Reader Expectations, Genre Expectations, and Imposter Syndrome

Reader Expectations, Genre Expectations, and Imposter Syndrome

I’ve been working on my next Blackthorne, Inc. novel, and have been having trouble switching from the Mapleton mystery structure to a romantic suspense. Some days, I think my brain is slogging about two months behind my reality.

I’d written five chapters before I forced myself to stop and take stock. My Mapleton mysteries are single POV books, and in this new one, I had yet to leave the hero’s point of view. The heroine-to-be was men...