Genre-merging? Yes, that’s what I call it. When you use several genres of writing and throw them together.
For instance the Emma Nelson mysteries, of which you see the cover of volume 2 on the left.
The Emma Nelson series is a mix of detective, mystery, fantasy, and naturism. I guess that detective and mystery kind of blend into one genre, because one has little life expectancy without the other, but leave it to naturist fiction authors to come up with something that defies many laws of writing gravity.
What is important about genre?
Well, the start is, of course, that this gives the reader an idea what to expect.
Science Fiction usually has to do with science, be it real or invented, and oftentimes it is also linked to the future, space flight and other items related to, exactly, the genre.
Take, for instance, the Murphys in Space book (and soon books, mark my words!). Human people meet aliens and take to space in a space craft. That’s quite a romance story, right? Oh, wait. Science fiction story. Sorry, I was mixing up genres.
Or another example, using Aglow by Will.
This is where we see speculative and historical fiction, playing out in an exploration of the South American jungle. And, inevitably (luckily) also naturism, in a way that makes nudity almost logical.
I think that naturist fiction as a solo genre doesn’t even exist. There has to be something added to it, to make the story ‘alive’. Imagine a story where you read about nude people going about their day, going to work, having a walk, and nothing else happens. I, for one, would quickly get bored by such a story, mostly because that is what I do myself. I don’t need to read about that.
Naturist fiction depends on other genres to become alive. As do many other genres beg, steal or borrow from other genres to add something to the story.
How much fun would a science fiction story be that’s only about technology, or a space flight, or a robot factory where one robot leaves the conveyor belt every 92 seconds?
A romance that is only about the love between two people, without any tension arising?
A fantasy story that is so far out that you completely lose track about that the hell is actually going on?
Boring!
And no one is interested in reading a boring story. For that, instruction manuals have been invented.
Add to that, that there (hopefully) is no author interested in writing a boring story, and the world of reading is saved.
All because of the mixing up of genres.
It is good that this mixing happens to create something new. Like, as I started with, in the Emma Nelson mysteries, where detectives, mystery, fantasy, paranormal and naturism are all mashed together.
Lucky you!
A naturist solo story? Coming up! Thelana is for the most part solo in her latest literary outing, The Feral Girl. Hopefully, it won’t be boring.
Hi Nick,
I am convinced it will be a fascinating story. What I meant was a story about a nude person who just goes about the daily life as we know it. Nothing fantasy, nothing romance, nothing mystery.
Good luck with The Feral Girl, looking forward to it!
Sadly, some writers (not sure if they deserve the description “author”) do seem happy to write boring stories!
Some “naturist fiction” I’ve read really is as boring and humdrum as Paul describes. That isn’t the case for any of the writers who feature on this site, of course.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a story where one character happens to be naturist, and – while there is mention of naturist activities – this is treated by all characters as unremarkable, and has no more bearing on the story, plot or any sub-plot than if they were (for example) red-haired, a real-ale fanatic, a folk singer or a Republican. Obviously, in current Western societies, that would be very unusual, but I do wonder if it would be at least thought-provoking for there to be such a situation.
Would a world in which naturism was both a minority lifestyle / belief / mode and considered by the rest of society to be unremarkable (and therefore mostly unremarked) be a fantasy? Would such a story be “naturist fiction” at all? I have no idea.
Meanwhile, I’m very happy for Paul (and others) to continue to mix and match genres.
And if you want a challenging SF tale which comes close to Paul’s nightmare, you could always try Brian Aldiss’ ‘Report on Probability A’. Which I have read. And have absolutely no desire to re-read.
Hello Tim
Thank you for this elaborate comment and the warning about the Aldiss book! I promise I will stay away from it!