreciate each and every response I've received.

bunny-gypsy said:
Are each part stand-alone-ish enough to be divided into individual markets?

The YA market may be different from the erotica market... How "YA" is this part of the story, really? You can have adult fiction with teen/child characters, you know.

It's a personal thing, too. For example, someone who reads YA or thriller may not like to read erotica, and someone who reads erotica may not enjoy the YA aspect, and someone who likes contemporary thrillers may not like the scifi aspects, etc. (As a romance, SFF and MG/YA reader, I would be annoyed if the author changed the genre and market in the same series.)

Maybe you can send it to a more general fiction market? Seems like most of the story is mostly a (literary?) thriller or suspense with a pinch of scifi?

Or, split the books among the markets?

Maybe when you get an agent with the first book, that agent can give advice about what to do with the later books?

The Dark is stand alone enough to fly solo. I made a point of it, because I'm starting wildly out of order for a series. And the others can be, and I think will have to be, especially if they cross genres like this.

I pegged the YA novel as young adult based on the themes it explores, and because it's the only one of the lot that's not framed around the essential elements of a thriller. The whole idea of mixing a YA novel and an erotica in the same series is bugging me too, and I'm least vested/excited about that particular plot line. That usually means it's time to tear the idea apart and rearrange it into something I'm passionate about. I'll see if that doesn't turn out another adult thriller, or at the least, an NA novel.

I like your advice of asking my agent how to handle this series structure. It's just that, in the meantime, I need to decide between writing the sequel (book 4, the one that would do so delightfully well as an erotica), or between the memoir. Big difference, and I'll need a focused project to work on while querying The Dark (right now, the sequel is winning, but only by a small margin).

Jamesaritchie said:
It's a horrible idea. Particularly the erotica part. But you also have the cart seven hundred miles ahead of the horse. In fact the horse hasn't even been born yet. Write one of these novels, and sell it. Then we can talk.

Okay.

You know I love you, James, and respect your curmudgeony advice. And even if I grumble, I recognize that you are usually right. I'll take your advice -- one novel is written, and I'm going to go sell it. And we'll talk.

But I'm not sitting on my hands while The Dark is out querying, or on submission.

cornflake said:
Ralston's is a memoir. That it uses the flashbacks that way doesn't really change what it is.

This is interesting.

Have you written more than the theoretical (in a numbering sense) book three that you're working on?

No. Just outlines for Intertwined (memoir/book 1). Scenes from book 4 are swimming around in my head, and I'll finish that novel by the end of the year if I start in November. Then spend 6 months cheerfully tearing it apart... But back to your question, no, which is why I asked this question now, to decide what path to go down.

I think maybe the way to do this would be to work on the memoir next and see where it gets you. I'm not sure why you want or feel there should be fiction involved in it - is it to make it part of the quads story or for its own sake?

More because the story of the New York Girls in Black is my story, all at the same time. It's intertwined with those years of captivity. I don't think my story could stand alone, without theirs. I don't think I could describe what life was like in that abandoned restaurant without sharing the stories I used to survive. If I never wrote a stand alone novel about the NYGIBs, I would still intertwine them with my own.

Here's why I think that might be the way to go (and it's obviously simply opinion and I don't know you past posts and add additional disclaimers and salt and etc. here pls.) - this is, obviously, all very dear to you, and very longstanding, for, again, obvious reasons.

Yes, the stories are dear to me. But I'm also a grown up, and I realize that stories aren't to be coddled and loved to the exclusion of telling a story that will sell. The Dark's purpose is to entertain, to chill, and to leave the reader thinking about it for weeks afterwards. It's not my beloved (well, it is, but it's a product in its own right, vs a reflection of me or my story).

What really stood out to me in the post was the thing about the girl waking up being tropey. You know it, you were 12. That's cool, and it may indeed some day become a YA thing, and these all may be different things that in some way go together, though yeah, YA, erotica, memoir, sound like a weird sell to be parts of a single series, to put it mildly, heh.

However, I can't help but wonder if putting the memoir on paper, and maybe discussing the quads and how they were part of your experience, would, in some way, not bring them together for you. Perhaps in a way that'd focus your further energies on something you're not yet anticipating.

That's really quite sage advice, which I very much appreciate. I've already noticed, from my first draft of The Dark, how the characters shifted from my original memories of them into characters in their own right. The story grows more complex and rolls and shifts in new and fascinating directions. I already wonder if it's too late to start at the beginning of their story, for what if they became different than the characters in The Dark? The more I write them, the stronger and more interesting they become.

I'm not saying what you've got here is bad; I don't think it is (not that my opinion matters). I think it's interesting but it is, as you note, scattered across areas in a way that's problematic for what you envision.

If you were to go to the heart of the matter, as it were, and get to your own story, it may sort of shift how you see their stories, or how you need to get their stories out separately, if that makes any sense. Or, it may not and you can ignore me. It makes perfect sense, and thank you. When I first started writing The Dark a year ago, it was all tangled up in my head for a bit. Was I writing my story or Kay's? It's all straightened out now and very clearly it's own tale, but I see your point about how writing my own can further tangle/detangle them.

Perhaps, for now, that's why I call that first book Intertwined.

Liosse de Velishaf said:
The main reason many agents or publishers might object is a marketing issue. Memoir, Thriller, YA, and Erotica all have very different markets, at least among the general book-buying public.

That said, if you want to do this or similar, I would suggest not writing one of the books as YA. I would also note that YA is not a genre in the same way as the rest of these. It's an age-based marketing category. I think you'd be better off writing that book as an adult novel that just happens to have a teenaged character.

