I'm quite confused about what genre to label the MS I'm getting ready to query, since it seems to straddle the line between many. Here's a short synopsis:
A man crashes his car and wakes up in detox. He decides he needs to quit drinking. He tries to put his life back together by working the 12 steps and making amends, but everything goes wrong. People start turning their backs on him. He later finds out that one of the people he wronged in his old life is out to ruin him by turning people against him. That situation comes to a head with an eventual showdown.
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It's a little bit literary since it's character-driven in the sense that it's thematically complex. But I don't know if my prose is quite flashy enough to call it literary.
It's a bit suspense/thriller in that it's multi-POV and the tension builds and builds to a climax. There's fist fights, guns, sex, etc. But the suspense is gradual... it's not continual life or death like most suspense/thrillers.
It's a bit mystery in that the main character has to piece together the events of the night he quit drinking (he blacked out) to make amends to people from his past. But the mystery is secondary to the main story about his growth as a person.
I've been calling it "contemporary fiction", but it doesn't feel right. I've read lots of advice blogs that suggest to be as specific as possible when querying.
Thanks in advance for your help!
A man crashes his car and wakes up in detox. He decides he needs to quit drinking. He tries to put his life back together by working the 12 steps and making amends, but everything goes wrong. People start turning their backs on him. He later finds out that one of the people he wronged in his old life is out to ruin him by turning people against him. That situation comes to a head with an eventual showdown.
****
It's a little bit literary since it's character-driven in the sense that it's thematically complex. But I don't know if my prose is quite flashy enough to call it literary.
It's a bit suspense/thriller in that it's multi-POV and the tension builds and builds to a climax. There's fist fights, guns, sex, etc. But the suspense is gradual... it's not continual life or death like most suspense/thrillers.
It's a bit mystery in that the main character has to piece together the events of the night he quit drinking (he blacked out) to make amends to people from his past. But the mystery is secondary to the main story about his growth as a person.
I've been calling it "contemporary fiction", but it doesn't feel right. I've read lots of advice blogs that suggest to be as specific as possible when querying.
Thanks in advance for your help!