I’ve also added the link to my review page but I wanted to make a separate post about the review because it’s my first for Dinah of Seneca and the reviewer really got the story, which thrilled me to no end.
Quote:
“Final Verdict: I think, given that many of us like our action mixed with a bit of romance and vice versa, this is a book with a wide appeal to fandom in particular. It’s well-researched, well-written, and enjoyable; classics geeks will like the setting and structure, but it’s not so specific that anyone else will feel shut out. It took me about two chapters to get into it, but after that I kept coming back to it whenever I had a spare moment, and I finished it over the course of a weekend which for me is pretty good. ”
The review did send pondering again about what exactly what genre my stories belong in.
I think Dinah of Seneca and Freya’s Gift are both alternate history romance, though the short story has much less action. Okay, much less physical action. Okay, wait, much less action involving *steel* swords and battles. 🙂
Basically, I wrote exactly the kind of romance I enjoy reading. But I have the feeling what I write is not what people envision when they hear the word “romance.” I was talking to an agent at a conference a couple of months ago and she said what I write falls into the gray category where it would likely not be on the romance shelves but, like Lois McMaster Bujold and Linnea Sinclair, it would be in the SF/F shelves in a bookstore.
It’s not an issue right now because the novella is an ebook and Dinah of Seneca won’t get mass distribution from my small press publisher. But it does confirm to me that I write in that gray area that I call relationship stories–though I can say right now that I can’t stand to write an unhappy ending.
I can write tense stories where bad things happen but I’m not going to write an out and out tragedy. It’s just not in me.
I want some hope in what I read. And I can’t write a story without some hope in it.
*Aside on the reviewer: Dr. Who & Torchwood fans should check out the rest of copperbadge’s livejournal. It has some great, great posts.
Nice review. Very supportive and straight forward.
As for genre classification, I’m right there with you. I’ve been submitting my ms as Fantasy, but I had an editor tell me today that it probably isn’t.
Whoa.
Also, I’m pretty much with you on the happy endings. If I do the unhappy ones, it’s going to be few and far between. Also, it has to feel organic and not simply for shock value.
– Ray
Huh. I’d classify your work as fantasy. Hmm…
I’ve found that YA books seem to have a much greater range of what they’ll allow as far as concepts. I think that’s why so many cool concepts end up being published as YA.
Yeah, tragedy has to feel right. I love the tragic scenes in The New Frontier. They hit hard but they were so well done. I can only hope the death in Dinah works that well.
I clicked on your blog through the Home Page at CTRWA’s website and I’m looking forward to meeting you at the August 14 meeting in North Haven and finding out more about managing online communities!
Marie Roy aka Collette Thomas 🙂
Thank you! I hope to live up to billing. 🙂