Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby stories. Joseph Wambaugh. Aldous Huxley. Octavia Butler. Douglas Adams. Ray Bradbury. Stephen King. Peter Benchley. Robert Heinlein. Isaac Asimov. Frank Herbert. And on and on.
When I began writing, of course I started with some of the more fanciful stories because - hello? look at that list of names! Naturally, I loved fantasy and science fiction and horror. It never occurred to me to write in a genre. I only wanted to write what I liked reading.
But people don't like that - publishers, editors, agents. They want to know: what do you write? What kind of stories do you tell?
Um, the kind people like to read?
What a silly question. I hate being put in a box. I don't ever want to do/write/be just one thing. Readers want good stories with good writing and good characters. Good. Fun. Thought-provoking. Entertaining. Heartbreaking. Provocative. Keep-me-up-at-night.
Right now, I'm working on the third book in the Fat Girls in LA trilogy. Next I'll tackle my paranormal thingy again and after that, the steampunk-time-travel thingy. Maybe a detective story in the middle. I don't know. But whatever it is, I want it to be good.
