The Mind Game - Chapter One

I originally said I would be releasing the first chapter of The Mind Game on June 1st. But I grew impatient. So here is the first chapter of this 7 part short story.

Enjoy!

Synopsis: Chesulloth finds herself trapped within her own mind. At first, she is lured in with offerings of pleasantries while she sleeps. Then, her sleeping body is bound and she is plunged into all her deepest fears, forced to endure ordeal after ordeal. The only way out is to overcome her fears, but her fears aren't all they seem on the surface.

Table of Contents

The Genre Battle: Spiritual Fiction

I found an interesting site that outlines all the genres: Book Country Genre Map.

This site also led me to understand why I have such difficulty appending genres to my works.

Science, one religion out of many, has a huge category all to itself. All other works must be imaginary (this would make a nice separate category--I have an imaginary short coming up), romance, historical, or mystery/thriller/horror. I was surprised at how many stories I could think of that did not fall into one of those categories.

There are also broad "genres" that demonstrate the lack of descriptive categories, such as:

• women's fiction (Which is still just a misleading name for romance? Another disappointment.)
• young adult (Oh, you mean 18-25, right? What? 12-18? Since when is a 12-year-old an adult?)
• literary fiction

In these instances, it's an attempt to appeal to a particular audience but exchanges the use of the aforementioned categories. Of course, you can append additional genres on these, but it still becomes Women's Fantasy or YA Historical. Plenty of classics are haphazardly cast into the literary fiction category. (Let's not forget the tiny isle of nonfiction.)

At least, this is the vibe I get from discussions and applications of genre.

So, I decided to classify my works as spiritual fiction. It's a simple label that will apply to most of what I write. It's still an undescriptive label, but my point is those that have been firmly established have established themselves in a way that screams they are the only way. I'm glad I found a genre I fit under, but it's upsetting that there's little representation for other types of writing.

Why does a writer write what they write? Why does a fantasy author stick to fantasy or a historical author stick to history?

I would assume that it's because they're doing what they love.

If science fiction or fantasy were the only genres available, of course eventually someone would break the shell somehow, but authors, despite what they personally liked, would write SF/F until they felt they liked it. Because in a world were they were the only genres, writing SF/F would be what made a person an author. And if one loved writing books, it would therefore be necessary that they like SF/F.

There's some confusing logic for the day. Hopefully, my genre confusion ends here!

Free Beta Readers Question Template

Have you completed your fiction novel and you're considering getting another set of eyes to look over it? Have you already found someone to do it, but you're not sure how to express what you want them to look for?

Here is a template I created for questioning beta readers. These are general questions I developed for my own novel, so they don't cover areas I didn't feel I had problems with. I may, however, return and improve on this template.

How to Use

The questions in the template can be used to brainstorm your own questions, do your first edit, or they can be sent directly to your beta reader through email, Skype, mail, forum, etc.

Use the questions that you feel are most specific to your novel. For instance, asking both if you should have less foreign words and if you should have more is strange. Either you feel it might not have been necessary to include foreign words, or you might be aware that you restricted their usage.

Also, add you own explanations/details to the questions and delete mine as you see fit (I am the parentheses master.).

Enjoy!

No Flo Joe: The Unpoetic Poeticness of Modernized Poetry

How do I feel about poetry? The crafty arrangement of words that pulls at your heartstrings and conveys years of emotions in a single line?

I love rhyming pieces more than anything, especially when the piece doesn't come off as contrived. I'm always amazed at how classic poets pulled off rhymes so flawlessly without sounding like "she looks at the flower... every hour." But I don't pay much attention to poetry in general, especially since I attended a workshop with a "professional poet" who bragged about the quality and depth of his work, but the pieces he shared all seemed contrived and empty to me.

Personally, the times I tried free verse, it came naturally. But I can't derive any pleasure from it. If I purposely blow meaning out of proportion, people snap and hum about how deep it was.

Which brings me to spoken word, an art form I really got to absorb in college.

Spoken Word

I recently fell in love with spoken word. And I fell out of love with it just as quickly. This isn't always the case, but spoken word is an example of an art form that started out great and got watered down over time. But this is because it had a purpose--an original focus and a particular group of artists--that it is being drawn away from.

Anything goes nowadays at spoken word gatherings. People throw analogies so strange no one could possibly identify with them, yet everyone snaps because "it's gotta mean something deep, right?" The recent changes in spoken word I've experienced are that pieces tend to be very shallow in the regard that they compete for snaps and leave behind true emotion, rhythm, and meaning.

