[60169]

I am really stuck as to what genre my WIP falls into.

In a nutshell, it is a fictional story of a bar-circuit guitarist who dies and visits heaven. More specifically, Rock n Roll Heaven. It is pretty light in tone and focuses on this small-time guitarist's interactions with the legends who have proceeded him - Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin, Elvis, etc.

Although I know who my target audience is for this (boomer music fans) I am totally stuck as to genre. It's not sci-fi that I can see (unless I lift some of the themes of Phillip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series, which I'm not going to do,) it's not fantasy (aside from one angel, there are no fantasy-type creatures) and it's not religious/spiritual (I touch on those themes, but they are not primary.) At the same time, it feels a little "out there" for mainstream fiction.

This is my first fiction work, so I am a total noob when it comes to this stuff.

Any advice, oh wonderful, far-more-knowledgeable-than-me WC'ers? Or am I thinking about stuff I shouldn't be worrying about?

 

[Becca Mills]

I hate to say it, Shawn, but it sounds like contemporary fiction to me. (The only reason that's bad is there there are more than 100K kindle books in that category.) I'm not thinking of a genre-fiction category that seems right.

 

[vrabinec]

Countdown to a Julie genre rant. T minus ten seconds and counting. Nine. Eight. Seven...

 

[Vivi_Anna]

Yeah, it should go in contemp fiction, much like Nick Hornby.

 

[glutton]

Countdown to a Julie genre rant. T minus ten seconds and counting. Nine. Eight. Seven...

Dude, Paranormal Fantasy doesn't exist.

 

[ShaunaG]

Add my vote to contemporary fiction, first thing I thought of.

 

[Caddy]

Me too! Contemporary.

 

[60169]

Thanks!

I had never thought of Nick Hornby's stuff, but it is actually kind of a good fit. "A Long Way Down" is actually as good a comparison as anything else I can think of...

I think I was being thrown off because so much of the book takes place in a "fantasy" setting (Heaven) but obviously isn't a fantasy book.

One last question, if anyone wants to answer: I neglected to mention that the book is set in the early 1990's. Is that still contemporary enough to be considered Contemporary Fiction?

 

[jackz4000]

I don't know about the 90's, but if it was late 80's you could play with it as maybe period. Now Bobby D died in the early 70's and Buddy Holly crashed (I think) in the 50's. Anyway I met Bobby D one night, a bit before he died. We probably talked for 2 or 3 hours...a real salt of the earth guy. Treat him nice.

Genre? I contemp fic.

 

[Amanda Brice]

Yes, definitely feels very Nick Hornby to me, so I'd say Contemporary Fiction.

 

[56139]

Countdown to a Julie genre rant. T minus ten seconds and counting. Nine. Eight. Seven...

You made me spit my soda!

 

[60169]

I don't know about the 90's, but if it was late 80's you could play with it as maybe period. Now Bobby D died in the early 70's and Buddy Holly crashed (I think) in the 50's. Anyway I met Bobby D one night, a bit before he died. We probably talked for 2 or 3 hours...a real salt of the earth guy. Treat him nice.

I never got the chance to meet Bobby Darin, but no worries... I am a definite admirer of his. In fact, one of the most attractive aspects of the project is getting to bring people I really care about like he and Buddy back to life.