V is for Variety

April 25, 2015

Day 22

The 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge

Many Sundry Things

V is for Variety

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Someone once said, and has now been quoted endlessly, that “variety is the spice of life.” That may be true, but sometimes one can have a bit too much spice in the dish and muddle the flavors. Variety, to the writer, can be a double-edged sword.

Most writers excel at a particular type of story but that doesn’t mean they don’t yearn to expand into other genres. As KC Kendricks, I write primarily contemporary gay romance. Yes, I touch the fringes of the paranormal with Sundown and Fallon, but my little bratty shapeshifter lives in modern times. I’ve been very successful in contemporary gay romance, but I’d like a little variety from time-to-time. I’d like to build a world with a honking big, badass spaceship and go fly around the galaxy every now and again. The double-edged sword part of that is would my readers come with me? You know, those readers who only read contemporary gay romance. How would they feel about a little variety?

So that’s a question I ponder. How much variety is just enough? How much variety is too much? One of the accepted rules of writing is if you want to write in a variety of genres, you need more than one pen name. I certainly agree with this if you want to write traditional heterosexual romance, gay romance, and something like inspirational stories.

But what if my romantic leads are two adventurous males roaming the area out around Orion’s belt and firing photon torpedoes at the bad aliens to save the good aliens? It’s still romantic gay fiction, isn’t it? 

Variety. Just like readers who enjoy a diverse assortment of stories, perhaps it’s time for the writer to expand her range. It might be a good thing to offer a more varied body of work to readers. I’ll have to think on that.

KC Kendricks

http://www.kckendricks.com