Spoken word originated in Harlem and naturally flowed with the hardships Black people faced. Today, people use it to talk about the time their sister ate their sandwich and other things that don't flow the same way Black and Hispanic artists can make the art form work as they tackle themes of discrimination and oppression. At the same time, many of these artists of color have stopped telling their own stories to catch up with the hype of social justice and "deepness."

The great thing about spoken word is that your favorite poem can be your own, and that's okay. It makes sense that you can be most enthralled by the beauty your own experience naturally produced. This is also how the poetry serves as a coping mechanism--it reveals the beauty in the struggle. Though, as I mentioned above, the beauty of spoken word is melting away because people are trying to force it rather than let it come. The rhythms today are very contrived and every other artist sounds the same [to me].

People who are really into spoken word get offended at this, but some are quick to agree and say that's just how it is. No--that's what it has become. Your unique perspective has the same rhythm as the dude next door? I don't think so. And why does your voice change to sound like Gustavo's? What happened to Charlie? I want to hear Charlie. Charlie has a story that is just as powerful as Gustavo's. (Maybe--again, it's an art form attuned to minority struggle. This is my opinion, but this is why spoken word has stopped resonating with me.) I'm sure plenty of people are satisfied with the direction the art is going because it is becoming more inclusive.

I am not a spoken word artist myself because, as I said, I don't like writing free verse and I can't write rhymes. I wrote one piece and never performed it. I do love, however, how the community is so close-knit and supporting and everyone has their favorite poem from each artist in their community. I also love how frequently poems are performed in duos and trios.

And on a note that almost seems tangential at this point, my favorite poem is A Rainbow of Friends by P.K. Hallinan. It's been my favorite ever since I was a child. Now that I think about it, I performed it as spoken word many times when I was a child. Everything comes full circle!

But I suppose I prefer my poetry with vocals and rhythm nowadays.

How about you? Has your life been changed by poetry? Do you wish it were more popular or used in more creative ways? Do you have an undying love for spoken word that will persist no matter how much the art form changes? Don't forget, music is poetry, too!

Another blog prompt brought to us by Wriye.

How Many Labels Have Enabled Your Characters?

I talked about character motivations for the February WriYe prompt. This time, I will continue the psychoanalysis of the main characters of my trilogy while being obscure about their identities. We apply labels to people all the time: the nerd, the geek, the prep, the wallflower, the extrovert (and, of course, many other more stigmatizing labels). These labels can be applied to characters, but I'll be focusing on more specific labels this time around.

Character archetypes are related to character motivation. Whether your character is socially or selfishly oriented will determine what will and will not motivate them.

First, I looked up the 12 main character archetypes. I'm going to list them here for my pleasure:

1. The Innocent
2. The Orphan
3. The Hero
4. The Caregiver
5. The Explorer
6. The Outlaw
7. The Lover
8. The Creator
9. The Jester
10. The Sage
11. The Magician
12. The Ruler

And now, it's time to put the four main characters of my trilogy on the chopping block. Until I release their character profiles, I'll refer to them by their initials. (Then you guys can come back to all the initialed posts and finally know who I was talking about!)

S.W. - The Innocent w/ a bit of The Orphan and a drop of The Sage
L.W. - The Explorer & a teensy-weensy hint of The Outlaw
B. - The Lover
A. A. - a bit of The Hero, & a species-specific bit of The Caregiver, w/ a fading dash of The Innocent.

By far, the hardest character for me to label was A. A. I think it's pretty obvious that B. proved the easiest. (Must be her simple name.) L.W. is the antagonist, but he is connected to a much larger antagonist. The Outlaw seems like a typical archetype for antagonists, but L.W. wants to have a peaceful life and settle down just as much as he wants revenge. S.W. is calm and trusting with a desire to just fit in and make everyone happy, but she also has a nosy, research-loving component. And, of course, when things don't seem right, she steps up that "sage" component to try to make sense of her surroundings. B. is simply searching for her bae, but the world makes settling down the last thing she can do. Everyone she's ever with gets ripped from her arms.

So, according to the "four cardinal orientations," L.W. would be oriented towards freedom, B. towards social satisfaction, S.W. towards order, and A.A. is just all over the place. Somehow, that seems like a logical balance.

