Book Genre: Tween Fantasy Adventure
Publisher: AZ Publishing Services
Release Date: June 15, 2015
Buy Link(s): http://grendelmen.com/
- Paperback Amazon
Book Description:
Dani is a young orphan girl, living on the streets of a medium-sized border town. Her only friend in the world is a dragon. At fourteen years of age, she should be starting her apprenticeship, but all her schooling has come from a dragon. The same day he promises she can some day become a dragon herself, a Mage finally comes looking for her. But is he there to help her, or control her?
Publisher: AZ Publishing Services
Release Date: June 15, 2015
Buy Link(s): http://grendelmen.com/
- Paperback Amazon
Book Description:
Dani is a young orphan girl, living on the streets of a medium-sized border town. Her only friend in the world is a dragon. At fourteen years of age, she should be starting her apprenticeship, but all her schooling has come from a dragon. The same day he promises she can some day become a dragon herself, a Mage finally comes looking for her. But is he there to help her, or control her?
Why Do We Write Genres?
Why
do we use Genres?
Some
people have a hard time understanding why the publishing industry
insists on labeling every book with a genre. There are many to choose
from and so many novels that cross genres, such as a love story set
in the old west. Is that Historical Fiction, Western, or Romance?
There
are two answers, and I’ll give the easy one first. Bookstores,
including online sellers like Amazon, want to help readers find the
types of books they like by allowing them to browse in certain
categories. There is a shelf for Westerns, a shelf for Historical
Fiction, and a shelf for Romance. Without a category, the physical
bookstore won’t know where to put it, unless you are already a
famous bestselling novelist, and then it goes in a big pile where the
customers can see it as they walk in. For the rest of us, we need to
understand our genre to make the bookstore’s job easier.
Now
for the more important answer, and the reason why the easy answer
exists at all. If the book is mislabeled as to its genre, then people
looking for a Western, who pick up a Romance novel set in the old
west are probably going to be very disappointed, if not outraged, and
never recommend that book to their friends. Why? Because a Romance
novel focuses on the love story, or love life, usually of a woman,
and is often told from that woman’s point of view. There are
certain keywords and phrases that Romance readers are looking for.
On
the other hand, people who read Westerns want to read about the
conflict between the sheriff and the outlaw, or the rancher and the
cattle rustler. Sure, the main character may have a love interest,
and the good guy always gets the right girl at the end, if he isn’t
already married. But the focus of the novel isn’t about how they
fell in love. It’s about a world where usually the person with the
fastest draw makes the law, and how unexpected people stand up to the
outlaw, etc.
Think
of it like a menu. At any decent restaurant, the menu is broken up
into at least three sections. There are appetizers, entrees, and
desserts. If a dessert is placed in the appetizers menu, less people
are going to order it. Or if a fine dining establishment puts
lemonade on their wine list, even if it is hard lemonade, it’s in
the wrong spot, and people looking for wine usually won’t order the
hard lemonade.
The
genre isn’t just about putting your book on a certain shelf. It’s
about giving the reader what they want in terms of content, message,
and length. No one is going to read a Children’s novel if it’s
1500 pages. But some Science Fiction writers hit that length, as well
as some Epic Fantasy authors. Most publishers would encourage that
author to break it up into five books, or at least a trilogy.
I’ve
said it before, but it’s so important that I’ll say it again. New
authors can’t break the rules unless they understand the reasons
why the rules exist in the first place. When they do, they only sell
books if they are also a good salesman. Personally, I want my readers
to be the salesmen by telling their friends how much they enjoyed the
book.
Author Bio: Simon Driscoll has published several books, including the Dragons’ Bane Chronicles, and the Warriors & Watchmen series. Writing is his passion, as well as his hobby. He studied creative writing in college to learn the mechanics of written stories. He has been influenced in his writing by great authors such as Sir Isaac Asimov, Terry Brooks, and Orson Scott Card, to name only a few.
Simon has been a student of the scriptures all his life, and feels passionately about helping others understand them better. The most difficult aspect of scriptures to comprehend is prophecy. That is why Simon has combined his passions for writing and the scriptures to create a fictional account of the fulfillment of End Times Prophecies. The first book in the Warrior and Watchmen Series was published in 2015.
