A former journalist, Alice Alfonsi is a multi-published author in several genres and a New York Times best-selling media tie-in writer. Under the pen name Cleo Coyle, she pens two nationally bestselling mystery series for Penguin in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini, the first of which, On What Grounds: A Coffeehouse Mystery, is now in its fourteenth printing. Her most current project under her own name is an adaptation of the screenplay for the upcoming feature film Tron: Legacy into a junior novel.
Genre Blending and Your Character’s Love Life
Differences in genres are sometimes easy to recognize and sometimes not so easy. A small percentage of bookstore customers may puzzle over why the trade markets something as a fantasy versus a mystery, especially when the fantasy has a mystery in it and the mystery has a fantasy element. Most of the reading public probably doesn’t care. They simply want to be told a good story.
To an author seeking to publish, however, the question of what defines a genre is not a casual one. Understanding why a publisher puts a book in one genre as opposed to another may mean the difference between an acceptance call and a rejection notice.
A short time ago, mystery author Mary Jane Maffini posed a question to a group of published mystery authors. She then conveyed our answers in a workshop for a group of aspiring writers. To paraphrase MJ’s question:
“What is the difference between a romance with a mystery and a mystery with a romance?”
As I typed out my answer for MJ, I realized it would make an informative opening for a blog post on genre blending. Given Sunday’s date, let’s start with romance…
What defines a romance?
In the most basic terms, the main plot of a novel in the romance genre focuses on the protagonist’s love life. Countless permutations are possible in such a novel: small casts, epic tales, historical or contemporary settings. The style of the telling can be poetic, colloquial, melodramatic, stream of consciousness, epistolary. The couples involved may be straight or gay.
The protagonist in a romance may have other ongoing concerns. The book may feature additional subplots—a mystery or thriller element, a family drama, terminal illness, struggle for societal standing—but the love affair is the driving force. The engine of the plot is driven by encounters between the protagonist and his or her love.
Ultimately, what defines a romance is this primary plot question: Will the main character win or lose love? These days, romance novels almost always deliver a happily ever after ending for the reader.
What defines a mystery?
Again, in the most basic terms, the plot of a novel in the mystery genre focuses on the main character’s quest to uncover the guilty party after a crime has taken place, usually a murder but not always. The engine of this plot is driven by the protagonist following clues toward the solution of the crime.
Many writers describe the ultimate goal of a mystery protagonist as finding justice, but I don’t think that’s the best way to define the genre for writers who are new to it. I’m not entirely sure that all mystery protagonists are out for justice, which can be a complex and subjective idea.
In Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, for example, Poirot reveals the murderers and allows them to walk away. Were the murderers executing justice upon the victim? Certainly that can be argued, especially given the lack of a defining jurisdiction on the train. From an objective viewpoint, however, one can also argue that killing a man in his sleep is closer to vengeance or vigilantism.
Antiheroes in the mystery genre may not seek justice in the traditional sense, either. What they will always seek in the course of the story is the truth. The mystery protagonist may be involved in other subplots and have other concerns, including a love affair, but the main desire line for the protagonist should be discovering the guilty party (or parties), uncovering the lies, untangling the schemes, and excavating the answers to any questions surrounding the crime.
Sex and the Human Condition
Every day when I sit down to work, I do so with the understanding that I am writing a novel in the mystery genre, but ultimately (regardless of the apparent rules and strictures of genre) I am writing a novel.
A work of parody or avant-garde surrealism may intentionally use caricatures and stereotypes with little depth. For the most part, however, today’s readers expect multidimensional characters in their novels. This is where genre blending has served me well.
As experienced writers know, in order to portray a character as dimensional (characters that feel real, if you will), we must create traits that humanize him or her. A character’s sexuality is a powerful way to convey your character’s humanity—certainly not the only way, but a compelling one for many readers.
Exploring your character’s sexuality does not mean your character is “sexy” or even that your character will engage in sex during the course of the story. For many authors, exploring a character’s sexuality (and the basis or “back story” for it) is simply a way to build dimension.
The protagonist of my first series (Clare Cosi) is a divorced single mother in her forties. Clare didn’t have much of a love life in the decade before the series began. For years, her main concern was raising her daughter, and she subverted her own needs to that end. As Clare’s newly adult daughter moves along with her own life, however, Clare begins to explore her post-forty sexuality, which is complicated to say the least. BTW…Age need not be a factor in the romantic arena: The Coffeehouse Mysteries also feature a lively but fickle octogenarian (Clare’s former mother-in-law) who is presently on her third beau.
