Same world, different genres--How to set it up?

[Catrin Lewis]

I'm caught in a quandary. The series I'm writing, "The Architects," is Christian romantic suspense. All four books (as projected) deal with the relationship of one particular couple. The suspense plot in all of them is or will be high-stakes and confront them with matters of life and death. In each of the novels, the protagonists are faced with major spiritual and moral issues that can make or break their Christian growth.

Moreover, all of them have titles that are direct or indirect quotations from the King James Version of the Bible. All of them have main theme verses quoted at the start of the book and subordinate verses quoted at the beginning of each division.

And all of them have a secular classical work and a Christian hymn that run through the plot. The characters acknowledge these works and alternately draw inspiration from or react against them.

But there are stories I want to write in the same world, where the rules I've set up for the main series don't fit.

Some would have spiritual crises, but no life-threatening suspense or happily-ever-after romance. Or we'll have suspense, but the threat is economic destruction, and there'll be no love story or spiritual crisis. Some would involve my main characters, but separately, before they met, and some would have side characters as their heroes.

My question is, how do I present these side stories as part of the same world without raising the wrong expectations as to genre, etc.? How similar or different should the covers be? What about titling? Should I keep some kind of musical leitmotif, even if it isn't classical or religious?

I'm asking now because one of these stories overlaps the timeline of the second novel of The Architects series, and I'd like to get it written while the events of that story are fresh in my mind.

All thoughts welcome!

 

[JT Woody]

following because, I am in a similar boat and too would like to know how others have handled it!

 

[Naomasa298]

Do any events overlap, or is it just the setting? Also, will you use the same writing style?

 

[Catrin Lewis]

Do any events overlap, or is it just the setting? Also, will you use the same writing style?

Events do overlap. I've set up the story featuring the side character in the novel I'm about to publish.

The style will be the same, I think. Deep third POV, realistic situations, contemporary cultural issues and politics brought in to complicate matters.

 

[Naomasa298]

Events do overlap. I've set up the story featuring the side character in the novel I'm about to publish.

The style will be the same, I think. Deep third POV, realistic situations, contemporary cultural issues and politics brought in to complicate matters.

I reckon you would just make it clear in the blurb, and perhaps select a title that primes the reader for the different genre, if you can find an appropriate line.

Also, maybe you could give these ones a tagline in the title, or give the series a different name, I don't know, something like The Architects: Damascus (or something suitably Biblical, I know virtually nothing about it but I hope you get what I mean).

 

[Catrin Lewis]

I reckon you would just make it clear in the blurb, and perhaps select a title that primes the reader for the different genre, if you can find an appropriate line.

Also, maybe you could give these ones a tagline in the title, or give the series a different name, I don't know, something like The Architects: Damascus (or something suitably Biblical, I know virtually nothing about it but I hope you get what I mean).

I was thinking of calling the related novella and short story series "The Architects' Sketchbook" or something of the sort.

I'll consider what you say about using place names or themes for these works, where I've previously used direct quotations. The awkward thing about this particular novella is that there's a parable of Jesus that directly relates, that of the servants who receive money/responsibility to handle while their master is away in a far country. But if I quote it directly (i.e., The Talents), it's a little too on the nose, and if I get into anything suggesting masters and servants, a lot of people's heads might go spiralling, since the hero of the story is a black man. I'm concerned about the implications, myself.

Though something on the order of The Faithful Servant or A Faithful Servant or Good and Faithful Servant might not be too far off the mark. Both my protagonist and his colleague and antagonist, a bigoted white guy who thinks he's the one who should have been left in charge during my main couples' honeymoon, think they're doing their best to benefit the firm while the bosses are away. Neither of them think they're burying their talent, as the parable condemns.

 

[Homer Potvin]

Christian romantic suspense

That's very specific, obviously. This might be a classic case of two of out three ain't bad. I'd have to assume that the Christian part is mandatory for your target readers, so you can't mess with that one too much. The other two might be negotiable. Suspense is easy in that it comes in many forms and is pretty adaptable to whatever else is around it. The romance is probably the harder part since there are established roles and landmarks that need to be hit.

I don't know. I'd work on softening one of the three categories and see what you can fit in there. Live by genre, die by the genre is the other option.