Writing Across
Genres:
From Science Fiction
to Erotica, Humor to Horror . . . and Beyond
by
John B. Rosenman
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Though I like to write science
fiction, I like to write other things, too.
Science-fiction Fantasy, Science-fiction Horror, Humorous Science
Fiction, Horror, Humorous Horror, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Erotica, Dark Erotica,
Romance, Mainstream, Mystery, even Metafiction, which pokes fun at the creative
process itself. You name it, and I’ve
probably tried it at one time or another.
Sometimes I mix them together, creating hybrids.
Today, more than ever it seems,
writers are typecast. We live in the age
of specialists, and a writer’s latest novel is packaged as a product to appeal
to a select market. Stray from the
formula, write something just a little bit different, a mystery instead of a
romance, and your agent is likely to question your sanity. As for your fans, more likely than not, they
will spend their money elsewhere.
To me, the creative landscape is
too vast and rich for me to settle on a little postage stamp of soil. Thus, while my science-fiction novel, Dax Rigby, War Correspondent, published
by MuseItUp Publishing deals with one of my favorite themes of a hero traveling
to a distant world and having amazing adventures, my short story, Steam Heat, also published by MuseitUp,
is out-and-out erotic horror. Both, I
feel, are good, engrossing tales, but they are miles apart. To me, it’s fun and challenging to
s-t-r-e-t-c-h my creative legs and see what unplumbed abilities I have waiting
inside me.
To give an example of the
difference in these two stories, here are two excerpts. The first is from Dax Rigby, War Correspondent.
In it, Dax and Casey Frank, a seductive pilot, are flying in a copter
above the tropical plain of Arcadia, a world 900 light-years from Earth. Beneath them, two alien species do battle:
As the copter approached, he took out his cam, set it to zoom, and
started to record. In the viewport, the alien antagonists were immediately terrifying
and vividly monstrous. The Flyers, three meters tall, he recalled, flapped
bright crimson wings and attacked and retreated before their even taller
six-legged grasshopper-like enemy.
Dax saw green, olive, and brown bodies with yellow markings, sword-shaped
antennae, and huge upper hind legs well adapted for leaping. And the Hoppers
did more than leap. They also used those legs for savage blows and charges
while the Flyers gnawed and ripped at them with razor-sharp teeth and claws.
Watching closely, Dax saw blood gush: dark red for the Hoppers, green for the
Flyers.
“Delightful, isn’t it?” Casey asked. “Reminds me of a family reunion.”
“We’re half a klick away now from the beasts,” Dax recorded, wondering
when or if those on Earth or its colonies would view this event. “As can be
seen, they are truly savage and ferocious.”
No one could tell him there wasn’t a war going on here. He watched in
fascination as several combatants launched brutal assaults against each other.
“Can you get a little lower, maybe circle them?”
In response, the copter dropped several meters in the air, leaving his
stomach behind.
Dax gulped. “Hey! You don’t have to—”
“I’m not. Something’s wrong. The engine isn’t responding.”
“Isn’t responding? You mean—”
“I mean it’s dead.” Her hands raced over the control panel, pressing
buttons and turning dials. “Oh shit. Shit shit shit.”
--- Oh, the joys of
alien world building, of creating alien species who are truly alien and yet in
some ways, similar to us. And the joys,
too, of creating a burgeoning romance on that world between Dax and Casey, who
as we leave them, are about to plunge toward what looks like certain death.
Now
here’s an excerpt from Steam Heat,
which was inspired by a health spa I pump iron at. In erotic horror, sex is often dangerous,
conveyed in a lush style that lingers over and savors every nuance of
sensation, and your partner is likely to be evil in ways you can’t even
imagine—or more importantly, prepare for:
After a good hot spray he entered the steam
room, finding it empty. Climbing in his
swim trunks to the top level of the multi-tiered wooden bench, he looked
around. Heavy steam filled the air, partly obscuring his view of the pool
through the floor-to-ceiling window. At
best, he could make out only a few swimmers.
