Welcome to The Saturday Spotlight, a weekly feature showcasing debut, Indie, self-published and authors who specialize in Ebook publishing. This week I have the pleasure introducing readers to:
HEIDI MILLER
~author of Ambasadora~
Reconciling Science Fiction and Romance
by Heidi Miller
In May of 2011, I had two books released: Many Genres, One Craft, a non-fiction writing guide I co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen based on Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction graduate program, and my debut novel Ambasadora, which was my thesis novel there. In Many Genres, I shared an essay on trying to reconcile writing a work of Science Fiction Romance (SFR). Here are some thoughts from that essay:
Because the classification for Science Fiction or Romance as genres is open at best, deciding how to define the two when blended strains the mind. We'll settle for an anemic definition: SF Romance presents a plot which relies on an alternative reality, usually brought forth through technology, as well an emotional journey of a couple or multiple couples.
With such an exciting and intriguing concept, why do Romance and Science Fiction readers have such a difficult time embracing SF Romance? The answer may come down to nebulous percentages. What portion of the plot, character interaction, and ending is SF and what portion is Romance? If a writer sways too much in one direction or the other, she fears losing part of her audience.
So, what makes a story seem more like SF? The world-building and technology drive the plot and influence the characters. And, what makes a story more like Romance? The plot centers around a love story with an emotionally satisfying ending, that of a couple coming together. Does this mean the plot's focal point determines its readership? Perhaps, but it's also the way the characters interact, how much time they spend looking at each other, thinking about each other, and how intimate they become.
When I began my thesis novel Ambasadora in 2005, I firmly believed I was writing SF. Then I attended my first intensive residency and my first critique session. I submitted the opening chapter of Ambasadora, and lines were immediately drawn down the middle of the room between those who thought it was too lovey-dovey and those who thought there were too many ray guns.
The comments made by students pursuing publication in the genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction contradicted those from the Romance/Women's Fiction contingency. The same disagreement ensued when I submitted another chapter during the summer residency with a more varied mix of genre writers. Interestingly enough, in both instances, the critiquers didn't care much about how the plot ascribed to one or the other genres, but more about how the characters interacted. I left each critique session with a mix of frustration and excitement, and lots of decisions to make. I still considered Ambasadora a work of Science Fiction, but felt compelled to integrate the suggestions I had heard about enhancing my characters' interactions. I realized this novel didn't neatly fit into either world, SF or Romance, and that worried me.
It would seem in one way I had reason to worry—according to many agents and editors I spoke with in the publishing industry, SF Romance was a hard sell because they consider it a niche market. Perhaps the niche idea comes from the reasons I pondered earlier about the reader expectations of each group. Yet, I've found a large audience for my work, partly due to connections made through Broad Universe, SFR Brigade, and other online communities like those wonderful ones found on Goodreads. I predict that SF Romance will one day become as popular in the mainstream as Paranormal Romance and Fantasy Romance. Take the new wave of Steampunk Romances breaking out of obscurity. Steampunk Romance will open the gate for other kinds of Science Fiction Romance. Here's to hoping we unlock that gate soon.
I second that movement.....Thanks so much Heidi for stopping by and sharing your journey, which sounds sometimes frustrating. Wishing you the best of luck in your future writing career.
Giveaway
Today Heidi is giving away FIVE Ebook/Kindle copies of her book Ambasadora. Everyone is welcome to enter, please just leave a comment and winners will be drawn Oct 8 2011.
Ambasodora by Heidi Miller
If everyone told you love wasn't real, would you still be willing to die for it? Citizens of a six-moon system in our arm of the Milky Way don't remember Earth, only the History of a generational worldship culture. In their multi-partner society a caste system rules tradition, but the governing body of the Embassy rules everything else. Obsessed with celebrity, beauty, and power, relationships and conceptions are based more on DNA than emotional ties...or should be.What the citizenry can't escape are the human feelings of love and jealousy that turn the sterile to honorable suicide, force a couple to make the ultimate sacrifice, and allow rebels to spin their world into a violent revolution. Ambasadora Sara Mendoza becomes the unwilling face of this revolution. Captured, tortured, and given a second chance at freedom, she proves that sacrifice for the man she loves is more honorable than sacrifice to a society's antiquated mores.
Wicked awesome chick!!
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I grew up reading scifi and would love to see more scifi with romance mixed into it. I love being out in the stars. Thank you for the giveaway!
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REALLY interesting article. I wonder if there's a little genre bias going on in publishing, too, thinking that one genre is somehow better than the other, or that readers of one genre automatically assume they won't like the other without even trying.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway op!
Smiles!
Lori
Tina, thank you for having me on your lovely blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for all of your thoughts, ladies. Congratulations on winning a copy of Ambasadora!
Lori, your suggestion about genre bias hits the mark, in my opinion. I'm writing another article for a magazine detailing that very idea. Let's hope we break through that bias soon!
Cheers,
Heidi