Well, now, it’s probably better to murder people on paper than in real life. Do wonder about the switching of genre Allis touches on. I’m writing something at present in Scots vernacular. I hear it in my head as I did so readily when I wrote my first play, Horizons. There’s an exciting energy about it. Although I do get that feeling when my regency dialogue is going well, too, I know.
What do you think, visitors? Do you like your favourite writers to try out other genres? Do you prefer your favourite writers to stay with what you first encountered and loved?
I’ve been thinking a lot about murder recently. Not on my own account; it’s never struck me as a particularly practical solution to difficulties, apart from the fact that it’s so hard to get blood out of fabric. You can soak it in cold water forever but there’s still a lingering shadow that has to be treated with biological washing powder. No, I’ve spent the summer reading a lot of cosy (or cozy) crime. I try to avoid reading Regencies when I’m writing my own, as it just depresses me to see how much better other authors manage it.
I like cosy crime for the atmosphere and world it creates. I usually don’t care about the victim, and I can never spot the clues which lead to the perpetrator, so the whole mystery thing is just a side show. Instead, I enjoy an insight into small-town libraries (Elizabeth Lynn Casey)…
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Novels Now 
My initial reaction to your question was – I do like my favourite authors to stay ‘on genre’. It would be weird to see Ian Rankin or Val McDermid writing romance or sci-fi, or your good self writing a spy thriller. You all have a brand.
But then I thought why not? JK has made it work. Heck, I write for children and adults – hypocritical moi? 🙂
In the end it’s the quality of the writing that counts, the story, the characters. Like Allis says in her post, when she reads ‘cosy crime’ it’s not so much whodunit that interests her but what’s going in the story as a whole.
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Hi Anne, yes, I think we all like to step out of the brand from time to time. Georgette Heyer famously wrote detective novels between her regencies. Thanks for dropping by, Anne (It’s very wet in Edinburgh)
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I know some authors who write in different genres, and swear it clears their head from the last, say contemporary, so they can start the new contemp. once the murder mystery is written. But then, of course, you have the worry of wondering whether to use a pen-name or keep the same name and alienate readers who were expecting contemporary.
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All these conundrums, Allis. Keeps us on our toes, anne
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