Pet Peeve Thursday: Cross the Line – I Dare Ya

by guest blogger Kelly McClymer

I started reading with Dick and Jane. Kids today have many more colorful options, but Dick and Jane gave a big advantage to this budding book lover: they made everything else I ever read seem interesting and fun. I felt there was no boundary too far to run from Dick and Jane. And Spot. Mars? Sounds like a grand time. A little house on the prairie? I’m there. A windswept Prince Edward Island in the early 1900s? Sign me up. Narnia, or a time warp? Oh yeah.

Which brings me to my pet peeve (thanks, Lorraine, for letting me vent today): people who are afraid to cross genre lines. They make seemingly reasonable statements like, “I only read cozies.” Or romance. Or thrillers. Or Oprah picks. Or more inflammatory statements like, “Romance is brain fluff.” or “Science fiction is about ideas and I like books about people.” In some quarters, them’s fighting words.
 
Sometimes I wonder if I may have been afraid to cross genre lines at some point if my parents had not bemusedly encouraged my vacuum-cleaner-like book choices (start at the beginning of one library shelf, and work my way across, down to the next shelf, and the next, and the …). That kind of reading history inoculated me from believing any common genre prejudice.

Science fiction is not about people? Of course it is. I knew that because I ran across John Brunner’s classic The Sheep Look Up on my uncle’s living room end table when I was 12. That book is all about people, and science (and how corporate greed is toxic to the people – and it was written in the 70s).

Romance is brain fluff? Snort. I’ve been married for over 3 decades, and there’s many a romance (and a few science fiction, mystery, thrillers and fantasies) that’s helped me through the minefield of the romantic relationship many a time – and entertained me along the way.

Fiction gives me insight into human beings (even when they’re disguised as robots or vampires). I need that insight, because – as I discovered while raising a son on the autism spectrum – I’m really not good at picking up people clues in the real world.

I’m proud to say I’ve never met a genre line I was afraid to cross. Some I like more than others, but every genre out there offers me some new perspective on people, life, living, and myself.

Which brings me to my secondary pet peeve: publishers’ fear of genre mixing in anthologies. When you find an anthology, it usually has similar genre stories (maybe a publisher will be daring and mix in some romantic mystery, history, suspense…maybe). But usually they stick stories into same genre boxes.

At Backlist Ebooks, we thought outside the genre box for our anthology of backlist tales. Our stories cross all the lines: mystery, suspense, science fiction, fantasy, contemporary, horror, you name it. After all, our authors have backlists in multiple genres. Many of our individual authors cross genre lines within their own backlist. I write historical romance, science fiction, YA (fantasy and contemporary humor), and whatever else strikes my fancy.

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This anthology, Tales From the Backlist, is a work of hope by the members of Backlist Ebooks. We want to support our fledgling backlist author platform. And we hope that readers may dare to cross a genre line or two and find a new genre playground or two that satisfies the reading itch. Take a chance and cross the genre line with our short stories. I dare ya.
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Kelly McClymer has one foot in traditional publishing, with her YA series The Salem Witch Tryouts, and one foot in the indie publishing world, with her backlist Once Upon a Wedding historical romance series. To scramble things up further, her Tales from the Backlist story "Diapers, DIshes, and Demons" is a literary fantasy about a woman for whom post-partum depression is a very real -- and annoying -- demon. You can find Kelly at her website http://kellymcclymer.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

 (P.S. Lorraine has a story in Tales from the Backlist, too.  It's my Jeff Resnick story, COLD CASE.)

Comments

[Kelly McClymer]

Lorraine! I love the Dick and Jane graphic. Takes me back. Waaaay back. Dare I confess I even loved Dick and Jane, despite their rather repetitive and on-the-nose dialogue?

Thank you so much for letting me vent today (BTW -- I read Cold Case -- it was great! I am a Jeff Resnick fan).

[Maryann Miller]

You are so right about the advantages of reading across genres. I do all the time and have a similar reading history that you do, Kelly. I read all the YA books in our small-town library by the time I was 12 and the librarian let me start reading adult fiction, with my mother's permission. I loved your story in the Anthology.

[Terry Odell]

I've recently joined a book club, and WOW am I reading across genres. I confess there's only been 1 book out of the 6 I've read since joining that I liked at all, but it is an eye opener.

And I write romantic suspense, which is already a blend of genres. Even then, I keep getting told I have to stay closer to the box. And, of course, I hope readers will enjoy picking up the anthology where they can sample a lot of genres in quick, easy bites.

[Kelly McClymer]

Thanks, Maryann -- I remember the day I got permission to borrow adult books, too. it felt like such a rite of passage (although I'd read plenty of adult books that were left lying around my house by then).