Based on my categorizations above, I believe it's possible for characters to fall under a single archetype. At the same time, the more complex a character is and the more experiences they have had, the more likely they are to have multiple archetypes. I don't believe it's possible for a character to be so incredibly unique that they don't fall under any of the archetypes.

I think archetypes and motivations can be very useful ways to think about character development. Really, you can create a solid character just by filling in these two things. Their background is also important, but it can be created around their motivations, as well. After that, everything else just comes. The personality solidifies from the experiences and goals, then it just seems pretty obvious that his favorite color is forest green.

This analysis was actually pretty insightful for me.

Now, an interpretation of my character as the epitome of her archetype? B., I choose you!

B. clenched her unnamed comrade's thick forearm as it slipped deeper into the frigid, dark water. "It shouldn't've been you!" Her voice grew quieter. "...It should've been me. Come back." The cold permeating through her fingertips was her only response. B.'s grip on the limp arm loosened and the body of her comrade sank below the ice. "Come back," she whispered again.

Again, she had been saved. And again, she was alone.

Kudos to people who immediately got the reference! I had to do it (since I wasn't going to reveal any story information just yet).

I mainly used this site for archetype reference. Another blog prompt brought to us by Wriye.

Volunteer Before Victim! On Editing and Revising

As someone who enjoys writing in a stream of consciousness (and who has a funky writing style), editing is certainly important.

I have to make sure my ideas are clear and well organized. A spell check won't catch this miss steak (wut), but it would label dis as a mistake. So, not only do I have to do a read-through for careless mistakes I may have made, but I also have to keep in mind what mistakes spell-check may be making in terms of what I want in my writing. So revision is more than just a spelling or grammar check--it's an idea check.

Are my thoughts coming across the way I want? Is there a better way this scene or sentence could be executed?

In small amounts, I do enjoy revision. I enjoy laughing at some of my mistakes, rewriting sentences into stronger statements, and reordering paragraphs. Why? Because I see my thought process strengthened and it makes me feel giddy inside.

On the other hand, I put myself on an editing schedule recently where I risked burnout from the amount of editing I had to do, which is why I said "in small amounts."

Now, I do all of my revisions on software, so I couldn't take a picture of the process. I also cut down on the depth of edits I have to do because my outlines are pretty thorough. Unlike my editing process, my outlines are printed, and I mark them up as I write. I also have a separate booklet that I fill with scene edit ideas. Those ideas I either add as I go or save for the editing process.

So, for me, editing is a process that begins the moment I type the first word of my manuscript.

Another blog prompt brought to us by Wriye.

Who Moves You?

Motivation gives us purpose, in fiction and in reality. High achievers, strong characters, and those who break the system all have powerful motivating forces, whether it's a mission from God, a lost or missing family member, a desire for a high status, or a dislike of the status quo.

I haven't written very many complete works, but I find that my ideas don't stick to certain genres or archetypes. What motivates my characters?

The main character in my trilogy is motivated by a dislike of the status quo. She grew up dreaming of an equality that wasn't a reality. As she gets older, she's one of few who feel things aren't right, and she eventually decides to do something to change it. Along with two of the other protagonists, there's an overarching desire to prevent the further loss of family. The "antagonist," on the other hand, is motivated by an anger at what he has become.

The main character of my upcoming novel has lost his parents, his only loving support group, and seeks to learn the truth about their demise.

In a short story I'm currently planning, the character's motivation is to escape her fears.

Many of these motivations are a desire for tranquility. Perhaps that sums up all motivations, minus the desire to be supreme lord ruler.

Personally, my favorite character motivation is probably the epic journey to set things right--fighting against the status quo. They make stories of epic lengths where anything can happen, but can also be super cheesy if the character is "the one and only" for no particular reason and somehow manages to set everything straight alone. It's not a theme you see often in real life because public opinion, peer pressure, and group mentality work together to convince people that the status quo or the person with the loudest mouth is the right way. This sort of theme is present in my trilogy, but familial loss also seems to be a theme among the works I've planned.

My characters' motivations all stem directly from their personalities or, in the case of my upcoming novel and the short story, from the plot itself. I don't deliberately give a particular motivation to a character--I let my characters develop as the plot develops and vice versa. It may be unconventional, but it works for me. I let the character become a person in my mind, then I consider adding something to a character sheet.