Exploring Character, Building Depth
Even asexual characters can yield fascinating back stories when you explore the reasons for their human condition, for instance: aversion to being touched because of past abuse; a failed marriage with residual hostility toward the opposite sex; contented virginity; unbearable virginity; impotence; frigidity; an expression of religious belief.
In my second mystery series, my protagonist is a widow in her late thirties (Penelope Thornton-McClure). Pen has a young son and no sex life. My widow has sexuality. For various reasons, including her lousy marriage and husband’s suicide, it’s repressed.
What Pen does have is a fantasy life in the form of a ghost. At times she wonders whether the ghost is real. PI Jack Shepard seems to have stepped right out of the pages of the Black Mask-era hardboiled mysteries that she sells in her book store. Has Jack appeared in her life as an alter ego, a kind of imaginary friend who will express her deeply repressed thoughts and feelings and fulfill her acute psychological needs? Or is Jack a true manifestation of a paranormal phenomenon? With every new title in The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, Pen and the reader must decide for themselves.
The Best of Both Genres
Finally, if you do decide to blend genres and unfurl a romantic subplot for the main character in your mystery, this storyline should not dampen your character’s burning desire to solve his or her crime. Nor should it take away from your painstaking plotting of the mystery. If you blend the genres correctly, your protagonist’s love life should simply be part of the creation of a dimensional character in a well written novel.
Do you blend genres in your writing? Do you enjoy it or find it problematic? Comments welcome or come join the discussion this Sunday when Dead Air author and clinical psychologist Mary Kennedy shares insights into developing her character’s personal life at www.MysteryLoversKitchen.com
Text copyright © 2010 by Alice Alfonsi
Cleo, thanks so much for this terrific and helpful post. It makes me want to do some genre bending, too! So how about it—do y’all blend genres? How is it working for you?
Be sure to check out Cleo’s awesome website (I haven’t seen an author site to rival it). She blogs with me at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and her posts always POP with fun.
Elizabeth – Thanks so much for hosting Cleo. Cleo, thanks for your words of wisdom about genre blending. For me, the most salient thing about what puts a story in one or another genre is the focus of the book. As you say, if the book is a mystery, then the main focus should be the case at hand. If the protagonist’s love life also plays a role, it does, but the main focus is the mystery plot. If the story is a romance, the opposite happens. The differene may be subtle, but it is real.
Great post. Thanks Cleo. I did a lot of genre blending in my last manuscript: fantasy/mystery/romance subplot. I like the depth, but it is difficult to classify for queries. I think it’s safer to call it fantasy, but that’s for agents and editors. Fantasy readers accept all sorts of genre mixing; an interesting and unique final cocktail is all that matters.
Wow. I don’t know if I do, but this article certainly makes me think…GREAT post–and in the midst of great writing, you certainly made me interested in your characters, Cleo! My WIP does not intentionally have any romance in it, but it does have a literary fiction bend to it, and, as Cleo said, it is, first and foremost, a novel.
Ok, lots to think about. Thank you, Elizabeth & Cleo! This is one for the Sunday Foreign Post Roundup!
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
Excellent post. I tend to blend genres because a romance element always sneaks in. My characters are younger and that’s a large part of their lives, but it’s not the main element of the plot. This was a great help for me :)
This is great information. YOu are right in that a character being sexy really has nothing to do with if he or she is having sex. I personally think it’s a frame of mind and a presentation of self. For a character this could present problems…if a others think he or she is after a spouse or not to be trusted.
Great romance post–with a bit of mystery. :)
Very interesting post. I’m finding that books are just one thing anymore. If you look close enough there’s mystery and romance in just about everything you read.
Cleo, thanks so much again for guest posting today…and for writing on such an interesting topic (for a special Valentine’s edition of Mystery Writing is Murder!)
Thank you for this brilliant post. Genre is still completely baffling to me and this helped clear up my confusion. I think the genre that puzzles me the most is “mainstream fiction” which can entail so much. If a mainstream fiction novel is primarily a romance, why wouldn’t it be marketed as a romance novel? What makes a mainstream book mainstream? I thought the explanation of what makes a romance a romance and a mystery a mystery was terrific. The focus of the book is ultimately what determines the genre, however other many elements it incorporates.
A great mix of mystery and romance can be found in Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, especially the books dealing with Harriet Vane, Gaudy Night being the most amazing of them all. By mixing genres, she winds up with a much deeper and more interesting book, one that you can read multiple times with interest, even though you already know the solution to the mystery.
I guess I do; historical mystery. The mystery is the main thrust, of course, but the time it’s taking place in is also vital.
I find most books are a blend of two or more genres.
