Wednesday 5 October 2022

#IWSG OCTOBER POSTING - What I like about my 'favorite genre.'

 Hello all!

Welcome to the October IWSG. Hope you've had a good month - writing, reading, collaborating, selling books, advertising books, promoting books, blogging, facebook-ing- whatever is your jam. 

My month has been busy as always, what with trying to fit everything in - by everything I mean I just want to write new copy, but there are so many other demands on my time. How about you? How do you prioritize your writing?

Anyway, onto the October question - What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?


This is a rather long post for IWSG, so just skim, pick out points of interest. If there are none, my bad, but I hope you can find something!

I don't want to confuse you, but I have eclectic tastes both in books and music. Sometimes in music I'm into Beethoven and classical music, at others, U2, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams and others of their ilk, then there's my fascination with Abba which never wanes.

Same thing with 'favorite genre'. My 'favorite genre' varies over time. I'm a voracious speed reader who often DNF a book if it doesn't get going. If a day goes by and I don't read ... oh, well, don't think that's ever happened since I was like 6 years old.  I go through phases - 

* Nora Roberts type Romantic Suspense. Why? I like to be intrigued. Jemi Fraser does this well, too. 

* Feel good women's fiction set in Cornwall and gentle England, but I'm done. A flooded market. 

* Classic vampire tales of old, like Dracula. Sure, I've read the modern, sparkly ones, and those set in a modern office, but give me an old-fashioned blood sucker any day. 

* Classic books by the likes of Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen et al which probably wouldn't be published today.

And I could go on, but I'll cut to my current 'favorite genre'...

RIGHT NOW ... and for several months, and off and on all my reading life, I choose Thrillers, especially Psychological Thrillers over any other genre. Why? Along with intriguing settings, it's because the Title, the Tagline, the cover/and/or the blurb hook me in. With this genre, you always know what you're getting and you're getting a good read, a page-turner. And it's dastardly difficult to write. I know. I'm trying.

Forerunners were series like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson and standalone Smilla's Sense of Snow, by Peter Hoeg, but moving along ...

I just grabbed a few of my recent favorites off my overflowing new bookshelves my hubs built me ...

* "Can you save her? Will you survive?" - Harlan Coben's Run Away - he's the king of twisty thrillers. Think I've read all his books and watched on Netflix those which have become series (16 so far and more to come).

* The Ice Twins, S.K. Tremayne - "Unbearably gripping and suspenseful." (An understatement if ever there was one!!!). "Beautifully paced, teeming with psychological shivers." This could describe the Murder series by Yolanda Renee (((shiver, shiver)))

* Clare Mackintosh, I Let You Go. "A past you can't escape." I challenge you to ever find a creepier ending. "Chilling ... with a killer twist." Yep.

* Cross Her Heart, Sarah Pinborough. "...it's about three interesting women and some nasty men." Got me right away.

But when it comes to psychological thrillers, I'm reading my way through those set in Scandinavia and deep into the night when I'm too tired to write, I watch Netflix sub-titled scandi thrillers set in those frozen lands which seem to lend themselves to bleak, scary, witchy stories. Probably the best to me is The Killing, on Netflix and all 3 books by David Hewson (a fave writer of crime thrillers set in Rome). Let's just say, I love Scandi-noir at its powerful bleakest. Currently reading my second by Camilla Grebe, The Hideout, "A razor-sharp, complex mystery." (I loved her The Ice Beneath Her).

Want to know more? Join the Psychological Thrillers Readers Group on Facebook where there are tons of recommendations. I hope someone recommends my first thriller one day. It's half written! Yay!


The awesome co-hosts for the October 5 posting of the IWSG are Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox!



And talking of thrillers, WEP is about to be swamped by thrilling stories starting October 19, based on Michael Jackson's THRILLER. Can't wait! 
You're welcome to join us! Share in the fun!


Thanks for visiting. I'd love to hear your comments.

Here's an excerpt from my thrilling story for October's WEP - I'm definitely  influenced by those Scandinavian settings!

Sadie slithered down the freezing drainpipe, and bam, her ballet flats hit the ground. Creeping cold seeped through her shoes, her toes turned to ice. She slapped her face. Got the blood flowing. Idiot! She should have worn that ugly sheepskin coat her mother gave her, but she wanted to show off her milky white shoulders in her red silky dress. To whom? She was about to find out.


Denise


12 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

I have varied tastes too. I read a lot of fantasies, mostly contemporary these days, mysteries, and thrillers. I wish I could speed read like you.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Nothing wrong with Scandinavian anything! That's my favorite type of prog rock and metal. A thriller set in that area is very cool.

A Hundred Quills said...

Wow Denise, you're writing a thriller! I am an eclectic reader too, but some genres I don't get. So I skip them always. My writing group has two mystery writers, so that explains some of my thriller/mystery reads but I mostly steer towards contemporary, coming of age, historical fic, even romance and literary.
-Sonia

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Denise - Elly Griffith is another author you might look at - I've loved the ones I've read of hers and she's got a new one out ... Bleeding Heart Yard ... I love these sorts of books. Looking forward to this month's WEP ... good luck and cheers Hilary

Jemi Fraser said...

Thanks so much for the shoutout! I adore Nora Roberts/JD Robb so having my name next to hers gives me a thrill!
I'm an eclectic reader as well, but I can't do psychological thrillers - I'd never sleep again. Sent your list off to my daughter who loves this genre!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've never been into psychological thrillers until I read Joylene's Matowak and I thought it was so intriguing.

It's good to know people still want traditional vampires since my next book is about them! LOL

lostinimaginaryworlds.blogspot.com said...

Far too heavy for me at my age, but you must find it fascinating. Good luck with using all this information and producing some great books. Carole.

Nick Wilford said...

I do enjoy a good psychological thriller and admire those who can write them. I tried myself too and came up a bit short. That's definitely an enticing excerpt you posted.

Victoria Marie Lees said...

Good for you, Denise, for reading widely. Great premise in this story. My favorite part? "Creeping cold seeped through her shoes." Great description to entice us to read the story. Bravo, Denise!

Damyanti Biswas said...

Thriller, Psychological thrillers? Sign me up XD Love them! I love how my brain is tested when I read such material.

Fundy Blue said...

Hi, Denise! I'm copying your list of books, because I like stories set in Scandinavia. I also like Harlan Coben's books. Psychological thrillers are favorites of mine. Have you read "Burial Rites" by Hannah Kent? It's set in Iceland, and if you read it, you'll likely never be able to forget it. Another fabulous Icelandic book, not a psychological thriller, but brilliant and epic, is Halldór Laxness's "Independent People." Another unforgettable novel. Enjoy October!

Toi Thomas said...

I love the passionate language you use to describe your favorite genre and the books you recommend. I've been testing out the thriller genre so this is very helpful.