Doug BrotherofCats Dandridge

I write science fiction and fantasy, and may take a crack every once and a while at alternate history. From what I have been reading I may be casting the genre net too far. It is suggested that I concentrate on one small niche in one genre, at least to start. But I have a passion for all of these forms. I especially have a passion for the series I have developed in both science fiction and fantasy. I have ideas for a historical novel or two in the future, but those will have to wait. I do this because I love to make up worlds, characters and stories. Because I love the settings of the fantastic, and the opportunities they give me to show how people interact in such foreign environments. And how people as we know them might interact with people we can only imagine. I don’t so this for the money, though I do hope to make a living at it some day. And a couple of vacations to Hawaii would also be nice. But if that never comes my way I will still labor away at trying to perfect a craft that cannot be perfected.
The main reason I have written such a diverse portfolio of tales is I was chasing the dream of major publication. Tried hard science fiction, vampires, steampunk, high fantasy, more mystical scifi, all in an effort to find something that would catch. I have finally come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a theme that will catch. And if there is already a popular one out there, it’s already too late to get on the bandwagon. And again, I write what I write because I have a passion for it.
Years ago my wife of the time suggested that I try my hand at writing romance. This was purely a suggestion about the money. I recently read that fifty percent of all fiction sold is Romance, and another twenty some percent is mystery. But I believe that the folks who write in these genres have a passion for them. They love sitting down and figuring out new takes on old forms. What unlikely lovers can they throw together to let passions ignite. Or in mystery, who can they kill in what bizarre means while introducing new red herrings into the mix. They are successful at them because they love the forms enough to work their magic. Now I can sit and dream for hours about some fantastic realm of fantasy or the future. I cannot see myself sitting for near that long trying to figure out how to stoke the excitement in my romance. I put some romance in my novels, where it fits, and where I think it will advance the story or the relationships of the characters. I don’t think I could plan an entire novel around the romance. Or the mystery.
Fantasy outsells science fiction by a large margin, but I have a passion for good scifi, so I try to write in that genre and hope that it is good. I respect people who write in other genres because of their love of it. They too are following their passion.