Also, the process for selling a memoir is a bit different than selling commercial fiction. A lot of agents and many if not most publisher imprints tend to be somewhat specialized in the clients and books they take on, so there would also be the complication of finding an agent or agents and publisher or publishers who have the skill and the interest to sell a complex project like this.

Imagine writing the query letter(s) for this project.

No matter what, this is likely to be a difficult venture.

This is strictly on the business side of the question, though. I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't give it a try.

Imagine the query letter indeed.

The marketing challenge is my biggest concern. And as James said, the cart is much before the horse, but really, there is no better time to know what genres they will be/should be than before they are written.

bunny-gypsy said:
That's what I said, too.

I just can't see YA and erotica mixed in the same series.

If the YA is standalone-ish enough, then it should be seperated from the series (or written under a different pen-name or something).

From what I see in some erotic publishers/imprints vs YA imprints/pubs, I'm pretty sure there is a different market there, but I don't have any publishing experience, so I could be wrong...

Oh, I forgot to ask: Is memoir fiction or non-fiction? It sounds like a fictional story based on some real experiences, but is that a memoir? I'm asking for real, because I'm not familiar with how memoirs are supposed to be. Are they usually non-fiction?

Siri Kirpal answered well, but a memoir is non-fiction. I'm planning to write a non-fiction memoir about my own experience in captivity. The Dark, book 3, is also about captivity, but is not a fictional telling of my story in any way. It just draws on my experience, and makes for a more intense story. For the memoir, I intend to weave a non-captivity related story of the New York Girls in Black. The first two sister's stories.

Siri Kirpal said:
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Memoir is technically nonfiction. A few agents list it with fiction, however.

From things I've seen elsewhere on the site, the OP's personal story is similar to the book(s) mentioned in the post.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Yes... Memoir is generally marketed an entirely different way. And the selling point of that book is the actual story of what happened to me. Exorcisms in the dark of night, married at 14 for overseas political alliances, crazed women with razor blades, notes left in dusty woodpiles, multiple passports hidden under the same man's pillow... Escaping all that with three days to adjust back into the sunlight before walking onto a college campus. I'm not worried about that book selling. I'm worried about them tracking me down again (all due precautions already in place).

But writing it will be worth it.

bunny-gypsy said:
Ah, so the OP will have to find an agent that specializes in memoirs. So maybe two or more agents, depending on how many fields the agent specializes in.

I mean, the OP has quite a range of genres there: thriller, nonfiction?, scifi, YA, erotica. It may be tough to reach all of those audiences. For example, I know some people in real life who would read and watch contemporary thrillers and mysteries, but aren't into having scifi elements suddenly thrown into it. (Unless it's a scifi thriller.)

I know! And I swear never to randomly drop sci-if on a reader without warning. Where's the line when it comes to quantum computer technology... (A largely rhetorical question, grin).

Ooh, random idea: maybe the YA and/or erotica book or books could be turned into New Adult fiction? Either that, or just make it into adult fiction. (Sorry, still hung up on erotica and YA.)

I'm hung up on YA and erotica too. That's the conflict that drew me to post here. What the hell am I supposed to do with an idea like that? You just.. can't. But dammit, the erotica wants to stay erotica or be a very racy thriller. I'm least enthused by the YA storyline, so it's on the back burner for tearing apart and reshaping into something I can be passionate about and all antsy to write.

Anyway, this is all speculation, since the above-mentioned books may not have been written yet. Thedark, why don't you try finishing (and editing) the current book that's just "begging to be written", and then get some beta-readers to help, etc.

Maybe by the time you've finished the "third" book, it may have changed to the point of affecting your series game plan.

You've probably seen this by now, but The Dark is near finished. Just touching up a few spots that are bugging me. It's been through betas, and it'll be ready to query in November (not to say my query letter will be ready--that's a whole 'nother set of squirrel teeth).

I'm just planning what to write when The Dark is out of my hands.

Again, I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. It helps highlight the marketing challenges faced by a series that crosses such large genre lines. If I want to do that, they better be able to stand alone. Or I tackle the next one with an eye on an adult market and see what my future agent advises.

Aren't I optimistic? Already chatting with that future agent.

But that's the thing... I'm not blindly optimistic.

I'm prepared.

And willing to reshape the stories in my head to publishable, intense novels.

~ Anna

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

Kind Benefactor

Super Member

Registered

Sep 30, 2014

#14

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

It would be wise to get an agent who specializes in memoir as well as the necessary assortment of fiction, but she won't need a memoir specialist for the books based (loosely) on her experience.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Kylabelle

unaccounted for

Kind Benefactor

Super Member

Registered

Oct 1, 2014

#15

I was just reading about author Tim O'Brien and came across this:

he began to write books that blurred the lines between fiction and memoir. His most famous book, a collection of linked short stories about the war, is The Things They Carried (1990); the stories in it feature a character named Tim O'Brien. In it, he wrote: "I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth."

My emphasis. This was in The Writer's Almanac this morning, Oct. 1, 2014. (Dating this because the link will go to the Almanac of the current date, whatever that is when it's clicked, but you can look up past issues from there.)

Last edited: Oct 1, 2014

SnowyWinters

Just the Right amount of Wrong

Registered

Oct 8, 2014

#16

Hey Anna,
I think The Dark is going to be a huge success! As far as what to work on next? Well, I find I'm drawn to a certain idea, or theme, and just go for it. It sort of chooses me. Just go with what you feel is right. You can always jump tracks when you land an agent. How's that for a little hand-holding? I'm on the optimism boat too.

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