The moment I mention the impending arrival of a new book, prospective readers ask, “What’s the genre?”

“Well, um…it’s hard to say,” I respond, staring at my shoes, wondering why such a simple question has no equally simple answer.

I have a tendency to write stories without giving thought to where they might fit in literary culture.  So far, my titles have been variously listed as soft-thriller, contemporary fiction, romantic suspense, historical fiction, women’s fiction, and young adult fiction. So you can see why labeling my work tends to make my head spin.

Still, identifying a genre for your novel is important.

“We use genre as a way to identify the category of a book. Where it should be sold in a store. Or who its competition will be,” long-time literary agent Steve Laub wrote in his blog article Does Genre Matter? “The best way to describe it is to say that publishers and booksellers sell books out of boxes. The boxes are labeled “Romance” “Thriller” “Mystery” etc. Before we resist that exercise I would claim that we consumers buy books out of those boxes. It is quite possible that the boxes were created by us (the consumers).”

There is some dispute about which English book should be called the first novel. Some believe Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote of La Mancha, published in 1605, deserves the honor. Others opine that Daniel Defoe’s 1719 Robinson Crusoe should get the nod. Either way, neither author had to think too hard about genre.

“In 1719, when “Robinson Crusoe” appeared, many people considered “the novel,” in itself, to be a genre,” said Joshua Rothman in his The New Yorker article titled A Better Way to Think About The Genre Debate. “The novel was a new thing—a long, fictitious, drama-filled work of prose—and its competitors were other prose genres: histories, biographies, political tracts, sermons, testimonies about travel to far-off lands. What set the novel apart from those other prose genres was its ostentatious fictitiousness.”

Clearly, modern-day authors can find labeling their work infinitely more complicated than those early novelists.  Look at today’s overwhelming number of possible fiction genres. The Book Industry Study Group’s list of fiction topics includes approximately 140 genres, all of which can be combined in what seems like a never-ending number of possibilities.

I’ll admit, sometimes I’m jealous of my romance-writer friends, their covers bursting with muscled torsos and over-flowing bodices that leave not a hint of confusion about what type of story resides inside. Still, as difficult as pinning down that perfect genre might be, there’s no way around it, especially if you want to contact agents, or publishers, or editors, or reviewers, because those folks are pretty specific about the types of book they’re interested in. If you want to be considered an amateur in the publishing world, go ahead and send a query about your sci-fi, apocalyptic, young adult romance to someone who has made clear their genre of choice is Regency historical fiction. (And you were wondering why you hadn’t heard back.)

While some authors may be tempted to leave the genre decision to others, remember you wrote the book. You know the story and the characters better than anyone. Ultimately, you should choose. An article on the blog Rock Your Writing called How To Figure Out Your Book’s Genre suggests you consider, “who is the mostly likely to seek out this particular type of book, buy this type of book, and enjoy this type of book.”

While the decision on genre is yours, it’s the reader we authors need to consider, because, as Laub pointed out, if our “baby” is in the wrong box, maybe those readers won’t find it.

And, in case you’re wondering, my new book The Castle is listed as both contemporary women’s fiction and suspense. See what you think.

Ancient ruins, haunted memories, and a ruthless criminal combine with a touch of mystic presence in this taut mystery about a crime we all must address.

THE CASTLE

Anne Montgomery

Contemporary Women’s Fiction/Suspense

TouchPoint Press

September 13, 2021

Maggie, a National Park Ranger of Native American descent, is back at The Castle—a six-hundred-year-old pueblo carved into a limestone cliff in Arizona’s Verde Valley. Maggie, who suffers from depression, has been through several traumas: the gang rape she suffered while in the Coast Guard, the sudden death of her ten-year-old son, and a suicide attempt.

One evening, she chases a young Native American boy through the park and gasps as he climbs the face of The Castle cliff and disappears into the pueblo. When searchers find no child, Maggie’s friends believe she’s suffering from depression-induced hallucinations.

Maggie has several men in her life. The baker, newcomer Jim Casey, who always greets her with a warm smile and pink boxes filled with sweet delicacies. Brett Collins, a scuba diver who is doing scientific studies in Montezuma Well, a dangerous cylindrical depression that houses strange creatures found nowhere else on Earth. Dave, an amiable waiter with whom she’s had a one-night stand, and her new boss Glen.

One of these men is a serial rapist and Maggie is his next target. In a thrilling and terrifying denouement, Maggie faces her rapist and conquers her worst fears once and for all.

