When I say that my preferred genres for developmental editing and story coaching are mystery/suspense, magical realism and historical fiction, what do I mean by that, exactly? These genres are broad and sometimes cross over with other genres.

For example, historical fiction usually means stories set 50 or more years ago, but it’s also sometimes used to include stories that include alternative history or a timeslip narrative. Similarly, magical realism means different things to different people. Is it fantasy light or its own unique genre? Finally, mystery/suspense is often used to contain everything from cosies to hardboiled detective fiction. So which of these do I mean?

Well, it depends!

Historical fiction

In terms of historical fiction, I like to read stories about everyday people’s lives that take place in different eras, though I’m not against stories about famous or well-known people. I’m less interested, however, in say a fictionalized account of Queen Elizabeth II’s childhood than I am of the story of a woman martial artist living in ancient China, or the story of a postie working in London during the Blitz. That said, people who lived a very long time ago or were the first to accomplish something can be quite interesting. It really depends on the slant that the story takes.

My favourite historical novels explore what it was like to live in a certain era—setting and worldbuilding are an important component of historical fiction.

I’m also quite happy working with historical crossover genres, including:

• Historical fantasy (Natasha Pulley’s The Lost Future of Pepperharrow comes to mind)

• Timeslip novels (Natasha Pulley’s The Kingdoms, Jane Davis’s I Stopped Time)

• Historical mysteries/historical suspense/historical thrillers (think C.G. Sansom’s Tudor-era series and David Downing’s Station series)

• Historical fantasy novels with a mystery at their heart/elements of suspense

Magical realism

My favourite magical realism stories differentiate themselves from fantasy by weighting themselves firmly in the real (or the perceived real, because it’s all fiction at the end of the day). This doesn’t mean that they can’t contain a hefty dose of fantasy, but it’s more about how the fantasy elements are integrated into the story (or how the author seeks to integrate them into the story).

For me, magical realism includes:

• Gothic fiction (such as Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca)

• Ghost stories

• Stories with elements of mythology/folklore contained within them but set (mostly) in the real world (think Louise Erdrich’s stories, also Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife)

• Stories that question the nature of reality or, again, what the characters perceive to be reality (Kafka’s Metamorphosis, The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw)

Mystery/suspense

In terms of mystery/suspense, I enjoy most of the subgenres. I’m not a big fan of strict police procedurals though, and I prefer stories where the violence happens mostly off camera. A little violence is okay, so long as it’s important for the story.

Here are a few of my favourite mystery/suspense subgenres:

• Mystery and crime thrillers (Wendy Dranfield’s novels, for example)

• Cosy mysteries (such as those of Alexander McCall-Smith and Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club)

• Stories involving an amateur sleuth (Alexander McCall Smith’s Isabel Dalhousie books)

• Crime

• Whodunnits

• Mysteries with an element of magical realism (think Tony Hillerman’s Jim Chee series)

So if you’re interested in working with me, but you’re not quite sure if your story fits into one of my preferred genres, get in touch anyway. We can discuss it and go from there.

And if you’re writing in another genre entirely, we might still be a good fit. While these are my preferred genres, I also have experience with other genres, including:

• Women’s fiction

• Contemporary fiction

• Literary fiction

• Upmarket fiction

• Commercial fiction

• Fantasy

• Romance

• Memoir

I look forward to hearing from you!