I had written this as a guest blog post, but it appears that the site has changed and the post will not appear there. (This explains why I had no confirmation from the moderator!) As it’s written and ready to go, I thought I’d share it here instead. The forum is for writers, so this is a craft post.

The Joys of Organic Storytelling

One of the realities that a working writer must accept is that markets change constantly. Even within a genre, certain sub-genres will suddenly sell better and others will perform less well than they did in the past. This is because genre fiction mirrors popular culture, which is always in flux, and is changing even more rapidly now than was once the case. But the other variable here, the one that doesn’t get as much attention as changing markets, is that an individual author’s skills and interests will also change over time – which is probably also a mirroring of popular culture.

The temptation to authors in changing markets is often to jump to the area of new popularity, but this can be tricky, especially if the author hasn’t a particular interest in writing in that sub-genre. As Joseph Campbell said we need to follow our bliss. Following the money doesn’t always work out so well.

So, here’s an alternative solution for you. Organic storytelling is my phrase for what happens when market changes, author perspective and popular culture collide in a way that works so well, it seems to be inevitable. This is, in my opinion, an ideal way to move forward in a changing market.

Of course, I’ll give you an example! Actually, I’ll give you three.

Several years ago, the historical market in romance began to wane. I always wrote medievals but what market existed in historical romance began to focus very tightly on Regency-set romances. As much as I love a good Regency, I was less excited about writing one. I prefer the blood and guts and pageantry of the Middle Ages, and feared I might hack and slash my way through the Ton. I’d leave a trail of broken tea cups and soiled hankerchiefs in my wake, and probably debutantes crying. (I still think that would be fun.)

The other niche that was selling well was paranormal romance, particularly vampire romances. I wasn’t excited about writing stories about vampires. They don’t really work for me, which made me think that my vampires might not work for anyone else.

But I have often included paranormal and fantasy elements in my medievals and have pitched stories about dragon shape shifter heroes for years. (Much to the confusion of many editors in the 1990’s, it must be said.) I adore dragons. The idea of a warrior hero, a hunky guy filled with ideas of honor and duty and sacrifice, who could turn into a dragon at will, just worked for me in a big way. It seemed possible to me that there might be other readers of romance who were ready for a different kind of paranormal hero. My Dragonfire series features dragon shape shifting heroes on a quest to save the earth. This series is a lot of fun to write but – even better – it grew organically out of my interest in medieval myths to mesh with the market.

Just like it was destined to be.

And now for example #2.

DARKFIRE KISS, which was released this week in the US, is the 6^th book in the Dragonfire series. Each book in the series is a paranormal romance, so it features a dragon shape shifter hero and tells the story of him meeting the woman who is his match. In this world, this meeting is called a firestorm and is characterized by sparks literally flying between the dragon dude and the woman who can bear his son. The firestorm is all about biology, except each dragon shifter learns that it’s not quite as simple as sex – love is really the answer. (That’s no spoiler to tell you that – these are romances, after all!)

For me, book #6 is about time to really mix it up in a linked series, in order to keep the storylines fresh and distinctive from each other. I also had this problem that the hero of this book would be Rafferty. Rafferty is amazing. Readers adore him. He’s also a complete romantic and idealist. I knew that he would do whatever was possible to woo the woman with whom he had a firestorm – and really, I couldn’t imagine how any woman could plausibly resist him. I was already a goner! His book was looking like it would be twenty pages long. Not good.

Organic storytelling told me that the theme of Rafferty’s story should be “Be careful what you wish for.” What his firestorm was so contrary to his expectations that everything he believed was undermined? This was a fun idea. I decided that Rafferty’s book would feature the firestorm that had been foretold as the one that would change everything in the Dragonfire world. Darkfire is a force for change. As long as it burns, rules are broken and assumptions challenged. Darkfire turns everything upside down and inside out. In case Rafferty had doubts, one of the first interactions in this book between him and his destined mate Melissa results in her revealing the dragon shifters – who have previously been hidden from human society – to the world at large. Rafferty has to choose between the firestorm and protecting his kind. Because he’s an idealist and a romantic, his choices are a permanent loving partnership or no connection with Melissa at all. The firestorm, however, is not an easy force to ignore – and Melissa, well, she’s his perfect match.

Darkfire changes the world of Dragonfire, mixing everything up for future books in the series. My third example of organic storytelling results from one further twist. It resulted from my making a list of everything darkfire would change. In the world of Dragonfire, there is only ever one female dragon shifter. She’s called the Wyvern and has special powers. The most recent Wyvern died in book #3 KISS OF FATE (that’s not a spoiler – you’ll have to read the book to find out how and why) so the child conceived in that book was a little girl. Presumably, this child Zoë would be the next Wyvern and her father watched anxiously for such developments in his baby daughter. By the time of DARKFIRE KISS, Zoë is a toddler, who has shown some Wyvern-like talent.

Organic storytelling made me wonder not just “how can I make things worse for the dragon dudes?” but also “what if the darkfire takes Zoë’s fledgling abilities away?”

I liked this idea a lot. The male dragons come into their powers at puberty, so it made sense that the same rule would apply to Zoë – and I realized that Zoë’s coming of age story would be a perfect angst-ridden paranormal YA trilogy. My editor agreed, probably partly because there’s a great synchronicity of having this idea right when the YA market is so robust and growing quickly.

This particular example of organic storytelling means that my YA trilogy about Zoë launches in June. It’s called The Dragon Diaries and the first book is called FLYING BLIND. Book #2, WINGING IT, will follow in December and book #3 next June. All that fifteen-year-old Zoë has to do is survive gym class, master her new dragon shifting powers, become the Wyvern – with no references – keep her powers secret from her human friends, and save the dragon shifters from a new threat to their survival. “No pressure” as Zoë says.

And oh yes, the adult dragons will battle the legacy of darkfire again in January 2012 with FLASHFIRE. Stay tuned for more organic storytelling!