Crossing the Streams

Airways... a science fiction sport story cross

 Welcome to the blog hop for March. The challenge this month was to talk about crossing the genres.

Maybe you remember Ghostbusters? Never, ever cross the streams. Until they did, and it worked beautifully in a chaotic sort of way. 

Well, back in the day, genres were pretty clearly defined. We had family stories, pony stories, detective stories, historical novels, school stories, animal stories, romance, westerns, fantasy, science fiction, adventure, horror, ballet stories and a few others. Some of these were mainly, or always, for children. In the sixties, problem novels popped up. All those genres! Seriously! And some were perceived as being more worthy than others. And after a while, there was another shift. In this one, the literary novel was split off from the genre novels, and was held to be more worthy.

I noticed all this but it never affected what I read with one rare exception: I knew Mum disapproved of books by Enid Blyton. To this day I have no idea why. I don't think I ever asked her. I do remember reading a Blyton book someone had given me in private. Other than that, I read what I wanted, wherever I got the chance.

It wasn't until I was in my thirties, trying to make sense of the romance genre, when I realised the crucial difference between romances I enjoyed and those I didn't. I'm sure you've guessed what it was, given the nature of this month's challenge.

Okay. You got it. The ones I enjoyed were almost all cross genre. The few "pure" romances I liked were all atypical in some other way.  I liked historical romances, science fiction romances, futuristic romances, fantasy romances, adventure romances...and the list goes on. I like the relationship growth in romance but so often the tension comes from conflict artificially constructed to keep the lovers apart. In cross-genre romances, the conflicts can be more organic...they can come from the reality of the stories and from the other story that happens in parallel.

Romance is not the only genre that benefits from a bit of crossing the streams, either. Mysteries benefit from an unusual setting. One of my favourite cross-genre mysteries was also science fiction. Legacy of the Sky Wasp... I thought it was brilliant.

As for my own writing, I rarely write pure genre. My latest story, Queen of the Sidhe, is a coming of age romance with mystery, a historical setting and a nice dash of Celtic myth thrown in.

So--what's your favourite way of crossing the streams?

Check out what my blog hop friends have to say on the subject.

Bob Rich -- https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3ET

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com (Graham)

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

 

Comments

  1. SkyewriterMarch 21, 2026 at 6:12 AM

    Like you, if I look back, I was drawn to the romance novels that didn't exactly fit the narrow confines of the publishing world. Example: I loved Georgette Heyer and hated Barbara Cartland. They say love makes the world go around so why not include it in other genres. But by the same token, ignoring everything else that might affect our lovers in romance makes the book pretty bland.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dr Bob RichMarch 21, 2026 at 4:56 PM

    Yes. A straight undiluted genre book would be at risk of being boring.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Helena FairfaxMarch 22, 2026 at 7:33 AM

    Hi Sally, that's so interesting about the conflict in cross genre romances being more believable. I agree it's really difficult as a writer of contemporary romance to find a convincing source of conflict. I admire those writers who can do this successfully. I've really enjoyed this month's topic and reading everyone's takes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Affa the EditorMarch 23, 2026 at 4:44 AM

      It's very difficult because there are just a few major sources we can play with. Different backgrounds? But- how do we resolve that? H or h believes an unfriendly who madmouths H or h? But who believe an unfriendly over a love interest? One wants to work o/s and the other doesn't want to leave? How do you resolve that? I think that's the trouble. If it's a minor wobble, it can be fixed, a major conflict of interest or mindset can't have a compromise... one person has to lose. And if it's a misunderstanding, then that bodes ill for later years.

      Delete
  4. anne stenhouseMarch 23, 2026 at 12:41 PM

    Great post. Like Helena, I found your remark that romance needs something other to provide good quality conflict astute. Anne Stenhouse

    ReplyDelete

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