So I was reading Subgenre Bingo over on Fantasy Faction when I realized my WIP may not actually be urban fantasy like I’d always assumed. This will make a big difference once I finish it, since what agents you approach is largely determined by what genre (and even subgenre) your work falls under. Let’s see how it stands up.
The Narrator
- Is the main character female? Yes!
- Does the hero/heroine have “specshul” powers? Yes. :/
- Is the book written in first person narrative voice? No.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
- Is the main character a private investigator or associated with law enforcement? Not exactly.
- Do they manage to avoid doing their nominal day job? Day job…
- Does the main character have no life outside of their job? Sort of…?
OK, so far, not a crushing defeat, but not a clear victory on classification. Let’s keep moving on.
BACKGROUND
- Does the main character have a tragic past? Well…sort of, but not really. At least not the main main character.
- Is that tragic past mentioned repeatedly but never manages to play a role in the events of the story? No.
MORE BACKGROUND
- Does the main character have to prove badassery frequently? No, but she does, so yes?
- Does the main character consistently ignore sensible advice? She’d argue “sensible,” but yes.
SETTING
- Is the story set in the modern day? Yes.
- Is the story set in the US of A or Europe? Yes.
- Is there a marked lack of explanation for why supernatural critters have revealed themselves to the world at large? Kind of.
- Are there more disadvantages than advantages to being human? Only in the getting eaten department. But yes, that counts as a yes, I concede.
CREEPY CRAWLIES
- Are there vampires? I knew I forgot something.
- Are there werewolves? Yes.
- Are there faeries? In a fashion.
- Are the supernatural critters predominantly European in origin no matter where the story is set? About half are. The other half are completely made up.
THE TERRORS WHO FLAP IN THE NIGHT
- Are the threats/antagonists usually supernatural? Ack. Yes.
- Are all females except for the main character portrayed as shrewish (to put it mildly)? No. That’s silly.
ERRATA
- Is there a vampire/werewolf/human love triangle? No. Eww. All that fur and teeth?
- Does everyone and their dog want to get in the pants of the main character? Not that kind of book. In real life, I am giving an example of my prudish nose looking down on you for asking that.
- Is there a romantic angle between a human and a supernatural creature? Only if Niki counts as a supernatural creature. But that kind of ends early on.
So the original article was somewhat whimsical, as were my answers – but if this were to be taken as a real gauge, I actually failed. Bah. 🙂 Thanks to Liz Ambrose for putting the original quiz together 🙂
OK, enough blogging for today. Back to real work, followed by commuting and writing.