Anyone who’s read my bio or listened to me talk will have noticed the phrase. Science fiction, space opera, urban fantasy, horror, fairy tales, noir, detective fiction, dark humour, to name but a few. I’m often asked about that last bit. Surely that’s enough genres for one writer? Why leave the door open to more?
Because the List Genuinely Isn’t Finished
At present, I write self-help, science fiction, space opera, cyberpunk, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, magical realism, horror, fairy tales, slipstream, interstitial, dystopian, noir, detective fiction, action, thrillers, humour, young adult (YA), and children’s stories. Many of my works blend multiple genres. You can see why I don’t want to recite the full list every time I give a talk. 😜
This isn’t false modesty or a clever marketing trick, by the way. It’s simply accurate. Every time I think I’ve settled on the full range of what I write, the Muse produces something that doesn’t quite fit any of the existing categories, and I have to quietly expand the list in my head, if not always on the website itself.
I’ve written things that edge into retellings of mythology. Things that brush up against literary fiction. The odd piece that I genuinely can’t categorise even now, months after finishing it. ‘To name but a few’ isn’t hedging; it’s an honest admission that the list is a snapshot, not a ceiling.
Recently, I have begun dipping my toes into yet more genres.
As an experiment, I recently set out to write some straight pornography, just for the fun of it. It was very satisfying, but it had an unexpected consequence: the story kept developing, growing longer, and adding more chapters. From pure pornography, it gradually expanded into erotic romance. From there, it became full-blown romance before turning into a pagan romance with touches of science fiction (yes, I know, I keep slipping from genre to genre; there’s no need to tell me!). It’s now over 38,000 words long, making it almost a novella.
Since then, I have written a few other romance short stories, two of which are also science fiction (!).
Genres as Tools, Not Boundaries
I think of genre less as a box a story has to live in and more as a toolkit to draw on. Need a sense of dread? Reach for horror’s toolbox. Need moral murk and a flawed protagonist? Noir’s sitting right there, waiting. I don’t ask permission before mixing them, and I don’t feel any particular loyalty to staying within one genre just because that’s where I started a piece. The Muse and I mix and match to give the story the feel it wants.
However, these genre boundaries have had one effect: I have been forced, on more than one occasion, to split parts of books into new books covering a specific genre, subject, or facet of Paranormal City. For instance, I realised that quite a few of my stories were pure horror, some with Lovecraftian tendencies, so I made a new book with the working title “Lovecraft Rising”. Then there were the assistants of the Grim Reaper, who now have their own book, “Reapers”. The Immortals, detectives (both supremely logical and psychic), Hunters, Fate, and tales from the mythical barrooms. Don’t even get me started on what happened with fairies and mythology…
That’s why I now have 37 different books I am working on!
What It Means for Readers
Practically, it means that when you pick up something new from me, you genuinely can’t predict exactly what you’ll get. I think that’s part of the appeal for the readers who’ve stuck with me. There’s no formula, just the assurance that whatever it is, the Muse and I will have taken it as far as it wanted to go.
So ‘to name but a few’ stays in my bio and in my lectures. It’s not a flourish. It’s the most accurate five words I can offer to describe how my brain actually works.