The Muse

Dark and Light.

Fact, fiction, poems, short stories, articles and novels.

Dark fiction, light fiction, cross-genre, slipstream, non-traditional and romance, gothic, horror, fantasy and more…

Let me explain…

Fact and fiction…

Although I’m primarily a fiction writer, editors have occasionally approached me to write factual essays. One of those times was for The Really Wild Nursery and Arthritis Care Breaking Down the Barriers garden project. This meant writing many materials I’d never previously attempted, including press releases and a piece suitable for translation into Braille.

Poems…

Although I don’t write many poems, it’s an excellent exercise for any writer to play with words. However, poems for me come in cycles. I may write the occasional poem, but it’s more likely that I’ll write them for many weeks or months at a time, and then take an even longer break where I won’t write any at all, sometimes not for years.

Short stories…

I once never wanted to write a short story. I just wasn’t that interested. Now, I love writing short stories, and it’s a pity many people seem to have lost the joy of reading them. My father always said that he preferred a novel because no sooner was he into a short story than it was over. While I see his point, a short story can be an entire universe in itself. For any writer, I would always encourage the practice of short story writing. It teaches so much, and can improve a style.

Articles…

As well as the aforementioned factual pieces I wrote for the garden project, editors have occasionally asked me to write articles, namely for a west country newsletter. Currently, I’m no longer doing this, but I’ll never say never again. I’ve written pieces on writing that print and electronic publications well received.

Novels…Novellas…

 

While I set most of my novels to date within the romance genre, I have also published full-length works in Steampunk, and in the Doctor Who universe under the Lethbridge-Stewart series. I have other projects in mind, namely dark fiction. Just as I never expected to be writing as I am now, I’m happy to see what surprises the future has in store. Novellas are an interesting, and useful, length to consider writing. I cannot stretch all stories into 60, 70, or 80,000+ words. My foray into Space 1889 extended to novel length in the third season.

Dark fiction, light fiction…

Although I blend genres, there seems to be a dark thread that runs through much of my work and dominates my non-romance writing. In romance, I’ve gone more for a mix of dark and light, where some of my titles should induce a simple smile or a laugh. I may explore an even darker side of romance in time.

Cross-genre…

The one thing I like about the current romance industry is that it allows for all categories of sub-genres and therefore cross-genre writing, but we’ll come to that in a moment. It’s enough to say for now that this is the largest attraction for me. Someone described one of my romances as Prince and the Pauper crossed with Arabian nights. A short story of mine starts with someone deliriously ill. Her ramblings turn into the story of a dysfunctional family, a subsequent crime, and a heartbreaking look at her life. It’s more than one story within a story and if asked to give it a category, I would have to list it in several genres. I love taking two disconnected occurrences and crossing them to make something new.

Slipstream…

Slipstream is possibly another way to say I write cross-genre. It’s a relatively new term that covers stories that ‘slip’ around or between other genres, containing elements of both or many. I really should have included Speculative Fiction on my list, so I’m mentioning it here. It’s really a collective term for all stories that contain elements of the fantastic or improbable things that are unlikely to occur in our universe.

Non-traditional romance…

You may well ask why I list my romantic endeavours as non-traditional, but there is a good reason for this. While I would never rule out the possibility of writing a more traditional romance one day, I prefer modern romances which contain facets of the paranormal or erotica. They may also contain varying sexualities. These sub-genres allow for greater story telling. Authors love conflict and where can you get more conflict than in same-sex pairings or with multiple partners, or in the supernatural? The idea of non-traditional simply covers the genre of romance and all the sub-genres that exist, and allows a writer to throw whatever he or she wishes into the mix.

Gothic…

While I don’t specifically write gothic pieces, I believe many of my stories may contain gothic components, particularly when they are dark stories that don’t quite extend to horror. I’ve written some dark fairy tales that I would rather call gothic than horror.

Horror…

Horror as opposed to gothic for me is when there are truly nasty aspects to the story. These may include some gory scenes, or implied scenes, a serial killer (although that could equally apply to crime), or a plain, old-fashioned monster on the loose. Said monster doesn’t have to possess fangs and claws, and can be quite human, as in the serial killer scenario. In short, horror would have a stronger definition of portrayed violence, and that’s probably why I write little that I would categorise as horror. I would rather call my darker stories atmospheric.

Fantasy…

This category hardly needs explaining, although my fantasies can cross genres as much as any other types of writing. I love epic novels depicting completely strange worlds and societies.

and more…

More because there’s so many things unlisted. Will I ever write a historical? I have written a dark version of a fairy tale that’s historical, but also erotic romance. Get the picture? Will I write about crime? Look at the short story as mentioned above. That tale is definitely slipstream, but there’s an underlying misdeed. Erotica? Look at my romance, or even some of my darker gothic stories. If the story requires a sensuous moment, or an in your face love scene, I will not turn shy on my characters. I will always put into words what I feel the story requires, and that’s why I call my work diverse. I’ve added steampunk and Doctor Who related fiction to the mix.

 

Thanks for reading!
Sharon x

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