"How I discovered I write Girls with Guns" words from Vijaya Schartz
As I was preparing to give a workshop on branding, I reflected on my own brand as an author. Since my first book release in 2000, I wrote stories in many genres, and this is usually considered professional suicide. My first novel was a literary love story, set in India on the theme of reincarnation, ASHES FOR THE ELEPHANT GOD. The book won a national award. Then came two science-fiction fantasy novels, my Archangel series.
But when I discovered I could increase the tension in an action novel by adding a romantic element, I became unstoppable. White Tiger was an award-winning romantic sci-fi/fantasy. RELICS, LOCKDOWN, and ANAZ-VOOHRI also gathered awards as sci-fi romantic suspense novels. But then, I wrote a contemporary romantic fairytale. Fairytale? That was for a special post on the Romantic times website. And A DESPERADO FOR CHRISTMAS is a contemporary border patrol story. My next story, COYOTE GORGEOUS, is a paranormal romantic suspense. Oh, and in my spare time, I dabble in lengthy medieval novels, heavy in historical details.
I had a branding nightmare on my hands. What the heck did I really write? And how could I teach this workshop if I couldn't define and brand my own writing?
Reviewers described my books as a mix of Indiana Jones and sizzling romance, a mix of X-files and Battlestar Gallactica, and a blend of action and romance. They loved my stories but couldn't define them either.
As I was perusing my latest covers, it just came to me. On several of them, my heroines held a gun. I wasn't writing in a particular time period, or a particular kind of story in a particular genre, I was writing strong heroines, often wielding lethal weapons.
I guess, as a martial artist, I can relate to these lethal ladies, and they have since become my trademark. Now, when I see a girl with a gun on the cover of my new release, I know the artist nailed my heroine.
Although sometimes the gun is a laser, a phaser, or a sword, I adopted what made sense for me. So now, when readers ask me what I write, I proudly say: " I write Award-winning Sci-Fi, Girls with Guns, and Romance with a Kick."
Hope you enjoy my kick-butt heroines.
Vijaya Schartz
Award-winning Sci-Fi, Girls with Guns, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
As I was preparing to give a workshop on branding, I reflected on my own brand as an author. Since my first book release in 2000, I wrote stories in many genres, and this is usually considered professional suicide. My first novel was a literary love story, set in India on the theme of reincarnation, ASHES FOR THE ELEPHANT GOD. The book won a national award. Then came two science-fiction fantasy novels, my Archangel series.
But when I discovered I could increase the tension in an action novel by adding a romantic element, I became unstoppable. White Tiger was an award-winning romantic sci-fi/fantasy. RELICS, LOCKDOWN, and ANAZ-VOOHRI also gathered awards as sci-fi romantic suspense novels. But then, I wrote a contemporary romantic fairytale. Fairytale? That was for a special post on the Romantic times website. And A DESPERADO FOR CHRISTMAS is a contemporary border patrol story. My next story, COYOTE GORGEOUS, is a paranormal romantic suspense. Oh, and in my spare time, I dabble in lengthy medieval novels, heavy in historical details.
I had a branding nightmare on my hands. What the heck did I really write? And how could I teach this workshop if I couldn't define and brand my own writing?
Reviewers described my books as a mix of Indiana Jones and sizzling romance, a mix of X-files and Battlestar Gallactica, and a blend of action and romance. They loved my stories but couldn't define them either.
As I was perusing my latest covers, it just came to me. On several of them, my heroines held a gun. I wasn't writing in a particular time period, or a particular kind of story in a particular genre, I was writing strong heroines, often wielding lethal weapons.
I guess, as a martial artist, I can relate to these lethal ladies, and they have since become my trademark. Now, when I see a girl with a gun on the cover of my new release, I know the artist nailed my heroine.
Although sometimes the gun is a laser, a phaser, or a sword, I adopted what made sense for me. So now, when readers ask me what I write, I proudly say: " I write Award-winning Sci-Fi, Girls with Guns, and Romance with a Kick."
Hope you enjoy my kick-butt heroines.
Vijaya Schartz
Award-winning Sci-Fi, Girls with Guns, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
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