I'm in the process of revising my book and starting my query letter. I had trouble narrowing down genre at first, but finally realized it was solidly fantasy because what else could a book about angels and demons be? However, I then wrote my 2-paragraph synopsis, re-read it, and thought, "Uh-oh, did I just write a romance?"
Not that there's anything inherently wrong with a romance, but I don't read them and so I don't know anything about them. I'm grappling with the question of classifying it as a fantasy, a romantic fantasy, or burning it and crying myself to sleep.
How do I know if I wrote a romantic fantasy or a fantasy with a romantic sub-plot?
To give you an idea of the plot, here's the working version of my 2-paragraph synopsis:
After witnessing the Fall of a former Muse named Asorat, Enael refuses to be distracted from her Guardian angel duties. Yet events continue to push her toward the enigmatic and sensual Voctic, a Guardian who was also in the Garden that day. As she and Voctic become entwined through assignments in the 17th and 18th centuries, she unsuccessfully struggles to force her charges to bend to her will.
When the gender-bending Asorat prematurely ends the life of her human, Enael realizes she can no longer ignore the signs. Voctic's disappearances and emotional instability push their relationship to the limit until she is forced to give up her wings to chase after the angel-turned-demon she loves. [I will sort this out before it goes to an agent, of course, but in case this isn't clear: Voctic becomes a demon and Enael does, too, because she loves him.] The blood on Enael's back is barely dry when she's plunged into the midst of a plot to disrupt the direction of human history, and she must race to stop it before it's too late.
Not that there's anything inherently wrong with a romance, but I don't read them and so I don't know anything about them. I'm grappling with the question of classifying it as a fantasy, a romantic fantasy, or burning it and crying myself to sleep.
How do I know if I wrote a romantic fantasy or a fantasy with a romantic sub-plot?
To give you an idea of the plot, here's the working version of my 2-paragraph synopsis:
After witnessing the Fall of a former Muse named Asorat, Enael refuses to be distracted from her Guardian angel duties. Yet events continue to push her toward the enigmatic and sensual Voctic, a Guardian who was also in the Garden that day. As she and Voctic become entwined through assignments in the 17th and 18th centuries, she unsuccessfully struggles to force her charges to bend to her will.
When the gender-bending Asorat prematurely ends the life of her human, Enael realizes she can no longer ignore the signs. Voctic's disappearances and emotional instability push their relationship to the limit until she is forced to give up her wings to chase after the angel-turned-demon she loves. [I will sort this out before it goes to an agent, of course, but in case this isn't clear: Voctic becomes a demon and Enael does, too, because she loves him.] The blood on Enael's back is barely dry when she's plunged into the midst of a plot to disrupt the direction of human history, and she must race to stop it before it's too late.