Terry -- how funny that you haven't liked many of your book club books. I think sometimes book clubs pick "serious" books so as to look more dignified. I used to belong to a book club where they picked serious books and no one ever read them -- we all came and talked about whatever we were *really* reading (we were young moms and mostly just wanted to get out of the house). I was an English major in college (and took AP English in high school) so I got the classics (the uber serious books) out of the way for credit.

[Kathleen Kelly]

I read Dick and Jane as a child too and Little House on the Prairie and Mary Poppins...I do have to admit I am one of those people that has issues with crossing the genre line although I do consider myself open to most anything...Just can not do way out there sci fi, erotica and I absolutely dislike Westerns...throw anything else at me and I am there. As a book reviewer I have found that I have been opening the mind a bit more. Thanks for the post.

[Brinda]

I agree with you! Sometimes I will go through genre phases and I need something good to pull me out again, but I think it is good to read different genres. I also enjoy books that don't exactly stay in the box.

[Mayra Calvani]

Thanks for the great post, Kelly. I'm proud to say I'm quite the eclectic reader. I read in many genres. The only books I don't like are war stories and gory horror.

[Joanna Novins]

Thanks for the photo of Dick and Jane--to me they remind me of the moment letters became words, words became sentences, and I was off and reading. Books on tape got me unstuck from genres--the library had such a limited supply that if I wanted to listen, I had to "listen" out of my comfort zone. Discovered all sorts of things I never would have read. Pity people who limit themselves, like the friend of my mother's who asked me as she stood in front of a library shelf of new books what she should read. Suggested a book by Sherman Alexie that had just gotten a national book award. "Oh," she said, "I don't like short stories." Sigh.

[Cheryl Malandrinos]

I cross all different types of genres when I read, but I have my favorites too. I spent two years reading only nonfiction. It was a phase I was in. When I decided to embark upon writing as a career, I figured I better see what the fiction world was up to, so I started reading fiction again. Mysteries, historicals and true crime are some of my favorite reads, but I'll read just about anything as long as it isn't vulgar.

I didn't know you had a new book out. I picked up this anthology today at Amazon for only 99 cents!

Wishing you the best,

Cheryl

[Patricia Rice]

Listening to Dick and Jane being read aloud scarred me for life. To this day, I cannot tolerate being read to.
I've always been an eclectic reader and a cross-genre writer. There's too much of wonder in this world to ignore any of it. This anthology is packed with good stuff!

[Norma Huss]

I began reading with Dick and Jane too. So did my oldest daughter! (Does that tell you I'm old?) I fell in love with Dark Pony, the last story in my Dick and Jane. Maybe because it was a bit more interesting?

I'm one who reads across the genres as well. But I favor writing mystery, maybe with a bit of paranormal slipped in.

[Margay]

Although I do read a good variety of books, I have to admit that there are some genres that I just don't like or can't really get into and science fiction is one of them. I like some sci fi movies, but in books, I just get lost or bored. Same thing with mysteries - better on film than on the page for me. One genre I (re)discovered not too long ago is YA and I can't get enough of it! So go figure.

[FABR Steph]

You have made some interesting points. I read several different genres and have a reason to like them all.
As a reviewer, I do shy away from books that are completely not my sort of read. I try to rate in comparison to other books in the same genre (a cozy mystery may not be for a die hard thriller fan, but may deserve an equally good rating). I think that it can be difficult to rate fairly if the genre is not to the readers taste.
Thanks for the thought provoking post.
-FABR Steph@FiveAlarmBookReviews

[Morgan Mandel]

My first books were in the David and Ann series. That was before Dick and Jane came about.

I enjoy reading romances,mysteries,thrillers, or combinations of them, but once in a while I venture to read something if it's from a fellow author and I want to promote that person. I tend to also read romances and mysteries.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

[Mary Ellen Hughes]

I probably tend to choose books "safely", meaning genres I'm sure I'll like. Once in a while, though, I'm pushed to try something out of my comfort zone and am almost always pleasantly surprised. Short stories are a great way to test the waters - much less cost or time commitment required. I read everyone of the stories in Tales from the Backlist beyond my own and loved them all - and some were genres I hadn't read for a long time. Goes to show what I've been missing!

[Phoebe Conn]

I belong to two book clubs and neither reads "serious" books, thank God. The club members have introduced me to books I'd not have chosen myself, and I'm grateful to have friends who are eager to talk about books. I love to read and will read anything even remotely interesting regardless of the genre. I learned how to read before I went to school, and when the teacher handed out Dick and Jane, I was deeply disappointed. "Who wants to read this crap?" I thought. I was such a delightful child.