Thank you for the great information, Cleo! I have to say, when I’m reading a mystery I am more drawn to characters who have a realistic love life.
Thanks Cleo – all very interesting. Sometimes I think about what a famous jazz musician said about the same topic in music “I’ll play it first and tell you what it is later.”
— Miles Davis
I am writing mystery right now – need and want that structure til I get my licks down good – then I’d like to be beyond genre – out there in the stratosphere – just writing my nerve endings flying along. Sex is big in my writing, so is food – guess appetite is big then!
I am wanting to read your books! Thanks for being so generous.
I love a well-blended tale with a strong current of one type. Thanks for the insight!
Great ideas! Thank you!
Thanks Cleo. This was a very informative post. You’ve clearly defined the difference between romance and mystery, even when the two are blended in a book. Quite helpful.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Good information. I tend to avoid the romance angle though.
Great host blogs. I’ve been thinking about asking others to be guest but I don’t know how to go about it. I guess you just ask?
Anyway, I will go and look at her blog.
ann
Fabulous post, Cleo! I agree with Michele – this post makes me think!
And I love the Miles Davis quote Jan shared.
Really excellent, thought-provoking essay, Cleo. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
No wonder all your books are so great! Thanks for sharing your insights.
Julie
Hi Cleo,
Really excellent post! You really nailed genre-blending and brought up some great points to ponder–not only for new authors, but established ones as well. Thank you!
Great post. I have to say, I find a mystery with no romantic elements rather dry. Hmmm…all the examples that come to mind feature male protagonists–Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe, for example–even though some were written by women.
The romance can be used to heighten tension, although the immediate result may be “I don’t have time for this! I’m trying to solve a murder!”
Good day, everyone! Wow, these comments are amazing. I’ll do my best to reply to everyone, starting with…
Margot – Hello, again! Thank you so much for your comment. If anyone would like to read more about the “Rules of the Road” for mystery, click over to Margot’s blog where her recent post defines it with much more detail than I did today.
Lorel – Thank you for your nice words. I agree with you that the “final cocktail” is all that matters to the reader, but NOT to the publisher. Tough love here. If a writer allows an agent or editor to decide WHAT the book is, the decision is likely to be one of confusion and rejection. Where do we market this? WHO is the audience for it? The reason why genre is a such a great way for new writers to break into the publishing arena is simply because it is a place to find an audience that is ready and waiting to be told a story, and the best thing many unpublished authors can do is make a decision about where they want to be sold in a bookstore (what audience they would like to entertain) and convey that clearly when they send the book in to an agent/editor. Don’t take something as important as that out of your own hands – this is someone who has seen and heard what goes on in a major publisher’s acquisition meeting so I don’t give that advice lightly. If you are writing a literary work, then you need to find an agent and an editor who specifically markets this, which is in many ways it’s own genre – don’t flinch, guys: you have to consider packaging (cover), marketing, publicity. It’s all geared toward what audience the book is trying to capture.
~ Cleo
Elizabeth – Thank you again for the chance to visit your amazing blog today. I often recommend this *virtual* salon to new writers who are looking for guidance and especially fellowship on the long, slippery climb to becoming a successfully published author.
Michele – Thank you for the nice words. Good luck with your work in progress – I hope the journey is a fulfilling one for you!
Jemi – I’m so glad to hear the post was helpful. I like to be aware of what things are and how things work – think the “exploded view” of things from Leonardo’s notebooks. Writing is something I must do to be happy, and I have been continually fascinated with the gears and levers of the machine of writing, which is simply a vessel for an author to pour in her soul. (Now who do I think I am waxing poetic? I’m just a genre writer, right? Don’t think I don’t know how some of you think out there. Shame on you. LOL!)
~ Cleo
Journaling Woman – LOL on your last line. Thank you for your comment. As far as a “sexy” character – I don’t believe a character needs to be sexy to be interesting. Not by a long shot! I simply believe that authors will find that they connect better with readers if they think about their characters as living, breathing, multidimensional human beings, and an exploration of a character’s human sexuality can convey a great deal of information about: who a character is; what that character believes; and how that character was raised. In other words: it can convey valuable insights about the character for the reader. It also can provide powerful “scene subtext” whenever that character interacts with others of the same or opposite sex. One of the reasons this subject is so compelling for readers is BECAUSE it is one that is not discussed openly in most arenas. I believe the readers who are most deeply touched by what they read are given a gift from the author – honesty; an unflinching window of insight into the human condition. That’s what I’m aspiring to – I’m not saying I’m there yet…but that’s my destination.
