A Foot in Two Worlds: Writing in Two Different Genres

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with guest Dana Mentink.

Full disclosure. I've got a problem. I'm a 'have your cake and eat every darn slice too" kinda person. It's both a blessing and a curse, to be honest. Take my career path, for instance. I'm an elementary school teacher currently teaching third grade here in Northern, California. (I just want to jump on in right now and tell you that yes, we teach math facts, yes, we salute the flag daily and practice cursive and no, we have not thrown out all good sense in the face of common core.) Whew! Glad to get that off my chest. 

But back to the subject of teaching...it's my first love and I've been doing it since before I turned twenty-one. Fast forward a couple of decades to include one hubby, and two children and this writing thing comes along. Whammo! I fall in love again. The trouble is, I've never been able to give up anything. In school terms, I'm great at addition, but not so good at the subtraction thing. Now I'm a part-time teacher (two days a week) and a part-time writer (six days a week) which doesn't add up, even with Common Core math!

I was thrilled to start my career as a professional writer in the genre of cozy Christian fiction with Barbour Publishers and that morphed into suspense writing for Love Inspired Suspense. I adore that type of edge of your seat, twist ending, danger around every turn type of writing. However, here comes full disclosure number two: I am a cornball at heart. I have an irrepressible sense of humor and I adore making people laugh. It thrills me like nothing else. As you can imagine, this does not translate well to suspense writing. 

Fortunately, I had the amazing opportunity to write a lighthearted dog themed series for Harvest House. I. Loved. It. Tippy the senior citizen dog? Sweetness, a one hundred pound mutt? Jellybean, a naughty terrier owned by an equally naughty cinema star? Heaven!

It's all well and good to paddle around in two genres, but the smart thing to do, as anyone in the industry will tell you, is to PICK A GENRE and STICK TO IT ALREADY! It's the way to grow a platform, to develop a proper business plan, to make a career out of this ultra-competitive writing gig. Best-selling authors do not muck around in multiple genres generally speaking.The trouble is, of course, the problem I disclosed earlier. I cannot give up on something I love, I want both the cake and the pleasure of eating it. Oh, the angst!

So where does that leave me? Teaching part time? Check! (Though teaching two days a week means twice that amount when you consider lesson planning, correcting, attending conferences trainings and study team meetings.) Writing my thirty-something suspense novel for Love Inspired Suspense? Check! (I just started a four book cowboy series for LIS, so giddyap!) Wrapping up a three book series of lighthearted books for Harvest House? Check! (And enjoying writing an ebook that will launch as a freebie to promote the series.) People ask me all the time how I can manage all of these things. Sometimes, I can't, but with the support of friends and family, I pray that I can give my best to my students, my suspense readers and those folks who enjoy a lighthearted book.

If I was a smart kind of writer, I would specialize, brand myself, put out only the books that readers expect of me. If I was that savvy kind of teacher, I'd give up the unreliable world of writing where publishers go in and out of the fiction business at a moment's notice. I guess I'm neither smart nor savvy because I just cannot allow myself to let go of one or the other. It's a constant tension, born of my own choosing. 

Someday in the not so distant future, I may have to make a choice to let go of one of these areas I love so dearly, but I leave those hard decisions for another moment. Today, I clack away on my keyboard at that hilarious chapter in Paws for Love, and that death-defying hospital shooting scene in Dangerous Testimony. Tomorrow, I will put on my teaching duds and go off to third-grade land, trying to instill a love of writing in my eight-year-old students. I'm having my cake and eating it too, for today anyway.

Did you ever have trouble letting go of something? Maybe a job or a location that you loved? A relationship? Did you have regrets about it afterward or was it an amazing, freeing experience? I would be honored to hear your thoughts. 

Thank you for spending time with me today.

 One commenter today will have their cake and eat it too! Leave a comment and you can win both,  Dangerous Testimony and Sit, Stay, Love (first in the Harvest House dog series). Print copies to US winners and Kindle copies if our winner is international. Winner announced in the Weekend edition.

 

Dangerous Testimony

LAST WITNESS STANDING 

Four weeks before she's set to testify at a gang murder trial, someone is determined to make sure that Candace Gallagher Andrews never takes the stand. When nowhere is safe for the private investigator or her little girl, Candace turns to the only person she can trust—longtime friend and former navy SEAL Marco Quidel. For Marco, protecting Candace is not just another duty. As the trial date nears and the killer stalks ever closer, Marco knows fear for the first time—the fear of losing Candace and her daughter. But while Marco begins seeing Candace as more than just a friend, her late husband's memory is never far from her mind. So he must keep Candace alive—and not get emotionally involved—long enough to put away a killer.

Paws for Love.
The newest release in the Love Unleased series!

The Only Thing Sweet About Jellybean Is His Name

Jellybean the terrier is about to unleash some serious mayhem on the unsuspecting town of Albatross. It's actors, animals, and antics galore when Jellybean gives his own heartwarming performance.

Check out this Youtube video for more on the Love Unleashed series!

Dana Mentink is a two-time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award winner, a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, and a Holt Medallion winner. She is the author of over thirty titles in the suspense and lighthearted romance genres. She is pleased to write for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Heartwarming and Harvest House. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with Papa Bear, Yogi, Boo Boo, a nutty terrier, a chubby box turtle and a feisty parakeet.

 

Day 13. Write and win prizes! Why not?