I've realized I have a difficult time creating characters for novels (short stories are fine), but when I develop a character first, the world develops around them. Three of the characters in my trilogy and three in the novel existed in some form prior to their plot development. This is also why I'm so sure I'll be writing a romance novel using the character in my sidebar. Once I realized my repurposed characters sprouted novel and trilogy ideas like nose hair while my attempts at new characters eeked short story ideas that could possibly be stretched into novels, I decided I want to again shift through my old, unused characters and see who else can be repurposed.

I'm eager to see the diversity of motivations that arise in my future works!

Stay tuned to hear more about these characters!

Another blog prompt brought to us by Wriye.

Mid Year's Resolutions: My One Main Goal

It isn't quite January, but I've decided to pick up this year's Wriye blog posts from the beginning.

This year, my goal is to complete all three books of my trilogy. I'm entering a new stage of my life and things will get hectic come August, but I don't just think I can do it, I know I can. This has become the mantra that I use to push on when I get distracted. I've always been one to focus in on a single goal in my life, and because of it my writing, drawing, and other hobbies always drifted to the wayside. This year, I'm determined to keep my writing going strong with everything else in my life. Additionally, I hope my writing will rekindle my drawing spirit.

Also, since I know I work best one project at a time, I tell myself I'd be happier with one complete novel at the end of a month than with two half-finished drafts. Besides, I'd have to develop a system to make myself write near-equal amounts on both, or one would fall by the wayside anyway!

On other writing-related notes, I want to decide if I will be serializing or publishing any of my work on my blog and whether I can participate in NaNoWriMo for the first time ever.

A Musical: The Five-Second Rule is So Overrated

Once upon a time, in September 2012, a friend dared me to write a musical script involving "giraffes," "a loaf of bread," and "the five-second rule." And so, a horrible disfigurement was born.

Fun Fact: I use Japanese quite randomly sometimes, despite my verbal Japanese being poor. (Hence the name of this blog!) This work contains a short burst of nonsensical Japanese. The original file is signed in Japanese, but here I simply omitted my name.

Comprehension Warning: The script below is meant as a joke. Comprehension is not expected. Also, I'm horrible at rhymed poetry, so I thought that bit worked out nicely with the atmosphere. I also did not revise it in any way from the original 2012 file (besides removing the Japanese name).

Enjoy!

I reserve all rights to this work. Please do not use or repost in any form without my permission.

On Grammar Check and White English

I've been editing the past couple of days. And something caught my attention. My characters use "slang," and sometimes sentences of mine that are underlined just don't mean the same thing "corrected." So I started thinking about the long standing debate about Black English, or AAVE. Additionally, there's the lesser-known issues with Black ASL. These issues exist because of a desire to label Black-associated things as "less than."

When spell-checking work, you always have to have a decent grasp of grammar yourself in order to decide whether or not you should make a change. But, if you are not a user of "standardized English," as most are not (I tried something yesterday where I tried to communicate using two grammar rules related to something I was researching and ended up unable to make English), you also have to be able to discern when anti-blackness is putting a squiggle under a word you write.

In an article describing the different voices characters may have, the author chose to describe slang-using characters as illiterate, implying that people use slang or "make their own words" because they are incapable of learning big, "educated" words. This is a view held by most proponents of standardized English just out of pure ignorance.

I was surprised to learn that most of the things taught as no-nos in my English classes are actually considered "less formal." Ain't is a word. You can say like instead of as if. "Off of" is not always incorrect. Not using all the forms of  "to be" is not incorrect. Yet, if you go onto grammar sites, you will quickly see heads roll because the masses believe certain "uneducated" phrases are not English.

Additionally, many people still believe that the way to success in this world is "learning the White man's language." It's not just a thing of history.

So, it takes a lot of focus (oh no, I said "a lot!") to look at a correction of a sentence and not change it. Many times the "less formal," "slangified," and/or "incorrect" version of a word or sentence holds more or different meaning. I always felt this when I was forced to change things in the past, but I thought it was all in my head. On the other hand, I do tend to use "just" too often. Unlike "even" (in my opinion), it doesn't really add meaning. ("Really" is another one!)

Yet the battle still continues, debating whether Black English and Black ASL are languages. Why? Anti-blackness.

Which Genre is the Right Fit?

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, I've been doing genre searches. The genre listings on Amazon aren't as extensive as I expected, hearing raving comments on the benefits of checking there, but it helped.

I also came across a general description of Sci-fi/Fantasy that made me more comfortable with classifying my novel(s) as fantasy. I suppose if it isn't historical or futuristic (Earth or existing planets), then it's fantasy! Which makes sense... but we don't classify all fiction as fantasy. They obviously have different meanings. If it's about possibility, who's to say it's impossible for elves to be living under rocks undiscovered by science?

