So no surprises here: I like the genres I like. Everyone has a personal favorite. Or favoriteS. I have several that I love– Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, and a dash of Literary. Every once in a while throw in a dash of Cozy Mystery.
Most of those genres have sub-genres from within. Some stories smash things together, some subsets are directly related to tone. You wouldn’t want to confuse a Dark Romance with a Rom-Com for instance. Two VERY different types of stories.
I’ve talked about being on a reading tear. It has almost all been romance. Personally, for me as a writer, I normally read in a different genre than I am currently writing. Or trying to write.
Right now I’m writing dark and twisty fantasy right now and that’s ok.
I’m reading romance. A lot of romance
And I just found an author (Pippa Grant if you’re curious) who has nailed the Rom-Com. We are talking howling. Laughing so hard I had to put the phone down because I was crying. We had 2 painful crotch shots, a scene that made me think the hero had eaten some special brownies, him getting puked on, falling in deer poop… And reminding me that Rom-Com is specifically supposed to be funny.
That’s not always the case. Some Romances are light, but not necessarily funny yet they are called Rom-Com for want of a better name. Chick-Lit sounds bad, like an insult. That’s a te.fr way back yonder, and I probably used it too.
It’s not that the books are bad at the comedy aspect, it’s that the comedy isn’t part of the DNA of the book.
It’s probably just me. But I really wish there was a team to come up with names for these sub-genres that were a little bit better at hitting what it really is.
Because if it says Rom-Com I should at least giggle
Right?
Ta, my Lovelies. I’m off to write something dark and twisty before I go back to reading the real funny shit
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