Website: http://grendelmen.com/
Blog: http://driscoll.grendelmen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Driscoll.Books/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorSDriscoll
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/driscoll0924/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10654758.Simon_Driscoll
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Driscoll/e/B00ZYKDBZ2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1467414313&sr=8-1
Simon has been a student of the scriptures all his life, and feels passionately about helping others understand them better. The most difficult aspect of scriptures to comprehend is prophecy. That is why Simon has combined his passions for writing and the scriptures to create a fictional account of the fulfillment of End Times Prophecies. The first book in the Warrior and Watchmen Series was published in 2015.
Website: http://grendelmen.com/
Blog: http://driscoll.grendelmen.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Driscoll.Books/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorSDriscoll
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/driscoll0924/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10654758.Simon_Driscoll
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Driscoll/e/B00ZYKDBZ2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1467414313&sr=8-1
Excerpt:
Smooth stones shifted beneath my feet as I limped toward the dragon’s cave. Anger buzzed in my head with no outlet. Two miles of walking on a sprained ankle hadn’t helped my mood, or the injury. In addition to the ankle, which continued to complain with every step, my left eye felt swollen from a recent blow. The blow itself didn’t bother me so much. Instead, I was concerned by why she hit me and how I got away.
Two miles south lay Barrington, a village sandwiched between the kingdom of Puji and the mountains of Goldoon. Almost five thousand people lived in the village, including the families who had taken me in. Every winter for the past six years one family or another had taken me in as a housekeeper or cook, and shared what little food they had with me; rarely enough to truly satisfy me, or them. Eventually they would start to resent having me there. Thus every year, around the start of spring, I would find some reason to leave.
This year, the reason had reached out and grabbed me by the throat, literally. There was no real love for me there, and hadn’t been since my nanny died almost six years ago. Why should they care about a little orphan girl?
The cave before me wasn’t the adventure others might see. I wasn’t here in a vain attempt to gain treasure or impress someone with my bravery. No one else in the village knew there was a dragon nearby. For me, this was my one escape from the cruelty of the world. The only place left where someone showed me kindness instead of hatred and violence.
The last few feet were the trickiest of all and my injured ankle gave out. I scraped my hand on the cliff in a failed attempt to stop my fall.
“Cortiban’s bones!” The curse escaped my lips. Frustration boiled over and I had to close my eyes to contain the anger. Pulling myself up by grabbing the face of the cliff before me, I put all my anger to the task of overcoming the pain. I kept my eyes shut as I limped through the protective magic hiding the mouth of the cave. If someone watched as I entered, they would see me walk through solid rock. A protective spell hid everything inside. Now the magic hid me as well.
Two miles south lay Barrington, a village sandwiched between the kingdom of Puji and the mountains of Goldoon. Almost five thousand people lived in the village, including the families who had taken me in. Every winter for the past six years one family or another had taken me in as a housekeeper or cook, and shared what little food they had with me; rarely enough to truly satisfy me, or them. Eventually they would start to resent having me there. Thus every year, around the start of spring, I would find some reason to leave.
This year, the reason had reached out and grabbed me by the throat, literally. There was no real love for me there, and hadn’t been since my nanny died almost six years ago. Why should they care about a little orphan girl?
The cave before me wasn’t the adventure others might see. I wasn’t here in a vain attempt to gain treasure or impress someone with my bravery. No one else in the village knew there was a dragon nearby. For me, this was my one escape from the cruelty of the world. The only place left where someone showed me kindness instead of hatred and violence.
The last few feet were the trickiest of all and my injured ankle gave out. I scraped my hand on the cliff in a failed attempt to stop my fall.
“Cortiban’s bones!” The curse escaped my lips. Frustration boiled over and I had to close my eyes to contain the anger. Pulling myself up by grabbing the face of the cliff before me, I put all my anger to the task of overcoming the pain. I kept my eyes shut as I limped through the protective magic hiding the mouth of the cave. If someone watched as I entered, they would see me walk through solid rock. A protective spell hid everything inside. Now the magic hid me as well.