REVIEW COPIES OF THE CASTLE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Also available on NetGalley

Contact: Chelsea Pieper, Publicity Manager, Media Liaison

Review/interview requests: media@touchpointpress.com

Get your copy here or where you buy books.

I have always considered myself strong and quite capable of taking care of myself, but life has a way of swatting our perceptions away. I came to this conclusion when I was stricken with Covid-19—despite being fully vaccinated— a broken leg that rendered me unable to walk for two months, and an eye infection that affected my vision. (No, I never do anything halfway.)

I admit that I rarely thought of caregivers before, but as I stared up from my bed—broken and sick— at the face of my masked sweetie pie, I was struck by my utter helplessness. In the beginning, I was too sick to consider how much work I’d become. Nor did it register that I wasn’t the only person in Ryan’s care. His prime caretaking responsibility is his 85-year-old mom who is losing her eyesight and suffers from dementia.  

So, Ry was now faced with two of us. When the Covid started to ease, I jokingly called Ryan Ethan Frome, the title character in the 1911 novel by American author Edith Wharton. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, poor Ethan, who has a disabled shrew of a wife, falls in love with a pretty young woman. Then, with no way out, they decide to commit suicide together, however the plan goes awry. They both live, but the woman becomes disabled, so Ethan now has two sickly people to care for.

According to the AARP, “Every day, some 48 million Americans help parents, spouses and other loved ones with medical care, meals, bathing, dressing, chores and much more. They do it out of love, not for pay.”

When I was well enough to notice, I realized the enormous pressure Ryan faced. He had to feed his mother, monitor her medications, and tend to grocery shopping and medical appointments, as well as weather her constant confusion and memory issues. Then he had to come to my house and care for all my needs, as well.  

As you can imagine, caregivers are suffering. “Family caregivers now encompass more than one in five Americans,” says the research series Caregiving in the US.  “The study also reveals that family caregivers are in worse health compared to five years ago.” Caregivers spend a whopping 13 days each month “on tasks such as shopping, food preparation, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, and giving medication.”

These constant demands force caregivers to push their own lives and needs aside, often causing burnout. Between 40 to 70% of caregivers are said to suffer from depression, with those attending to patients with cognitive decline being the most likely to be effected. Also, chronic illnesses like diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, and immune system disorders can worsen.

What can caregivers do? First, ask for help, if you’re feeling overwhelmed. There are agencies all over the country that offer services to caregivers that can help lighten the load, so check the Internet and your insurance company to see what’s available. Do the best you can, but forgive yourself when days don’t go as planned. And carve out some time out for yourself.

Every Tuesday, Ryan goes to lunch with his long-time buddies. The gathering is his one time of respite during the week when most of his efforts revolve around me and his mom. He always seems more energized when he returns from these get-togthers and happily tells me what’s new with the boys.

November is National Family Caregivers Month, so I’d like to give a big shoutout to those who shoulder the responsibilities for others. Caregiving is an exhausting, often overlooked effort. So thank you to all the folks who support those of us in need.

And, of course, I’m especially grateful for Ryan who jumped in with both feet when my health failed, never getting angry, and doing his best to cheer me up when I was down.

Thank you, Ry. I love you!

Ancient ruins, haunted memories, and a ruthless criminal combine with a touch of mystic presence in this taut mystery about a crime we all must address.

THE CASTLE

Anne Montgomery

Contemporary Women’s Fiction/Suspense

TouchPoint Press

September 13, 2021

Maggie, a National Park Ranger of Native American descent, is back at The Castle—a six-hundred-year-old pueblo carved into a limestone cliff in Arizona’s Verde Valley. Maggie, who suffers from depression, has been through several traumas: the gang rape she suffered while in the Coast Guard, the sudden death of her ten-year-old son, and a suicide attempt.

One evening, she chases a young Native American boy through the park and gasps as he climbs the face of The Castle cliff and disappears into the pueblo. When searchers find no child, Maggie’s friends believe she’s suffering from depression-induced hallucinations.

Maggie has several men in her life. The baker, newcomer Jim Casey, who always greets her with a warm smile and pink boxes filled with sweet delicacies. Brett Collins, a scuba diver who is doing scientific studies in Montezuma Well, a dangerous cylindrical depression that houses strange creatures found nowhere else on Earth. Dave, an amiable waiter with whom she’s had a one-night stand, and her new boss Glen.

One of these men is a serial rapist and Maggie is his next target. In a thrilling and terrifying denouement, Maggie faces her rapist and conquers her worst fears once and for all.

REVIEW COPIES OF THE CASTLE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Contact: Chelsea Pieper, Publicity Manager, Media Liaison

Review/interview requests: media@touchpointpress.com

Get your copy where you buy books.

