What Genre am I?

 As we all know by now (ha) I am editing my WIP. Only problem is, the more I look at where I may want to send it (months away of course), I keep getting confused as to what "I" am.

I have always viewed myself as a Romance Writer and my WIP is definitely in that category, but it also goes past that, more of a finding one’s self novel with romantic underlays. The romance and the self discovery overlap with strong sarcasm and humor.

So what genre am I?

I found a good reference at Cuebon with a definition of each Genre.

Children’s, Horror, Short Fiction, Westerns - I definitely don’t write, so if you need that take a look at the link above. Mystery I have yet to dive into, so that as well I will leave out. What is left is what I think I could be stuck in by definition. Young Adult is sort of half there because my characters are in their young 20's and I have seen some agents mark that as young adult.

Romance might be between a hunky sailor and a fair maiden, or a cynical vampire and a scrappy werewolf, but after a lot of sparks and trials, that is what they will secure. The settings and intensity may vary, but the overall 'finding happiness together' formula is familiar indeed. (Ideally, careful research has ensured detailed accuracy.)

Young Adult tales are written for folks from about twelve to eighteen years of age. The protagonist is always of that age, as are most of the characters. He or she can live a bizarre magical life, or a dreary suburban one. There are few limits on the 'issues' dealt with, and readers will identify with the character's inner travails as well. (Adults will enjoy the better ones.)

So then there are sub genres. Fiction Factor has provided me with some sub-genre definitions for romance, which I feel most strongly that I am in. . I don’t think I am Fantasy, Futuristic, Historical, Paranormal, Regency, Suspense, Time-travel or Western for very obvious purposes.

That leaves me with:

*da da da dum*

Contemporary Romance : Romance tales set mostly in the present time, but can be categorized as taking place after the World Wars. Can (and often does) contain elements of suspense, humor, drama - or any mix thereof.

Young Adult sub genres are found at Cuebon, again, but after a careful read through of the definitions, I am obviously none of them.  Maybe Realistic Life, but that is stretching it as it is quite obviously for Teens. So that counts me out of Young Adult. I get it, Young Adult = teens, although I for vanity’s sake want to hold onto any title with "Young" in it, I must let this go. Apparently I am an adult as of 19.

So does this mean I am contemporary romance? I think so.

But Contemporary Romance is a HUGE category!

Luckily that makes research easy. Downer is it means a lot of competition. So now I can narrow down my searches for agents.

Yay! Exciting! I’ll do this search all over again when I think about my next story, but I already have an idea that it is Romance/TimeTravel/Fantasy/with Contemporary/Historical/Suspense/Paranormal aspects to it. Hmm, has that been done to death yet?