#AtoZChallenge: Genres–Alien Romance

The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic in the month of April, every day except Sundays. I find that too busy and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’ll take me a couple of years. Sigh.

My topic, like the last time, will be writing genres.

Alien Romance

Definition

human and alien fall in love

Tips

1. Usually, Earth woman is forced to go to another world.
2. This could be that she is sold into slavery, a prisoner (of either war or a convicted criminal), or does so voluntarily.
3. Stories are much like traditional romance except that they require one partner to be non-human.
4. These stories usually have a HEA ending.
5. Establish the rules of your alien world.
6. Make the alien characters compelling; include their physical appearance, culture, values, and goals.
7. Consider how to address the communication barrier.
8. Even though they’re aliens, you are writing for humans, so focus on emotions and universal themes.
9. Be creative with physical intimacy; make sure it’s believable without being confusing.
10. Include conflict, as every good romance would. Consider the cultural and societal differences between your characters and how these differences may lead to conflict.

Popular Books

1. Dark Planet Warriors by Anna Carven
2. Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip Dick
3. Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
4. The Krinar Chronicles by Anna Zaires
5. Mated to an Alien Warrior by Honey Phillips
6. Royal Alien Mate by Sue Mercury
7. Soulless by Gail Carriger
8. Tink’s Neverland by S.E. Smith
9. The Mount by Carol Emshwiller

Click for complete list of these 26 genres

Click for a complete list of all genres I’ve written about

More A Genres:

• Academic Novels
• Alternative History
• American Realism
• Anthology

Help me crowdsource books for the genres

Instead of searching for popular books in each genre, I’ll crowdsource them–include books as often as possible written by Indie authors. That means yours. Here’s how you get involved:

• Go through the list of F-Z genres (and subgenres) at https://wp.me/p90mx-6Px. Many are less common than the usual so you’ll have to read the definitions and decide where your books fit. If you’re close, that’s good enough. For example: If you write dystopian fantasy, I can include you in “Dark Fantasy”.
• In the comments, tell me your name, your book, a link to where it’s sold, and the genre it fits.
• When I get to that genre (between April 1, 2023 and about two years later), I’ll include your book in the examples with a link to where it can be purchased.

If you’d like to guest host one of the genres, I’d love that, too. Just let me know.

That’s it! I sure hope you play along with me on this!

Here’s the genre list (links aren’t live until publication).

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Man vs. Nature saga, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the acclaimed Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land, Winter 2024.

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