Last evening during a Happy Hour at a local sports pub, the question came up as to if my novel Irises to Ashes is women’s fiction or not. The gentleman asking the question explained that he didn’t mind the category as long as he enjoyed the story line and telling of the story. They had just returned from a trip to Paris and Barcelona, so I thought that the Paris part of the book would be of interest, but more so the personal journey that the main character, Maggie, goes through over the span of years of the book. For those who may not have read it, Irises is the only novel that I have written in three parts. It actually began as a novella, yet when I expanded it to full length (more about that in a minute), I realized that the revelations in the last part of the book were such that defining the book into distinct parts was the right approach. “Maggie’s Beginning”, “Maggie’s Time”, and “Amelia’s Secrets” flow into each other as the story progresses. This is also my only novel that spans multiple years, taking Maggie from teenager into her thirties. While it deals with more emotional issues than do my mysteries, and as with all my books, it is told from a female perspective, the theme is by no means exclusive to women. On the other hand, the lavender cover and the description aren’t likely to draw men to it, either. So, does that by default make it women’s fiction?
Notwithstanding that it is a book that is near and dear to my heart, it is longer than my other books at 316 pages, but that came with an unexpected complication of an increased cover price. By the time I realized what was happening, I didn’t want to cut back on the story, so I made the decision to let the cover price go for the hard copy of the book and keep the e-book version low. In fact, this is one of my few books that is on both Kindle and Nook. I also sell the hard copy version at a discount when I do local appearances. Anyway, back to my point of, what constitutes women’s fiction? As a reminder, romance is an entirely separate genre. Thoughts?
