Actual conversation I had with a lady this morning...
Lady, "So, what do you do for a living?"Me, "I'm a fantasy author!" (always so cool to say)Lady, "Oh wow! So like Harry Potter?!"Me, "No, Harry Potter's YA, I write adult fantasy."Lady, "............." Me, "NO! Not THAT kind of adult fantasy!"
I still don't think she believes I don't write porn. Would you believe this has happened to me more than once? I need something new to call my books. I usually go with adventure fantasy, since there's lots of fighting and action-y type mayhem, but they're also funny. Yet with YA becoming the prevalent fantasy mainstay in mainstream culture thanks to HP and the other usual suspects, I find myself having to clarify all the time that my books are for adults, or at least they don't feature kids as protagonists. (Actually, teens and kids seem to really like my books).
So, how to specify that this is a novel written for grown ups without veering into all the nuances of "Adult"? The most obvious choice would be a pairing for Young Adult, but somehow I don't think Old Adult Fantasy would be very marketable.
Maybe I'll just stick with "I wrote a book. There's a wizard in it!" And let the intrigued figure it out from there.
Published on January 28, 2011 07:28