Ah, the heat felt good! He'd
sweat a bit and decide who he'd see this weekend. Maybe someone kinky like Michelle.
Lying down, he covered
his eyes with his towel. His chest rose and fell in the hot, humid air.
The door opened and
closed. Listening, he could hear no footsteps. How odd. Was the person simply
standing there? As he started to remove his towel, a hand caught his.
"I don't want you
to see," a soft voice said.
"You—don't?"
"No, Chad. It spoils the fun."
It was the redhead!
Obviously, she'd seen him watching her and had dumped her loser before finding
out his name. He grinned.
"Can't I even
peek?"
"No, it could
prove dangerous. After all, I might be Medusa."
He laughed, imagining
her lovely face. "Hey, come on. If you looked at Medusa—"
"Shhh. Don't even say it." Fingers slid behind
his head, tying his towel securely so he couldn't pull it off. A moment later, he felt sharp nails glide
down his chest and stomach and start to remove his trunks.
"Hey!"
"What's the
matter? Don't you like to live dangerously?"
What was with this girl? Having her strip him while he
was blindfolded put him at a decided disadvantage, put her in control. What’s more, they were
practically in plain sight! Any moment someone could come in.
"Well?"
Something in her voice
stilled his protest, soothed it away.
"Okay," he shrugged.
"Only you get to peek and I don't.
It hardly seems fair."
Her hand took his and
glided it along a smooth, bare thigh, up her stomach to her breasts.
He caught his
breath. She was naked!
---Okay, exhale, and take a cold shower. Here’s one last example. “Play It Forever, Sam!” was published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine several years back. It is humorous, absurdist metafiction, fantasy high on weed. It is also about as different from my first two stories as I can get. A spoof on the movie Casablanca, it features Humphrey Bogart trapped eternally in perhaps the most popular flick ever made, and yearning to get out:
I bang the table. "Of all
the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine!"
There. It's one of my big lines in the movie, and I
say it just right. Soon after I ask Sam
to play her song.
"Well, I don't think I can remember it." "If she can stand it, I can," I say. "Play it again, Sam!"
"Well, I don't think I can remember it." "If she can stand it, I can," I say. "Play it again, Sam!"
I almost snort rotgut
through my nose. Why the hell did I add
"again, Sam!"? Huh, might as
well ask why I'm caught in the endless loop of this damned piece of shmaltz in
the first place. It sounds absurd, but
I'm convinced I'm in this hell because the movie became a cult classic, the
most beloved soap opera of all time. It
keeps changing and has acquired a weird life of its own because it's been endlessly misquoted and misremembered. Here I am, a homely hack actor dead over fifty
years, and I still can't shake this place.
For me, Rick's never closes, and the same customers keep rollin'
in.
But for me, I try not to let the
same fictional customers keep rollin’ in.
If I repeat myself too much, then I run the risk of creative
stagnation. Gentle Readers and Fellow
Writers, I urge you never to be afraid to take chances, to try something
different and spread your creative and imaginative wings. Next time, whether you write or read, try
doing or experiencing something against type and outside your comfort zone,
something you wouldn’t even think of trying on an ordinary day. Make it an EXTRAordinary day! You never know what you might discover and
what new dimensions you’ll find opening up within yourself.
Buy Links for Stream
Heat and Dax Rigby War Correspondent:
MuseItUp Publishing: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/
MuseItUp Publishing: https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/
Amazon: Steam Heat -- http://www.amazon.com/Steam-Heat-John-B-Rosenman-ebook/dp/B006ND2DRG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398698381&sr=1-1&keywords=steam+heat+john+rosenman
I think a lot of writers do cross genre lines but when they make *really* big leaps they use pen names to keep from confusing readers. Also, if you're a children's book author you probably don't want erotica titles coming up when someone googles your name LOL
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