Ten years ago I wrote the words ‘The End’ on my children’s novel, sent it off to my then agent and waited with excitement as she started submitting it to publishers. At the time I thought that this was the beginning of my journey as a children’s author. But it wasn’t to be. Instead, ten years on and my first adult thriller is about to be published.
The publishing industry, and children’s publishing in particular, is very much at the mercy of fashions and trends. I was fortunate that Red Rock, a science fiction thriller set in a world beset by climate change, caught the tail end of the popular wave of dystopian fiction. But that trend was coming to an end. Suddenly dystopias were out of favour. My publisher declined my second book. My agent let me go shortly after.
So there I was. Back where I started.
At first I was sad. I felt I had failed. But then I realised that I was free. I could now write whatever I wanted. I could write the story that I wanted to read. What at first seemed like a bad thing was in fact liberating.
I have always enjoyed thrillers. It’s probably my favourite genre, although I still love a decent bit of science fiction. As a result, it seemed natural that I would try my hand at writing in this genre. And it was such fun to do. My first effort was a mix of science fiction and thriller which I absolutely loved writing. I sent it out to agents and publishers and received a lot of positive replies. But they all said the same thing. It didn’t fit squarely into either genre. It was too speculative for a thriller but not enough Science Fiction for SF.
Once again I was at the mercy of market forces. Several publishers told me that if I wrote a straight thriller they would be interested in hearing from me again.
And I thought – why not. I sat down and wrote a new novel, another thriller, and this time I toned down the speculative aspects (although it’s still there, in the background if you look hard enough). I drew on my love of espionage and conspiracy theories and the result was The Sleepers. Since Bloodhound Books had responded positively to my earlier novel I decided to skip trying to find an agent and put them top of my list.
Needless to say they offered me a contract and The Sleepers will be out on April 26th 2022.
Thrillers are such fun to write, as well as being hugely popular at the moment. So for now I’ve found my niche. I’m halfway through penning another thriller.
I guess in a way I’ve let my writing be directed by the market, and I think all writers face this choice at some point. Do you write solely for yourself, in which case you can do whatever you like, or do you want a publishing deal. For me it is the latter.
It’s not uncommon for authors to switch genre. Many authors write in more than one, often using a pen name to do so. Writing under a pen name can be a good way of separating your writing identities. So I decided to change my name, ever so slightly and reinvent myself as KM Kelly, thriller writer.
I look forward to sharing The Sleepers with the world, and hopefully many more books to follow.
Obtain The Sleepers here
