The Genre Mystery

I started my career in traditional publishing when “chick lit” was the trend du jour. And my first novel, Bulletproof Mascara, got pitched as “chick lit mystery,” which came as a surprise to me since I had not realized I was writing either. In my head, mysteries involved a dead body and probably a lot of British people. (Try not to laugh at me too hard. I was in my twenties.) I thought I was writing an adventure-romance about what would happen if James Bond were a twenty-something girl and all the gadgets came out of a makeup kit. It took a while to realize that mysteries are not all murder mysteries.

Then it’s all a Mystery, Right?

After my first novel came out, I spent a lot of time exploring plot and what made a mystery. And I came to the conclusion that, basically, what made a book good was that it had a mystery. Yes, there should absolutely be romance, action, and if you don’t laugh at least once, I haven’t done my job—but the characters have to be striving toward stopping that villain and answering a central question. If a character isn’t solving something, then what are they even doing with their fictional lives? (Please note that it is entirely possible that I have a skewed opinion of what makes a good book.)

With that basic tenet in mind, I have continued to write the stories that interest me, spanning genres from mystery and crime to romantic suspense to paranormal romance, but always with a mystery to be solved. In other words, while Tish and her grandfather Tobias are solving murders in the San Juan Islands, the Deveraux cousins are finding love and danger in New York, and the boys of the Rejects Pack are fighting warlocks and finding their fated mates in Greece.

The Fly in the Ointment

But like a lot of perfectly good theories, there is one problem with simply declaring all my books to be mysteries. Marketing. Readers (including me) like to know what they’re going to get when they pick up a book. If I pick up something dark and brooding, I don’t want to be surprised with a rom-com and vice versa. And as I have delved into crossing over into the romance genre, I have become increasingly aware that it is unfair to readers to be ambushed by sex scenes or mystery plot lines that aren’t as prominent as my more standard mysteries. The romance genre has helped clarify my thinking on this. Labeling all the tropes in a romance novel is very popular in marketing right now, and it allows readers to peruse books by the specific flavor they’re looking for. Mystery readers aren’t any less prone to reading by flavor—we just don’t label it as blatantly as romance.

The Solution

The solution I arrived at was to start a pen name. I had already written a slew of romances, and was facing problems explaining to some readers that some books were going to be… ahem… spicy and some would involve magical creatures, but had yet to pull the trigger on a pen name to differentiate between the mystery-centered and romance-centered books. However, when I got a multi-book contract with Varus Publishing for a series of linked paranormal romances, I decided to make the move.

And thus, we usher in the era of Sirena Corbeau. She writes paranormal romance with hints of horror and crime. Her first book, Heart’s Curse, takes a look at what might happen if The Shining ran smack dab into the mobsters of Casino. And in the meantime, Bethany, aka the original me, can continue to work on her more murder and crime-centric stories because after all… It’s always a mystery.

Do you enjoy cross-genre stories? Would you prefer authors took pen names when writing in different genres? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

About the Books:

From Bethany Maines… An Unseen Current – When Tish Yearly is evicted and fired, the ex-actress heads for the one place she knows she’ll be welcome – the island home of her cantankerous ex-CIA agent grandfather, Tobias Yearly. But a shocking murder forces Tish and Tobias to swim against the current to reel in a killer. (Mystery) LINK

From Bethany Maines, writing as Sirena Corbeau… Heart’s Curse – Charlotte “Charlie” Auvray was always told she had no magic and nothing to offer. But Lucas Kane, a ruthless casino boss with a dangerous secret, sees something more. When a curse drives his newest Vegas property into bloody chaos, Lucas realizes Charlie may be the only one who can stop the madness. What happens in Vegas might just break the curse—and his heart. (Paranormal Romance) LINK

About the Author:

Bethany Maines is an award-winning author, graphic designer, and sixth-degree black belt. Bethany brings a fierce sense of adventure—and humor—to everything she does, from world travel for the snacks to Cerberus cosplay and baking for the plot. When she’s not wrangling a daughter, a deadline, or a spreadsheet of character arcs, she’s usually found teaching karate or working on her next novel/screenplay. But whatever the problem, she’s got a plot—and a spreadsheet—for it. A member of the Mystery Writers of America Northwest Chapter, a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and the co-runner of The Stiletto Gang blog, Bethany writes under the names Bethany Maines and Sirena Corbeau. You can find her at: bethanymaines.com or catch up with her on Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.