Scribe
Scribe
2012
Genre Cops
When I first considered how to classify "Sitting with Warrior," I was at a lost. You know you write something, from start to finish, trying to keep as pure as you can to the process of spontaneous creation taking place. Of course, you adhere to the precepts of good writing, but, within that, you attempt to give license to flights of originality and brilliance that might depart from "safe" publisher-approved stylings.
Thus, I finish my book and it seems to blur all of these different lines of genre that supposedly are incompatible. I come out of my co-creation entrancement with the spirits of inspiration and I don't know what to call a work that integrates memoir, myth, and fantasy; war and spirituality.
I guess I should say I didn’t know what to call it for the Genre Police. The POD folks insist it is strictly fantasy. Forget the autobiographical and historical elements of the book. Forget the naming of names of dead brothers in arms I served with.
So I called it for me—the writer of a tale of life personally lived; not a life imitating art, but a life revealed by it. I called it myth, fantasy, history.
Oh, well. . . The beauty of indie freedom. I got my way; kept the table of contents, the poetry introducing each chapter, the glossary and appendix. An author friend of mine suggested the "Slipstream" pigeonhole for my book. I guess it is the readers that will ultimately decide what genre it conjures up for them.
Carl
Saturday, January 28, 2012