~Cleo
L. Diane – So do I!
Jan Morrison –- I really like the way you put that (with a little help from Mr. Davis). I often look to other art forms for inspiration on how to move through my growth as a writer. Painters, musicians – how do they train? What to they learn? What do they need to master first before moving on to the next level. Godspeed to you, Jan, on your journey — and your jam sessions. :-)
~ Cleo
Wow some very useful stuff here ….will chew it over. Thanks some of the best advice I’ve read in some time.
Group reply to:
Mary, Helen, Alex, Ann, Julie, Heather, Sheila, and Mason –
Thank you all for dropping by and commenting. I’ll just add…certainly, not every book is for every reader, but I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself as a genre writer. P.D. James has said (I’m paraphrasing from an appearance she made in New York City a few years ago)…the strictures of genre free her as a writer. I think so, too. Once the rules are understood, an author can violate them with mastery and skill, so to speak, which makes all the difference. This is quite difficult to get across in a comment. I think we need a big, round table, a huge pot of coffee and a wee drop of Irish whiskey to keep the spirits on the light side. :)
~ Cleo
Reply to
Julie Dao – Your question about “mainstream fiction” is very astute and I am working on an answer for you that will (hopefully) be of help. Check back. I’ll post it soon.
~Cleo
My just completed book is a bit of suspense and historical fiction. As someone mentioned, it makes it tough to pitch…well, succinctly, anyway.
Best Wishes Galen.
Imagineering Fiction Blog
kitdunsmore – Very insightful point. What makes a book worth rereading? I think about this as a writer for a number of different (and these days extremely significant) reasons. In any event, your comment is well taken and appreciated. How I would love to gather readers around a table and listen to them discuss this subject!
Elspeth – Props to you. Historical mystery is a challenge to write but a gratifying endeavor if you are thoroughly intrigued by the era. Most of my “ghost” mysteries include flashback sequences set in 1940’s New York. I enjoy the research as much as the writing – as I’m sure you do in your own work!
Janel, Jodi, and Emma – Thank you so much for dropping by and leaving such lovely comments. This is such a wonderful blog for the writing fellowship. Elizabeth is just about the kindest most generous author I know. It was lovely of her to let me shoot off my mouth today! :-)
Julie Dao – and Galen (hi, there!) – I am still working up that reply on “mainstream fiction” – Stay tuned…
~Cleo
Love this blog, thank you so much for posting it. The whole idea of genre blending was a mystery to me, this is the best explanation I’ve ever read. If Cleo is every doing a workshop, I want to go!! Thanks so much for inviting Cleo to guest blog, Elizabeth, love this site.
Mary, thank you! We really do need a 2-day long panel discussion for this stuff, don’t we? I always, ALWAYS enjoy hearing authors talk passionately about their work and what went into creating their characters, which is why I’m looking forward to your own guest blog post this Sunday at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen
See you then!
~Cleo
Not only a great post, but you just sold some books.
At last, I have returned to provide answers for Julia Dao’s astute questions. She wrote:
Julia’s Question – “Thank you for this brilliant post. Genre is still completely baffling to me and this helped clear up my confusion. I think the genre that puzzles me the most is ‘mainstream fiction’ which can entail so much. If a mainstream fiction novel is primarily a romance, why wouldn’t it be marketed as a romance novel?”
Alice/Cleo’s Answer – If an established “mainstream” author writes what amounts to a genre romance, it will be published as a “mainstream” book. Why? Sales. A mainstream author has already achieved the kind of broad audience appeal that allows his or her book to be marketed without the need for a base of a genre audience. What do I mean by a “genre audience”? They are the wonderful readers who go to a section of a store because they absolutely adore a certain genre and are willing and eager to explore new writers. These are the readers who provide the foundation on which an unknown writer can grow his or her audience.
As an example, I’ll cite Janet Evanovich. After she achieved her mega-bestselling success as a mainstream author, Harper reissued nine of her series romance novels. These were not packaged or sold as series romances but as mainstream reads because Janet had achieved the status of a mainstream author in the marketplace, an author with wide appeal.
Now you’re wondering: How does an author become a mainstream author when he or she begins in genre? Or how does an author start out as a big, mainstream author (skipping the whole building an audience thing)? Stay tuned. The second part of Julia’s question will be answered below…
Question: Julia also asked, “What makes a mainstream book mainstream?”
Alice/Cleo’s answer – A “mainstream” book can be rooted in almost any genre or blend any combination of genres or be “literary” (however you’d like to define that). What makes a book “mainstream” as far as the business of publishing is the book’s broad appeal.
