What Was Your First Love?

Notice I didn't say who, heh.

I went to the nearby Borders to browse through the fantasy section (a 30% off e-coupon sure helps with that decision). I picked up 2 fantasy stories, Luck in the Shadows, by Lynn Flewelling, and Raven's Strike by Patricia Briggs. The former I've been curious about for a while, the latter is the 2nd book in a duology by Ms. Briggs.

But I surprised myself by picking up a mystery that didn't involve the Stephanie Plum character. Instead, as I was going through the mystery books, a thought popped into my head that tied in directly with the Egyptian CD course I recently listened to: I knew of an author who had a degree in Egyptology who wrote a slew of books using that knowledge.

Elizabeth Peters. I picked up one of her Amelia Peabody (Evil Editor fans, this is not Amelia Pettipants, lol!) mysteries, Tomb of the Golden Bird. As I was walking out of Borders, I chuckled at the thought of having a straight-on mystery, with (at least I don't think it has) any fantasy elements to it.

Because, you see, mysteries were my first love. (You knew I'd eventually get around to the reason for the title, didn't you?) As a teenager, I went to the library and routinely devoured just about anything that had "Mystery" on the spine: Phyllis A. Whitney, Dick Francis, etc. I lived for these stories, even though I rarely figured out who the hell did it. ("Uncle Fenster's aunt's son by her fifth husband?" No!") I'd gotten away from that in the last few years, as I hungered for anything fantasy.

That started to crack about 2 years or so ago when on a whim I picked up the eighth Stephanie Plum novel. I think it's been simmering for quite some time, and it's just now that the dolphin has come to the surface for a breather. I think it also ties in with my current WIP, as I realized it's developing into a fantastical murder mystery. Maybe a paranormal? I'm not sure at this point; I'll probably continue to label it urban fantasy, for now (if an agent or publisher wants to label it something else, I don't care, as long as the publish the damn thing).

So are you writing in the genre you originally loved when you were young?

~Nancy