1. What genre do you consider your wheelhouse?Fantasy, of course! Mundane is boring, you gotta have people with wings and magic powers!
2. Do you find that you utilize common tropes from that genre a lot in your writing? Any particular favorites? (If you're feeling brave, give us a list to reference from tvtropes.org!)Obviously. I'd call what I do more akin to a cross between
Heroic Fantasy and
High Fantasy with a lot of
Asian influence. Favorites to use (and these are just the non-spoilery ones!):
Basically... Fantasy has a lot of "
Omnipresent Tropes" (oh hey, that's a trope too...) and I love all of them! Realistically, I could keep you here for days telling you all of the ones I love to use. Ask me some time to tell you all of the "
hero" tropes Nick takes on, especially if you love rabbit holes and being kept busy for days.
3. What other genres do you tend to include in your writing (as sub-plots, for character development, etcetera)? Would any of these seem surprising to other people?Oh man... Maybe it's easier to tell you genres I don't include... First, AU and how! It's usually both a fantasy and also a "in a world where the Backstreet Boys are also x, unlike in real life." Other ones that seem obvious based on tropes I listed above would be supernatural elements, action, and adventure. There's usually also elements of romance, angst, some comedy to balance out the angst, some drama to add to the angst, horrific worlds of horror... What with Kevin having healing powers in PBox and Nick's propensity to getting stabbed, there's also some medical drama in there!
4. Outside of your "wheelhouse" genre, which others do you write most often?I realize I did not clarify this question well. I think I meant as a main genre if you're not writing a story in your wheelhouse genre. I think I go for comedies, but I think this is because if it's not an epic fantasy, it's very short. That's pretty much what you'll get from me that gets completed: epic fantasies or very short comedies/dramedies.
5. What is easy about your "wheelhouse" genre? What is difficult or challenging?I think it lends itself well to character development over the plot, which I love. World building is probably the most challenging because there's a lot of things you should have absolutely figured out before you start writing. Basically, I failed you all by being "wibbly" on demonic powers in the beginning of PBox.
6. Which genre(s) do you write the least or not at all? Is that because they don't interest you personally or because you find them challenging to write? (Feel free to answer both if you have a different answer for both of those reasons.)Seems surprising, but I would say science fiction! I think technology is way less interesting than magic, so I hardly ever write science fiction. The other one would probably be suspense or mysteries. I think they're really interesting, I just don't think I'm very good at keeping things secret! Or building up a bunch of stuff only to reveal it all at the end; I'd rather tell you what you need to know along the way.
7. Are there genres that you thought you wouldn't like that ended up surprising you?I never say never, I'll try anything once. And by trying everything once, I guess I keep going back to my wheelhouse. So maybe the most surprising thing to me was just finally accepting "this is Dee" and that's cool.
8. Do you feel like there are genres BSB lend themselves better to than others?Not necessarily. I think there's different trends at different points and like Julie said, it's harder to write "canon" romances these days if you keep your stories more on the realistic side. But, as long as you capitalize on the strong characters of the Boys, they can do pretty much anything -- the real Boys just happen to be best at singing, dancing, and entertaining.
9. Are there genres that used to be more prevalent than they are now or vice versa?I see a lot more slash and not much else I guess? But also... not as much as there used to be in general? This is a challenge to us all, I suppose. Keep writing and keep writing lots of different things, whether that's slash or medical dramas or fantasy or something completely different.
10. Have you ever tried to write a main plot in a genre because that genre was trendy?*Looks at all the unfinished Nick romances on her AC page* Yup. I don't know if I decided to write them because they were trendy, but those are definitely the ones I was less invested in.
11. Do you feel like genre determines the readership of your work?Sure. I know how to manipulate all of you into reading my things. However, I know that what I really like to write has a smaller demographic of fanfic fans. And at this point, I'm just happy anyone wants to read anything I write, I could have come back to a readership of zero (which it was for many years).
12. Give a compliment to your "wheelhouse" genre and to your least written or never written genre.Oh fantasy, the epic genre. You're fun, creative, and give great characters the opportunity to do the impossible. Plus magic is awesome!
Oh science fiction, you take a level of semi-realistic creativity that I don't have! So kudos to anyone who wants to write fantastical based in realism. Oh mysteries and suspense, your authors are excellent at keeping me on the edge of my seat with so many twists and turns! Their level of planning is so intricate!