On Diversification - Guests Eve Silver and Michelle Rowen

As we've discussed this week, many romance authors write in more than one subgenre. You've heard a lot about my reasons for doing so, and today, we'll hear two more perspectives. Both Eve and Michelle are members of Toronto Romance Writers who write in multiple subgenres under multiple names.

Michelle Rowen pens fun, fantastical romance novels from her "condo-o'-love" in Southern Ontario, watched over by a pair of friendly cats named for two of her favorite characters from supernatural TV shows. She has been on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list as well as winning a HOLT Medallion for her first book, Bitten & Smitten. She doesn't think it's the least bit strange for her fictional characters to keep her up at night with various complaints, plot demands, and/or general chitchat.

National bestselling, award-winning author Eve Silver writes dark contemporary paranormals and historical suspense. As Eve Kenin she writes speculative romance. Her work has garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards, and was listed by Library Journal among its Best Books 2007.

Eve holds two post-secondary degrees; she is an instructor of human anatomy and microbiology. She lives with her husband and two sons, along with an energetic Airedale terrier and an enormous rabbit.

Visit Eve at her website http://www.evesilver.net

We'll stick with our established conventions here - Michelle Rowen will be MR, Eve Silver will be ES, and I'll be DC.

DC - What subgenres do you write? Why did you choose those subgenres?

MR - I write (or have written) light paranormal romance, young adult fantasy, futuristic romantic suspense, and urban fantasy. I consider them all under the fantasy umbrella and I love fantasy books. My ideas are 99% fantasy, so I go with what I love to write!

ES - I’m not 100% convinced that I chose my subgenres; sometimes, I think they chose me. The first book I ever wrote was a children's story about an unwanted teddy bear that found a new and loving home. I was nine, and that book garnered me my very first rejection letter from a publisher. As an adult, the first manuscript I completed was a humorous contemporary story. But I'm not particularly funny, and neither was that book. It's buried in the back yard where it belongs. My next attempt was a light, fun historical, but every word I wrote wove a tale that grew darker by the page.

I kept trying to choose comedy, but it didn’t choose me.

Eventually, I decided to trust my voice and I let the book write itself exactly the way it wanted. An atmospheric story—replete with dead bodies and frightening happenings—emerged. I never set out to write a dark, twisty historical romantic suspense with gothic tones, but that’s what ended up on the page.

Similarly, I didn’t make a conscious choice to write futuristic/speculative romance. The idea for a wild ride through a post-apocalyptic world, a trans-Siberian trucker tale with both romance and ice pirates, came to me and I ran with it, never really thinking about subgenre or the story’s place on the shelves. I just needed to write it, so I did.

And finally, some of my genre picks were influenced by editors and agents. I was offered an opportunity to write a historical paranormal vampire tale, and I dove into the challenge. A suggestion was made that my dark writing voice would suit contemporary paranormals, so I tried my hand at those, as well.

DC - Do you use separate names? If so, why? If not, why not?

MR - I do use separate names. Michelle Rowen is for my light paranormals and my YA; Michelle Maddox was for the futuristic I wrote; and I’ve recently chosen Rachel Connor as the pen name I’ll be using for my urban fantasy thrillers. I do it to differentiate between the “feel” of my books. A reader who likes funny vampires might not be so happy with death and torture and salty language in an edgier book. It also helps when dealing with separate publishers so there is no real issue “competing against” oneself on the bookshelves.

ES - I started out writing historicals under the name Eve Silver. When I branched into contemporary paranormals I opted to use the same name because there were certain similarities such as the suspense flavor and the dark tone and I hoped that readers might enjoy both genres despite the differences in time period. Then came DRIVEN, a post-apocalyptic trans-Siberian trucker tale, and I was advised by my agent and editor to take a second name. I agonized over that, but in the end, I decided to follow their advice and write my futuristic/speculative fiction books as "Eve Kenin".

Given that I was writing three subgenres for three publishers, issues of scheduling same-name books could be problematic. Moreover, speculative romance as a genre is not as established as historicals and paranormals. I didn't want to alienate existing readers by throwing a book about truckers and deadly ice pirates at them, so I separated the names to be as honest as possible about what the reader was getting.

DC - Do you work with different publishers - each subgenre with a specific house, for example - or do you keep everything under one publishing roof?

MR - Having one publisher for everything you write would be a perfect scenario. Unfortunately, this is not very practical. Depending on how prolific one is, the publisher can only have so many slots available to you. Also your editor might not personally like a particular sub-genre and you would be forced to look elsewhere for publication. I have personally worked with five different publishers thus far and have had wonderful experiences with them all. Currently my light paranormal and urban fantasy is with Penguin, my YA is with Walker Books for Young Readers and I also write short, sexy paranormals for Harlequin Blaze.

ES - At this point, I’ve worked with four publishers for my single title works, and a fifth on a short story compilation. To a degree, the subgenres are divided by house, but I’ve written a vampire novella for my historical publisher which does cross that boundary.

DC - What do you like about writing in several different subgenres?

MR - I like that it keeps things fresh for me. If I just wrote funny books, then I think I would get bored or burn out quickly. It’s like cleansing your palette by doing something completely different. Then when it’s time to, say, be funny again, you feel refreshed and enthusiastic toward that sub-genre.

ES - Writing in numerous sub-genres allows me to flex my creative muscle, to challenge myself in new and thrilling ways, and to keep things fresh.

DC - What are the challenges of writing in several different subgenres?

MR - Well, the more subgenres you choose to write in, the more prolific you must be in order to keep up with publication schedules. I’m currently writing four books a year. This pace is still quite doable for me, but I don’t have a lot of time for, well, anything else. Luckily, I’m incredibly passionate about my work so at the moment I don’t mind putting the extra time and effort in to build my name as an author.

ES - The challenges relate to scheduling of due dates, scheduling of release dates, overlap of promotional requirements and risks of burnout. Also, it’s a challenge at times to remember the different nuances of dialogue and mannerisms for the different time periods I write.

DC - Do you see any common threads in your work, independent of what subgenre you write?

MR - I find that my voice is pretty much the same in all of my subgenres, whether it’s YA or futuristic romantic suspense. My themes are also very similar -- a normal woman or girl is thrust into an unusual situation or world and must find the strength within herself to escape or deal with the consequences.

ES - Everything I write has a dark tone. There’s suspense and action and, of course, romance. I’m a sucker for the happily-ever-after. But my stories are gritty and, at times, violent.

DC - Tell us a bit about your upcoming releases.

MR - I’ve just released the fifth and final book in my Immortality Bites vampire series, TALL, DARK & FANGSOME this September.

The first book in my new YA series DEMON PRINCESS: REIGN OR SHINE came out in October from Walker Books for Young Readers.

This November my Harlequin Blaze, HOT SPELL, is on the shelves.

Next year I’m launching the first book, THE DEMON IN ME, in my new light paranormal series with Berkley Sensation.

At the moment I'm working on an urban fantasy duology that'll be coming out in 2011 under the Rachel Connor pen name.

ES - My current release, SEDUCED BY A STRANGER (Zebra~September/09), is a dark, twisted historical suspense with gothic tones. Within the walls of isolated Cairncroft Abbey lurks a murderer, and Catherine Weston must decide if enigmatic Gabriel St. Aubyn is the tender, charismatic man she loves, or a sinister stranger waiting to make her his next victim...

And I’m working on a dark, edgy, gritty urban fantasy/paranormal romance trilogy, the OTHERKIN series, coming from HQN in 2010.

DC - Thanks Eve and Michelle! Questions, anyone?