Are you my reader?

Who are my readers? If you are one of them, I'd like to hear from you!

But maybe you don't know. Let me see if I can answer a few questions.  I've been thinking about this for a few days. Discussions about genre, age groups and other writing and reading questions over the last few weeks have made me try to define who I am writing for . . . and this turns out not to be so easy.

I write mostly science fiction and fantasy, both epic and urban. I also write some contemporary stories, including a few for young adults.

Okay, that's the easy part.

It doesn't tell you a thing about my writing though. With that list I could be any number of writers who cover the same sorts of things. So what makes me different? What makes my work my own?

Well, yes, that comes down to how I tell the stories. It's a combination of my style and my plots. It's what interests me and draws me, as opposed to what interests and draws a different writer.

What I truly write are adventures. Not romances, not thrillers (except in the way all adventures are) and not horror. There is often a mystery involved. My characters are facing odds and tackling problems they really aren't ready for, even when they think they are. I generally like a bit of humor in my stories. Sometimes a lot of humor. Humor, of course, is subjective, so that might be the part of my writing which will least appeal to you.

One of my quirks is that I don't believe you have to stop having adventures when you are no longer a teen. These day its seems that if you want to read a straightforward adventure story, you will most likely find it in the young adult section . . . which means the main characters are going to be teens. I love writing YA stories, but I get annoyed with the idea that you can't cross over this line and write the same sort of stories for adults. Sometimes I want my main character to be older than eighteen but still have an adventure and learn something about life! Sometimes I want them to be people who have some experience in life, who are in positions of power, and who have to make decisions they never thought they would. And sometimes I like stories where adults finally realize they still have to grow up.

Along the same line, I don't believe that every single book aimed at adults has to have sex in it. I am not opposed to such books, but I just don't believe they're all an adult ever wants to read. I know I don't. I have had a long standing rule: If I pick up a book that says it's a science fiction story about betrayal and the attack of ruthless aliens, I want the story to be about how the humans win (or lose) and not have those actions relegated to second place since the story really focuses on how long it takes the captain to get the pretty ambassador into bed with him and what they do there. The love story might be part of the overall story, but I do not want it to be the prime focus unless I specifically look for such a story.

So, you can guess what kind of stories I write. I am not trying to be the next Hemmingway. I don't write to change the world with my writing or become the next big literary giant. I write to share adventures with people who might enjoy them.

Are you looking for Andre Norton adventures in a Laurell K. Hamilton market? You might enjoy some of my work.

Kat Among the Pigeons:

Katlyn is a member of a fae clan whose job is to stand the line between human and magical lands, a secret she has trouble hiding from her new human boyfriend even before she unexpectedly finds the fate of the world in her hands.

She isn't magically strong, and unlike other fae who understand all animals, she only caught birds and cats -- not a good combination. However, when she isn't able to reach other fae for help, Kat and her boyfriend frantically fight the enemy with the aid of a lazy tom cat, an African gray parrot who only speaks in verse, and a wise-cracking cockatiel with a bad attitude.

She's trying very hard not to think the world is doomed.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/45956


Ada Nish Pura:

Fighter Pilot Marcus Trevor is the only survivor of a treacherous attack against the star ship on which he served. Injured and alone, he must take refuge on the world of Kailani, a place of vast stretches of water and where a large portion of the population is genetically adapted to living in the sea.

With the enemy taking over this mineral rich world, Marcus must work with the locals while waiting for help to return. And it is here that he learns the true meaning of civilization and honor.

Ada = Decision

Nish = No

Pura = Return

Sometimes there is no going back.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/67486


No Beast So Fierce:

. . Oh yes, werewolves, vampires -- and worse -- are out in the stars with the rest of humanity. However, we're more subtle about our presence these days. Humans no longer believe in the old myths and sometimes that makes them easy prey, as vampires quickly learned. Many people had disappeared in Terra Nova lately. I'd heard about it in coffee shops and hotels; the places where humans gather to gossip and pretend they aren't worried. They didn't know what they faced or how to fight it and that left the vampires to prey as they wanted. They were getting bold.

The vampires hadn't counted on me, though.

Someone has to stand between the monsters and the humans.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81265


You can find more of my work here:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/LazetteG

Notice: After August, the price of the novels is going up from $1.99 to $2.99. Novellas will be $1.99 and short stories $0.99. This is the time to buy my novels if you are at all interested.