Sandra Sookoo- multipublished author in multiple genres.

Today I’ve invited multipublished author Sandra Sookoo to talk about writing in different genres.

Thanks for having me on your blog today!

So, you think you’ve pigeon-holed yourself into one genre, huh?  Growing bored with your current reading list?  Your writing is causing even you — the writer —  to roll your eyes?  Well, let me share with you a little secret…

…life doesn’t have to be this way.

That’s right (or write depending on your point of view).  The glory of the book world means there is a huge selection of genres to pick from. No matter if I’m reading or writing, my tastes and interests go all over the map.  I refuse to become mired in one
particular genre because it makes my brain bored and sucks the fun out of
writing/reading.  I’m not interested in all my books sounding like the same old thing, therefore I have to keep pushing.

Case in point–I love, love, love writing historical romances.  In fact, given a choice I’d probably specialize and do that exclusively…except my brain does grow bored if I had to
write them back to back.  This is why, at times, I blend threads of the paranormal into my historical stories.  It works well for me and keeps my readers entertained.  Check out my website http://www.sandrasookoo.com and click on either the historical or paranormal tabs. A lot of those books are cross genre.

In my upcoming novella MARKING TIME, I started the story in the modern day but
then the heroine travels through time to the year 1900.

Blurb for Marking Time

Sometimes the destination is not as important as the journey.

Ava Lesarris has her life figured out. She has a great job, has accepted her latent wolf shifter identity and is looking forward to climbing the corporate ladder. When a faulty GPS unit leads her to a town called Strange Hollow, she’s in a quandary, even more so when
she’s suddenly transported back to the year 1900.

Sam Tremaine is the last of his kind.  He’s a Phoenix, living in Strange Hollow during what should have been its greatest time—the founding year, but he can’t enjoy it.  He’s dying
which leaves him with one regret.  He’s never found a woman whose spirit
is as strong as his own.  He wants be remembered but time is running out,
not to mention he hasn’t been able to get “it” up for months.

Worlds collide as the past and present come together in Strange Hollow.  Ava will need to figure out her purpose while Sam struggles to come to terms with his fate.  If they’re
lucky, the special town will offer the answers they’re both seeking before the
next phase of life begins.

Or in UNRAVELED SOULS, that is set just past the turn of the twentieth century but
has paranormal elements in it.

Blurb for Unraveled Souls

Noelle Radliffe can communicate with ghosts. They haunt her nights and show her dreams of things that haven’t yet occurred.  When she has a vision of a dead lion and sees the name of a man, she searches the city to find him only to become sidetracked by an addiction she can’t fight.

Enter Nicholas Pemberton.  Although charming and charismatic, he hides a secret, one that is deadly as well as mysterious.  He’s a shape shifter and the urge to change into a lion is a battle he constantly wages with himself, second to the recently discovered obsession he feels for Noelle.

As the two fight their mutual attraction to each other, Nicholas attempts to elude the local police force intent on linking recent murders to his name, while Noelle continues to seek peace in her life and to understand her purpose.  Their connection is too strong to
ignore.  As passion ignites, so does the danger.  Lives are threatened and destinies collide, but will love be enough to save their souls?

Yet another example is DEMONS AND STILETTOS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND in which it’s a contemporary story with paranormal elements.

Blurb for Demons and Stilettos are a Girl’s Best Friend

Anne Jenkins never believed there was a heaven or hell but when she’s rescued from a
runaway horse by a guy who claims he’s a demon, her freak detector goes
off.  She demands proof and the leather-clad biker sets some local wildlife on fire.  She starts to trust in a hurry.

Gregg Carter, bound to the Devil for all eternity because of an audit gone wrong,
seizes the opportunity to take possession of Anne’s soul as a way to please his
boss.  What he didn’t count on was the fact that his libido would take the one-way bus to crazy town as he gets to know her better.

Trouble is, Anne and Gregg spend so much time trying to hide their true selves from
each other, they can’t escape the attraction that builds between them.  But everyone knows demons and humans don’t mix, and neither can two people who have no futures.

The key is to have fun with it and move outside your comfort zone.  Challenge yourself.

Of course, I also love to write sci-fi romances as well.  Why? It gives me the opportunity to play with other cultures and technology, make whole new worlds that are far removed from the historical playgrounds I hang out in.  Building alien races,
piloting space ships and overcoming different problems in these setting make my
mind soar, but even so, if I write back to back in this genre, my brain niggles at me to go visit a different pool.

That’s where the contemporary genre comes in. If historical and all things paranormal and sci-fi don’t trip my trigger, I’ll dabble in the contemporary field. There’s just something about a regular girl meeting a regular guy in a believable story that does a body good.

Not to mention the different heat levels I like to play with depending on the story
that needs telling.  I’ve written stories that are sweet then there are decidedly erotic tales on the other end of the spectrum.

What do I read, you may ask?  Well, I like thrillers and cozy mysteries.  There’s little chance I’ll write another mystery (I have done one) so I enjoy these the most because I’m not constantly analyzing how those stories are put together.

Of course, never say never…

I hope you enjoyed a peek at why I write what I do, and I hope it inspires you to
branch out in your own writing and reading! Thanks for reading.  If you have
any questions, I’d love to answer them!

To learn more about me, please visit my website at http://www.sandrasookoo.com.  From there you can connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and my Believing is Seeing blog.  If you’d like postcards mailed to you, please email your mailing address and I’ll be happy to send them!