Sunday Salutations: Reflections on Brand and Self

This week we look at genre choices and Anna discusses her definition of "noir". And, coming soon an all special dark Anna-noir story!

At the beginning of this month I did a small little poll to determine in what random genre that is outside my wheel house of sci-fi, fantasy, or even horror I should write. It is part of a challenge given to me by a writing mentor, where I need to write a thousand words in something in a genre I would never consider seriously publishing in. I thought it was an odd assignment but I hadn’t realized how tricky it would be for me just to decide, mostly because I don’t see my writing as a specific genre, instead it is more of a feel, “delightfully weird, occasionally dark” and I would now add family friendly.

The poll also appears to have been split on the what we should try, at least a little. Noir and Military fiction were the two more common selections, with

Tiffanie Gray

suggesting a few random fun ideas in the comments which might set Tod off on a true tangent… (She has. And I will. -Tod) My favorite was “Literary Emu Fiction”, which is almost on brand for Chaos Critters. While Tod’s favorite was “Luxury sports car with country truck romance”. So, when you see those in our short free fiction over the next year you know who to blame (credit).

Still this whole interaction got me thinking. Is it useful to write off brand? Is it useful to write short items for the blog that we wouldn’t think of selling? We are working creatives, who are balancing 9-5 jobs, a blog, selling short fiction, and querying/pounding out longer prose. Do we even have time for this? And yet, what is creativity if not exploring who and what we are or could be. And what is a brand, but a way to box us in and make us marketable. So, the question I have of everyone is it useful to experiment or a time sink?

I think the answer is oddly, it can be either or neither. It depends on what you need at that point in your writing journey. If you have writers block, it can help to write something you would never sell or share, because the fear of it could be what is crippling you. If you are a more branded author, stepping outside your own lines can be fun. And if you are just beginning, you wouldn’t know yourself until you give it a try. But that said… Spending days, weeks, months, years just trying one genre or style after another, is unlikely to get you to a professional career, but then what do I know. I am still a newbie.

Old post with pool if you want to check out Tiffanie’s (and others’) comments or make some of your own.

Chaos Kitchen Creations: Recovery Tea

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Brands and Genres: Noir

Noir, to me, is more a setting than a genre. It is reflective, dark, and grim outlook on the world. The characters suffer. The world is bleak. Hope is, if not lost, fading in and out. The characters are not clear cut heroes, but instead troubled people dragging themselves through a corrupt world. Often they are setting themselves and others for no win situations, where their self image becomes more and more marred as they attempt to intact change. Oddly, I do have long urban fantasy I have that fits this style. So, I like the idea of trying to find a brand even in Noir. But that is for the darker side of our chaos.

Now, I know that many have the more pulp noir in mind: the hard-drinking, aged or cynical detective, the beautiful damsel in distress that might actually be a femme fatal in disguise. There is a play of this trope which can turn Noir into a fun caricature and would fit a more our chaos critters brand, I think we even played with it … sort of with a number of Chaos Critter Tails starting with “A Mystery Solved!” featuring our pets as well as a more straight urban fantasy “The Right Haircut”.

So, I am giving myself a goal.
Coming next week a Short Noir — something darker, more dangerous, and almost corrupting.

Until then, look for our newest story coming out in print and e-book Convoy of Chaos!

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Chaos Tip of the Week

Take a breath and try something new. If we can’t paint with all the colors of the wind, the least we do is sneeze at them.

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Chaos Question of the Week

For creatives what is the one time you stepped way out of your wheelhouse (brand, medium, genre, etc.) and what did it teach you? For those that don’t consider themselves creatives, when was the last time you tried something new? Did it change how you saw yourself or your world?

~ Anna (and Tod)

Coming October 3rd: Convoy of Chaos!

Finally, an anthology named perfectly for the Chaos Critter writers to participate, straight from Three Raven Publishing https://threeravenspublishing.com and set in Steve Jackson Games’ post-apocalypse Car Wars universe!

Convoy of Chaos is available for pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ2YKVB1

Despite the grain blight, fuel shortages, and wasteland raiders, supplies still need to get through.

Ride along with the big rig convoys, road crews, and race teams of the wasteland, keeping civilization civilized one delivery at a time.

Convoy of Chaos— where every mile is an unforgiving battlefield, and survival rides shotgun.

Tod has played Car Wars since the zip-loc bag release - before he became a forever GM. He learned his times tables in order to calculate armor for his autodueling needs. Anna, being that experienced RPG player that logically, in-character, and totally innocently breaks the GM and his plans, quickly jumped into and appreciated the deep Car Wars Universe. (It also has cars with big guns and explosions, if that’s more your thing. -Anna)

So, come on out and discover what’s in the little black boxes that are being moved from Houston to Dallas. And why does it seem everyone wants to stop a harmless cargo hauling contract?

Most of the authors are members of the Alpha Mercs “A writing group with an anthology problem.” https://www.alphamercs.com/

Remember, October 3 on Amazon, Convoy of Chaos https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQ2YKVB1