So, why is this blog called the Genre Salmon?
For many deep and meaningful reasons. Most of them being that I was having real trouble coming up with anything and all the things I thought of had already been used and all my clever pseudonyms were apparently obvious and pre-loved and at some point I just said ‘screw it, I’m a salmon’.
I like salmon. I especially like pink canned salmon with the bones in that go crunch. But I liked the metaphor, too.
Publishing is a stream, right? Bubbling, gurgling along, pushing relentlessly towards the sea. And I am the stoic, noble salmon, fighting my way up to the spawning-ground of my imagination, there to leave my own precious eggs of creativity to spawn new readers! (Wow, this metaphor actually extends way further than originally envisioned. Mostly I was flopping on the bed and giggling about ‘fishy fishy’ more than envisioning as such)
And I am the Genre Salmon because… well, I read and write genre. Mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, paranormal, I like ’em all. Historicals have a good chance of luring me in, and I’ve even dipped my toes in a few thrillers. But literary? No. No thank you. Not for me. Maybe I’ve just been terribly unlucky in the books I’ve sampled, but my experience of modern ‘literary’ fiction is mostly one of unpleasant, frequently over-privileged people suffering from the latest in trendy misfortune and feeling incredibly sorry for themselves. (You’re married! But you cheated! And now you’re afraid you’ll be caught and WOE and I don’t feel the least bit sorry for you, you cheating cheater who didn’t have the frigging spine to break up with the first one before doinking the second! Especially if you didn’t break up with the first one because he offers you ‘security’ by which you mean ‘pots of money’.)
But as any reader or writer of genre knows, somehow lit is seen as much more worthwhile and important and – sadly – more commercial. So. The Genre Salmon swims gamely against the literary stream, leaping over financial obstacles and plunging through the white waters of literary skepticism, towards the spawning grounds of Publication.
Swim with me!
The Genre Salmon 