The logical next question for any new writer would be: How do you build broad appeal? I’ll start with the profound example of Raymond Chandler who began his publishing career at the age of 45 after losing his executive position with an oil company. He started out writing for pulp magazines. Why? For money, actually. Why didn’t he just go knock on the door of Knopf, where he was eventually published?
Mr. Chandler started where he did for a variety of reasons: to build an audience, to build a reputation, to discover and explore his characters – Philip Marlowe was born on those pulp pages as a character named Mallory. His character grew and evolved and eventually took up permanent residence (as a “mainstream” and finally a “literary” character) in the prestigious Library of America among the pantheon of some of the greatest fictional characters ever invented. But…he started out on pulp paper.
Once upon a time, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Philip K. Dick were all firmly fixed in their respective genres. Yet somewhere along the line, these authors were magically transformed into mainstream (even literary) authors. How did this happen? Was it sales? Marketing? The critics?
It was all of these things and more. In the case of King, he had the sales, the critics, and the marketing, and he stretched himself as a writer. (King also published thoughtful nonfiction works.)
Janet Evanovich began her publishing career in series romance. She stretched herself, submitted a manuscript to Scribners who got behind it, launched her as a mainstream author, and she became one.
As for Philip K Dick: after writing dozens of amazing novels and stories, Dick passed away in his fifties, at the cusp of his literary (and Hollywood) fame, which only added to his mythology and led to his eventual canonization in the literary pantheon.
This leap is tough and few authors manage it. One can attempt to debut in the mainstream with an ambitious work. But remember: there will not be a ready audience of genre readers there to support you. Publishing at the mainstream level is a high-wire act. If you’ve written a work that you are passionate about, a work that you believe does not fit into a genre, by all means, seek publication. Godspeed to you.
Publication alone, however, is not the end of the story. Selling books, nailing consistently good reviews, staying in print, surviving years in the business are all going to be next steps on your journey and you better have the chops (the skills, the talent, the fresh ideas, the ever renewing passion, the stamina). That’s why genre writing has become a way for many authors to begin that journey towards “mainstream” shelves.
Writing within genre has allowed many authors to get their legs under them, build up speed, understand the business, commune with a fellowship of writers, and continue to grow and evolve in the mastery of the form.
~ Cleo
Cleo, I wanted to thank you so much again for spending the day here in my ‘virtual living room,’ as Margot calls it! And for your thoughtful responses to the comments here. I’m looking forward to Mary’s post at the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen Sunday.
I’m very interested in your response regarding going mainstream from genre. I was nodding my head as I read it! I feel like genre fiction is the best place in the world to learn–the readers are incredibly supportive, the publishers are eager for new material, and it’s a fantastic classroom for growth.
It’s the stretching that makes the difference, like you mentioned. And the sales pressure is really tough at the mainstream level, I think (not that it’s not at the genre level…but I’m sure it’s got to be that much MORE at mainstream.)
I love the idea of building up an audience of readers *first*. And I think publishers are really getting interested in platform as a starting point.
So many great points here, Cleo! Thanks again for the visit.
Am I the only one who REALLY tried to read your title at gender bending? Probably. HOWEVER, I love your point about mixing genres–I happen to enjoy books MORE when they mix it up a little, primarily because I think it requires more complexity, and I LIKE that.
My thriller I am editing has a sweet teen romance (that really never takes off because it is more about denial and tension than anything else–you know… teens) but I feel like it gives the other stuff more weight–that they care, but can’t really admit it. It makes us more invested.
I am NOT a romance reader–I don’t like books that the ENDING is about whether they are together or not, but I like OTHER books a lot better for the inclusion of a relationship… call me picky.
Hart–I think books that blend genres are more complex, too, and more realistic, probably. Usually people have a work life, a romantic life, a parenting life–and they’re all happening simultaneously!
With your characters that are dealing with attraction but resisting it–I absolutely think the inclusion of their attraction makes them deeper characters and gives the reader that emotional investment you mentioned.
Oh this was a fantastic post, thank you for the time and effort you put into sharing your knowledge.
Suzanne and Daring–Thanks for stopping by, y’all. And I do really recommend Cleo’s books–I’ve got several of them in my bookshelves and they’re exciting to read. She’s got a very energetic, enthusiastic voice.
I learned so much from your post and all the great comments. Thanks to you, Cleo, and to you, Elizabeth, for hosting this.
Although I’m willing to accept a lot of blending in genres, I confess when I sit down to read a book, I enjoy knowing where I’m going, and the genre is a flag.
Strong characters with layers make any book a better read.
I’ve been given food for thought without even stopping by the Mystery Lover’s Kitchen.