But let's push technicalities aside--I'll understand it eventually. Right?

Picky Choosey

I narrowed the genre to "African-American Women's Coming-of-Age Fantasy" then proceeded to prance about the room. If I had to choose two, I'd probably go with African-American Fantasy or Women's Coming-of-Age--the latter seems more intriguing but a lot less descriptive. I'd also consider Spiritual Fantasy, but I wouldn't miss a chance to slap them all together!

It turns out coming-of-age stories are typically written with male teen main characters. I found this very interesting, and all the more compelling to apply that genre... once I convinced myself that it was okay that the main character was female and 18, not 12.

I'm also aware that most non-Black people (and Black people) turn the other way when they see "African-American" as a label. I have to admit that I've been guilty of it, as well and I'd be a fool to say I haven't been, given this society. They automatically think it means a) positive: it's only for Black people or b) negative: it's full of a lot of race-stuff that they dedicate their lives to perpetuating and denying the existence of. There's also people who think "low-quality."

One look on Amazon'll blast that low-quality thought out of your head. Your school/community only put a few poorly-designed and written 60-80 page urban romance novels in your library or at your book fair to make you think that! And a focus on Their Eyes Were Watching God to keep you from realizing it.

Breaking the Chain

While I was researching, I felt I was doing something wrong because it seemed like fixing a genre on your writing was supposed to be easy. At the same time, I kept reading and observing how editors, expectations, and preference make most novels fit nicely in a genre. Advice popped up saying decide first your genre and audience, then write.

Another way to interpret this message is "make it fit in a genre to be sure it'll sell." Only once did I see advice that matched my own beliefs--if you have a story, write it, and then fix a genre--and it was a single stray comment. Deciding a genre first would certainly help the story conform to that genre. And that's the idea.

There are genres I avoid because I feel the books in them are very similar, though I may read one occasionally. I don't believe I'm alone in this sentiment, either.

Once standards of evaluation are set up, they end up restricting good works that don't match. And those that match eventually grow monotonous. Twinkle, twinkle little star, next time won't you sing with me?

I've seen a lot of authors asking for help when their novel "has a little bit of mystery, romance, and suspense." This example doesn't make an atypical novel, but it certainly makes a more realistic novel. The traditional market seems to favor fast-paced writing with a largely singular focus, but readers wouldn't agree. (After all, they do make us read theme-less, boring classics in school.)

A fellow writer asked if anyone else experienced the phenomenon where you feel like you're including too much about the character's life in unimportant settings. I definitely have. Conversely, there are fast paced novels where the character is never out of the action except to take a sip of coffee at a conveniently-located coffee shop. And it's ironic how movies are so bent on inserting unimportant sex scenes when we don't focus as much on the character popping a squat, or--more importantly--eating food. Is the character a leafy greens kind of girl or the polar bear brains type?

If, for artistic purposes, it's okay to focus robustly on sex in non-romantic works, why not blaze paths freely in every direction?

(Aside: There's so many different definitions bouncing around, I believe I have the idea of mainstream fiction wrong in a previous post.)

I Hit a Milestone

I haven't updated in a while! Why, you might ask?

Well, I've been busy writing the past few days, planning the order in which my little ideas can demand my attention. As a result, I've finished the first draft of Book One of my trilogy and have decided to focus on Book Two and Book Three before proceeding with any other novel ideas.

Now, I'm off to edit! Wish me luck!

(And stay tuned in case the short pieces I'm holding captive escape my mind and flee to this blog.)

Old Legends Make Good Jokes

I spent an entire day rolling on the floor laughing at the first story I wrote when I got my first computer at 12 years. It doesn't have a plot at all and broke 26,000 words before I finally flung it away. It isn't as bad as I make it sound, but I developed a caricature (minus exaggeration) of the main character.

Yes, the main characters in this story were named Kaden and Damien and the characters were a lovely mix of angels, vampires, kemonomimi, and demons.

These are not actual excerpts from the story. I'd be much too embarrassed to include those.

***

The sun peaked over the mountaintops, justifying Kaden's growling stomach. He shook Damien awake. "Why does the sun rise?"
"That's because it revolves around the Earth."

***

An angel strolled across the street towards them.
"Why are you walking?" Kaden asked. "Couldn't you just fly?"
The angel massaged his own shoulders. "My wings are a bit tired."

