I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writing – what I want to write and what I believe in. The thing is with writers, esp. romance writers – gosh no, none I know of –write to whatever’s popular in the market. That’s smart right? Go to where the money is and follow a trend. Male/Male romance appears to have died in the arse – pardon the pun – and now ménage is hot. I know more than one writer who has deliberately set their cap to write it. Yes, I too have written ménage - Male Me – and it continues to do well. I wrote it to see if I could write ménage but you know what? I don’t personally believe in ménage. While I’d defend anyone’s right to enjoy ménage in whatever form, I’m not about to write another one. Werewolves? Yeah, I wrote one of those to see if I could. I could, I did, but not again. Vampires? I’ve always loved vamps - I could write more of those. So yeah, I’ve pointed my quill at some of the trends. But I do wonder about writers deciding they will cash in on the next hot thing that comes along. As much as I adore money, what if you don’t believe in what you’re writing? Can you write it convincingly so a reader will believe it? Does your ménages sound exactly the same each book?
I’ll continue to write sex. I like sex. But following a trend? Nope. Go with the flow? Sure, but in the end you have to be true to yourself doncha’?
Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book
Monday, 2 August 2010
Crossing lines…
Posted by Unknown at 2:00 pm
Labels: Amarinda Jones, genres, Male Me, Penn Halligan, romance writing, trends
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3 comments:
I used to think if something doesn't come from your soul then it won't translate or it will be just mediocre so don't write anything which is a hot topic unless you have dreams and obsesses about the hot topic. However I now think you literally can get away with anything and get away with it all. I know that if I buy a book from you, it WILL have soul in it and so even if it's somethng you're not that into yourself, then I think you of all people could make it work. There, wasn't that a helpful answer....!..but seriously, go with the flow, could be a whim, just go for it. If you want!
I write whatever is in my head. The market isn't terribly important to me. And I agree that any book written simply for the market probably isn't as good as a book written from the heart.
Now as you know, I have several menages in my repertoire. Each one of those was a written when the story popped up in my head.
I totally agree with you on writing what you belive in instead of writing for what is hot popular or the trend.
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