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Categorizing a Novel

by

Pamela Thibodeaux

In my last visit to Sorchia’s Universe, I discussed the difference in Paranormal and Supernatural. Today I’d like to share the importance of categorizing your novel.

Reviewers have termed a couple of my books romance, paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and Christian — all of which are OK but not exactly 100% accurate.

This led me to thinking How DOES one categorize a novel?

One of the major parts of a proposal is category and the advice of many is to go into a book store and find out where your book would fit on the shelves. Among the thousands of titles out there, this can be quite a challenge.

Since publishers feel it’s a bit arrogant to say “My book belongs on the shelf with the other Best Sellers,” let’s look at the different categories and see how I came about determining Keri’s Christmas Wish as Women’s Fiction.

Inspirational isn’t hard to explain – although undeniably “Christian” I do not write within the conservative guidelines required by many CBA publishers – therefore, Inspirational better fits what I write. In fact, my writing has been tagged as “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ since my debut novel, Tempered Hearts in 2000.

Women’s Fiction is also not hard to understand. Romance is defined by certain criteria – 1 couple; boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, couple lives happily-ever-after. The Visionary has a set of m/f twins as the main characters, which immediately threw it into a genre other than romance. Although Keri’s Christmas Wish has a romantic subplot, the romance between Keri and Jeremy is not the main focus of the novella, nor does it follow the typical romance formula.

Women’s Fiction is normally defined as a contemporary novel that deals with women’s issues…ie: divorce, domestic violence, empty nest syndrome, etc. and a WF novel usually has a strong romantic thread in it. Since Keri’s Christmas Wish, deals with one woman’s quest to find the joy in Christmas instead of her usual angst, Women’s Fiction seemed appropriate.

Keri’s Christmas Wish

For as long as she can remember, Keri Jackson has despised the hype and commercialism around Christmas so much she seldom enjoys the holiday. Will she get her wish and be free of the angst to truly enjoy Christmas this year?

A devout Christian at heart, Jeremy Hinton, a Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Spiritual Mentor and Energy Medicine Practitioner has studied all of the world’s religions and homeopathic healing modalities. But when a rare bacterial infection threatens the life of the woman he loves, will all of his faith and training be for naught?

Find out in Keri’s Christmas Wish

A Sparkling Taste  of the Story

An image began to form in her mind…a young girl being led around on a horse by an ethereal figure. As the trio came closer, Keri felt as though she looked in a mirror. Her heart swelled. Tears clogged her throat, filled her eyes, and slipped down her cheeks.

“Hi, Keri!”

The childlike voice reverberated through her entire body. Keri smiled and whispered, “Hello.”

Excitement lit the youngster’s eyes. Brilliant colors vibrated around her. “Do you know who I am?”

“You’re me as a little girl. That’s Spark, my horse who died when I was a teenager.”

Spark nodded his head as the girl giggled—a joyous melody that rang through the atmosphere. “No, silly, I’m your big sister. Only, I didn’t live very long.”

Tension seeped in, a mixture of shock and awe.

“Don’t be afraid. Ask mom.”

And then the mirage disappeared.

Grab your own Copy

Meet Pamela Thibodeaux

Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story!

Novel Magic’s December Giveaway

Contest runs from the first of the month until the last.One winner will receive all the books featured in Novel Magic for the month PLUS one of mine. To enter, Select the link and follow the instructions.

Winner will be chose randomly and contacted via the email address entered here. The Winner will also be posted in Sorchia’s Universe at the end of the giveaway. Unless the winner provides additional info, we will send prizes to the email address we have. No additional winner will be chosen. If no entries are received, no prize will be awarded.