Crossing Categories in Writing – Guest Post Jacquelynn Luben

In 2015 I am welcoming a number of guests to my blog, where they discuss all manner of topics. I am sure my regular followers have seen the Fantasy and Literary Heroes in Society posts, which will be a continuing feature but today I am pleased to welcome Jacquelynn Luben who talks about the challenges of writing in multiple genres, her work in a small publishing house, research and the challenges faced by many authors. Over to you Jacquelynn…

Crossing Categories in Writing

Jacquelynn Luben

Over the years, I���ve written both fiction and non-fiction, short and long.�� That is to say, I���ve written two non-fiction books and two novels (and am in the process of writing the third) and I���ve also written many short stories and published quite a few articles.

In terms of success, one of my non-fiction books was commissioned and published by a mainstream publisher, while the other was self-published, and of course, my articles were published in print magazines.

My novels, on the other hand, are published by a small publishing house, in which I am a director, with two others – so quite a small concern – which makes it more difficult to achieve the same sort of success as with a mainstream publisher.�� However, on-line sales through Amazon have provided me with a very satisfactory income during the last three years, and this specifically applies to my fiction work.

I have never been a professional writer, and have never had to rely on writing for an income.�� So from this point of view, I am happy with the way my writing has progressed.�� It means I write what I feel like writing and when I feel like it, and am not normally boxed into a corner where I have to produce something to a deadline.

In the past, my non-fiction writing has been praised for its clarity, and perhaps I should have concentrated on that.�� However, the truth of the matter is that I do not really like researching a subject.�� My first non-fiction book (The Fruit of the Tree) was written from the heart, as it dealt with the death of my baby daughter through cot death.�� Having written articles on the subject, I wanted to put the event into context, and so described a period of five years of my married life, including the births of my other children.�� No research was needed.�� At the time when I wrote it, it was all there in my memory.

I have spoken to writers who say that they love the research more than the writing.�� This does not apply to me.�� The writing is the part which is enjoyable;�� I like using words – as any writer should – and I like editing what I have written, moving words, sentences and paragraphs around.�� (Computers have made that aspect of writing so much easier.)�� My articles therefore, have, on the whole, been based on my personal experience, the most recent having been published in a ���nostalgia��� magazine, and have therefore not required much in the way of research.

It was as a result of writing my first book – which in the end, I published myself – that I was commissioned to write a self-help book on the subject of cot death, and for this I had to use my head and try to be somewhat more objective about the subject.�� I did, of course, have to research the topic, and I interviewed a number of people, taking notes and using, at that time, a tape recorder, before going to the computer to transcribe the interviews.�� I tried to make them wide ranging, including as my interviewees, bereaved parents, doctors and a midwife, a funeral director, and representatives of the charity which gave support to bereaved parents.�� The parents, too, were diverse and included, for example, those who had had more children and those who chose not to, and religious and non-religious people.

My motivation for writing fiction is really quite different, the common factors being my enjoyment of writing, and my interest in the structure of any piece of work.�� I am a sucker for stories.�� If I turn on the radio or TV, half way through a play, I will probably get hooked and want to know what happened.�� So constructing a story and living in the world of that story is a different kind of escapism.�� Fiction comes in for criticism from my engineer husband, because it���s ���not true���, but I believe that there is sometimes more truth in fiction than in factual stuff.�� In my opinion, whenever fiction writers describe events, they are remembering something that occurred in their own lives, or that they have heard about.�� The truth is in the emotion that was experienced, even if the fictional characters do not exist.�� So a piece of fiction is a tapestry of true or half remembered events or events that could happen.�� Even in fantasy and science fiction, (which I generally don���t write) good writers usually represent their characters with normal human emotions.

I think that writers have to recognise today that it is very difficult to make a living from writing unless you produce a best-seller.�� But that doesn���t mean that there aren���t opportunities to get work read and even paid for, particularly in the field of ebooks.�� My novel, Tainted Tree, is the piece of work that has provided me with an income recently and is the most read of my current work.�� Initially on the Amazon discussion pages, I promoted it a great deal, though this can bring Amazon���s wrath upon your head, so after a reprimand, ��I made sure that I was more cautious in this respect.

I made sure that I made good use of the categories on the book���s Kindle page, and was fortunate in that another writer who had created a ���Listomania��� of genealogical novels, added it to his list.�� If you are the writer of ���literary fiction���, your book may not be too specific, but as I don���t come into that category, and prefer plot based books, it is probably easier to categorise them.�� Having said that, I don���t believe that any book fits into one category.�� Tainted Tree is a genealogical romance with a bit of mystery and history in the package.�� My current novel in progress is a crime thriller, which also has a romantic thread.

My books have in common one thing.�� I have read and reread them over and over again and made changes to numerous drafts.�� Even if I break the rules, I regard grammar and spelling as of great importance, and, with the help of my fellow directors at our shared publishing house and other writers at my writing circle, I try, to the best of my ability, to sift out all errors.�� I also try my hardest to make sure that loose ends are tied up and that there are no errors of continuity.�� I am not a professional writer, but I try to be professional.