I’ve made lots of mistakes. Far too many to list. And I’m guessing you have too.

Clearly, mistakes are common. I discerned this from all the ways we have to refer to them: blunders, gaffes, slip-ups, lapses, miscalculations, faux pas, missteps, to name a few.  But no matter what we call them, these errors in judgement tend to cause upset, anxiety, and shame.

I’ve never met anyone who enjoyed making mistakes, and people generally do all they can to avoid booboos, especially in public. While it’s one thing to scratch the wrong number on your Tax Return and get that letter from the Internal Revenue Service, the consolation is your screwup is just between you and them. Okay, maybe that’s a bad example, because no one wants to be in that particular pickle, but I think most people would admit that it’s those public flubs that keep us up at night.

I’ll give you an example. Many years ago when I was a baby baseball umpire, there was a runner on third base who decided to steal home. The pitch ricocheted from the bat to the catcher’s glove and he squared to tag the runner out at the plate. What did I do? I called it a foul ball, which killed the play. (A foul tip, which would have kept the ball live and in play, was the correct call.) Understandably, the coaches were furious, as were the fans. I couldn’t have been more wrong, but according to the rule book there was no way to fix it. Still, do you think in my 25 years of officiating baseball, I ever made that mistake again? No, I did not!

So here’s the thing, unless you’re a surgeon or an airline pilot, mistakes are nothing but teachable moments. They force us to learn and grow. Keeping with the sports theme, players learn little from a big, lopsided win. It’s from losing, or dropping a pass, or whiffing on at that low outside pitch with the bases loaded that help players up their game.

The other side of the oops issue is how we react to our screwups. Most of us have witnessed someone who’s gone off the rails after making a mistake. You know the type. The people who immediately blame others for their blunders. The old childhood adage, “He made me do it!” comes to mind. And while standing up and admitting our errors is never easy, I’ve learned that after the initial discomfort taking the blame can be cathartic.

So the next time you find eyes on you accusingly when you’ve flubbed something up, consider a simple and direct response: “I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time,” for example. Or smile and try to find some humor in the situation. Making your meaculpa has the added effect of taking the pressure off of others, allowing everyone to regroup and move forward.

The biggest problem caused by fear of mistakes is that it can keep us from trying new things. But consider where we’d be if Thomas Edison—the Daddy of the Lightbulb—had ceased his experiments when he repeatedly erred in figuring out the proper material for his filament. He claimed to have tried 2,000 different substances before he got it right. Over the course of his inventing career, Edison said he never failed. He just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.

The point is don’t worry about making mistakes. As Albert Einstein said, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” So now let’s all standup straight and get out there and do things. And, when you err, don’t try to hide your bungle. Smile and take ownership. Then go forth and do better.

Ancient ruins, haunted memories, and a ruthless criminal combine with a touch of mystic presence in this taut mystery about a crime we all must address.

THE CASTLE

Anne Montgomery

Contemporary Women’s Fiction/Suspense

TouchPoint Press

September 13, 2021

Maggie, a National Park Ranger of Native American descent, is back at The Castle—a six-hundred-year-old pueblo carved into a limestone cliff in Arizona’s Verde Valley. Maggie, who suffers from depression, has been through several traumas: the gang rape she suffered while in the Coast Guard, the sudden death of her ten-year-old son, and a suicide attempt.

One evening, she chases a young Native American boy through the park and gasps as he climbs the face of The Castle cliff and disappears into the pueblo. When searchers find no child, Maggie’s friends believe she’s suffering from depression-induced hallucinations.

Maggie has several men in her life. The baker, newcomer Jim Casey, who always greets her with a warm smile and pink boxes filled with sweet delicacies. Brett Collins, a scuba diver who is doing scientific studies in Montezuma Well, a dangerous cylindrical depression that houses strange creatures found nowhere else on Earth. Dave, an amiable waiter with whom she’s had a one-night stand, and her new boss Glen.

One of these men is a serial rapist and Maggie is his next target. In a thrilling and terrifying denouement, Maggie faces her rapist and conquers her worst fears once and for all.

REVIEW COPIES OF THE CASTLE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Also available on NetGalley

Contact: Chelsea Pieper, Publicity Manager, Media Liaison

Review/interview requests: media@touchpointpress.com

Get your copy here

One of the weirder things about getting older is that after 50 we are no longer a target audience in regard to the arts. Those that produce movies and TV shows have shunted us aside, looking instead to Millennials and Generation Zers to consume their offerings. All despite the fact that Baby Boomers possess 70% of the disposable income in the country.