***

"Why did you do that thing to me that time?" Kaden asked Damien.
*magically knows exactly what he is talking about* "That's because I have a hard time feeling."
"Did something happen?"
"..." *spills guts about everything negative related to love and emotions in his life*

***

"Why don't you just beat me into a bloody pulp when all I do is ask questions that should make you uncomfortable?"
"How could I be uncomfortable when you're so friggin' cute?" Damien enveloped Kaden in a bear hug.

***

All the time, he asks the most ridiculous questions that everyone eventually is forced to spill the beans and answer. I have to give myself a little bit of credit and say they didn't always answer right away, but they usually answered within a page. When the characters aren't knocking back the z's or hugging each other and straying from sexual contact, the pages are filled with chunks of emotional history (which again, giving myself credit, never occur randomly).

Prologue: A Creationist Novelist

So, I was doing some research and came across a post on how to make a great prologue. I was interested to see that it listed creation prologues as a big (and definite, no exceptions) no-no.

Really, I was filled with disappointment because my own novel currently has a "creation" first chapter.

Although I will be reworking the chapter, I was curious to find specifics of why creation shouldn't be included in the story and directed my research to focus on creationist prologues.

Say No to Creation!

As I read more and more articles on prologues, I realized there weren't any reasons to declare creation prologues a no-no, as long as they were relevant to the plot. Some went as far as labeling these type of prologues overdone and "crappy."

That's when it clicked in my mind.

The message seemed less like "creation chapters always subtract from the plot" and more like "I personally don't like creation." Articles that gave the low down on improving plots obviously did not mention creation prologues, while those that did went well out of their way to rag on them. I've read my share of fantasy novels with creation prologues (or ancient war history, which is another prologue that got the no-no label) and was glad for the background to better understand the world.

I had to remind myself there are quite a few 'anti-creationists' out there. I'm not saying people should be one way or the other, but it was a bit disappointing to realize that people's negative mindsets against God and Jesus (specifically for God knows the reason) could affect seemingly unrelated advice and be so easily disguised when giving out such information.

And the bigger the name, the more likely people are to follow without hesitation. With great power, you have to be more careful about misleading your flock.

Creation Belongs with the Creatures

If a story centers around God, a god, or gods, it makes sense to involve creation. It can't be described as an overdone measure because there is nothing new under the sun. Even fantastical stories are based on our daily lives. Of course, unless it's a scifi fantasy, God (or some similary entity) exists, but there's a difference from him being pivotal to the progression of the story and him/her/them/it just being (or never actually being 'created' by the author).

I saw advice given that creation prologues are only okay if the god is pivotal to the plot, but creation also has to do with the creatures themselves. Depending on how you tell your creation story, it can reveal necessary information about the creatures more effectively than any history. The question then is less, "Is it important to the plot?'"(Because it should be.) And more, "Do you want to reveal those things?"

People frequently use the disclaimer "this is just my opinion" or that there are exceptions to the rules, but this was one of the few cases where the authors had an unusually firm stance, which, as I say above, I believe in this case was the result of their beliefs about creation in general.

When giving advice, I believe the point is also to encourage and not mislead. If my novel hadn't been greatly influenced by my journey and discovery with Jesus, I would have trashed my first chapter without hesitation after seeing those two or three articles dismissing creation prologues. Like I said, I do have some big edits to make to it.

The Mainstream Genre

I came across a similar problem when I tried to find what genre my novel fit into. I quickly narrowed it down to scifi/fantasy or Afrofuturist. Then I was caught in a revolving door.

My novel didn't "transcend" or "expand" upon what is capable on Earth. The creatures in my novel weren't magical or a product of scientific advancement. A new world was involved, but it wasn't a different dimension, the future, or the past.

As I thought more and more on it, I felt a little offended at labeling my novel a fantasy just because a god was involved. That view of the balance between scifi & fantasy seems to proclaim "if it ain't science, it ain't real."

Was my novel idea really that unconventional? I didn't think so.

Because of the increase in self-publishing, less novels are being sliced and diced by editors to fall into certain genres. Additionally, underrepresented novels are being published because they are bypassing the process that would reject their novel for not falling into a certain genre.

I still have a bit of searching to do before I decide the genre for my current and upcoming novels, but I'm certainly glad that I don't have to put someone else's beliefs over my own and my readerships' and label them a fantasy.

But I do love me some fantasy.