When I was inspired to write Broken Vessels, I had no idea where it would fit on the spectrum of genres. I read many articles and books about genre that led me to two conclusions. First, there were many categories I could rule out with little thought. Second, I had created a novel that was a bit of an anomaly.
The Easy Part
Eliminating genres like
fantasy, suspense thriller and provocative romance was a breeze. Broken Vessels
had no misunderstood vampires that were dangerous yet lovable, no creepy
minions from the mind of Dean Koontz (my favorite author) and no bondage scenes
like those familiar to E L James fans.
The Challenge
The hard part was figuring
out how to categorize my novel, which teetered between Christian and
inspirational fiction. Broken Vessels tells a story of overcoming adversity,
but it’s more Bible-based than inspirational fiction. It is also much edgier
than Christian fiction, and goes into details that are generally off limits for
the genre.
The Decision
How would I classify Broken
Vessels? I knew I could dilute the Biblical message to appease the
inspirational market. I could also remove portions of the story line—as well as
some of the language—to make it more appealing to the Christian market. I’m sure
someone is shaking her head vigorously about the suggestion to conform, but I
chose a more daring path: I let the story stand on its own.
Yep, I committed what some
might call marketing suicide by not making the story more like inspirational
fiction or Christian fiction. In fact, there was someone who inspired me to
stand my ground on what I’d written and how I’d written it. That “someone” was
Trinity Porter—Broken Vessels’ protagonist. It’s Trinity’s own relatable and
secretly flawed nature that reminded me of her ability to reach people right
where they are. There was something about her that everyone could relate to no
matter age, race, nationality or sex. There was something about Trinity that
reminded everyone of himself or herself, whether it was her life experiences or
her private, inward thoughts. If I changed the book to suit a genre, I’d be
doing Trinity—and the other characters—an injustice.
The biggest test of my
decision lies in the hands of the readers. They are the ones who will decide if
the story resonates with them or falls flat. My goal was to make people burst
into laughter and wipe away tears and I’m elated to find that’s exactly what
some readers have done, as they’ve shared with me in person, on Facebook, on
e-mail and on Amazon.com reviews. I hope that others who read Broken Vessels
have similar experiences. I look forward to hearing your own feedback.
For the record, I’m
classifying Broken Vessels as “Chrinspirational fiction,” and, yes, that is one
word that will likely never catch on in the writing world. But no matter how
anyone chooses to label Broken Vessels, I hope Trinity Porter’s story shows everyone
that it’s not the destination, but the journey—be it gritty, uncomfortable,
colorful or mind-blowing—that makes us who we are.