While there are generally a few grown-up films every year from the movie industry, they often get little buzz and even less promotion. It’s the same with TV series that boast “mature” actors and themes.

The truth is, Hollywood has historically cared little for older viewers both in what they choose to produce and in how they represent that demographic on the screen. Often, older characters are portrayed as cranky white-hairs who seem regretful and bitter that life has passed them by. They are, of course, caricatures, clearly not representative of real people who’ve passed the half-century mark whose lives are filled with rich experiences and accumulated knowledge.

“We are living healthier and longer,” said AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins in the article ‘Ageism is Hollywood’s Worst Villain.’ It’s a huge opportunity for the entertainment industry, particularly in movies and television, to get more focused on the likes and dislikes of people 50 and over…And 25 percent of people who are moviegoers are people over the age of 50. They are actually putting butts in the seats in the movie theaters.”

Of course, Jenkins made the statement prior to the pandemic lockdown that has hit the film industry hard. Perhaps, the powers that be in movie land might now consider choosing stories that would appeal to seniors, since we have the money to patronize theaters.

It’s a smart idea, but I’m not holding my breath.

Note that TV is no better in the ageism department. Every night, when my sweetie pie and I thumb through the streaming offerings, we get more and more despondent. We have Netflix and Amazon Prime and HBO Max and Sling and often nothing piques our interest.

Recently however, we found BritBox, which offers series and films made, as you might expect, in Great Britain, Australia, and Canada, and there’s a lot to like about their productions.

First, unlike our Hollywood fare, actors in these programs look like regular people. No super models or ridiculously hot dudes need apply. I love that. Female actors face the camera unabashedly showing wrinkles and messy hair, wearing very little make-up. It’s so damned refreshing! It makes our actors look rather cartoonish, by comparison.

I also like the fact that the characters on BritBox are often flawed. They make bad choices. Like us, they’re just trying to get through every day without screwing something up. They don’t drive eighty-thousand-dollar cars. They’re children are not ridiculously cute or precocious. They don’t live in homes that their budgets can clearly not afford.

Since we tend to watch British mystery series and films, I will praise them specifically here. The shows are often shot at incredible locations that make you feel like you’re there, whether it be a beautiful flowered landscape, a five-hundred-year-old castle, or a foreboding, dark seaside village. Their plots are twisted and complicated and make you think. There are sometimes a half-a-dozen possible suspects, making it tough to solve the crime before the detectives do.

By comparison, American-made films and TV shows often lack thoughtful plot lines. I know, I’m a writer, so I’m biased. But how many times have you seen films with enormous budgets that lack even a remotely coherent storyline? If you’re spending a couple hundred million to produce a film, couldn’t you toss a few extra grand at the folks writing the scripts so the story makes sense? I think we older viewers would appreciate the effort.

So, come on. Give us some satisfying characters and plots we can relate to and watch us open our wallets. Remember, there are 77 million Baby Boomers.

Do the math.

Ancient ruins, haunted memories, and a ruthless criminal combine with a touch of mystic presence in this taut mystery about a crime we all must address.

THE CASTLE

Anne Montgomery

Contemporary Women’s Fiction/Suspense

TouchPoint Press

September 13, 2021

Maggie, a National Park Ranger of Native American descent, is back at The Castle—a six-hundred-year-old pueblo carved into a limestone cliff in Arizona’s Verde Valley. Maggie, who suffers from depression, has been through several traumas: the gang rape she suffered while in the Coast Guard, the sudden death of her ten-year-old son, and a suicide attempt.

One evening, she chases a young Native American boy through the park and gasps as he climbs the face of The Castle cliff and disappears into the pueblo. When searchers find no child, Maggie’s friends believe she’s suffering from depression-induced hallucinations.

Maggie has several men in her life. The baker, newcomer Jim Casey, who always greets her with a warm smile and pink boxes filled with sweet delicacies. Brett Collins, a scuba diver who is doing scientific studies in Montezuma Well, a dangerous cylindrical depression that houses strange creatures found nowhere else on Earth. Dave, an amiable waiter with whom she’s had a one-night stand, and her new boss Glen.

One of these men is a serial rapist and Maggie is his next target. In a thrilling and terrifying denouement, Maggie faces her rapist and conquers her worst fears once and for all.

REVIEW COPIES OF THE CASTLE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Also available on NetGalley

Contact: Chelsea Pieper, Publicity Manager, Media Liaison

Review/interview requests: media@touchpointpress.com

Get your copy here