Now I'm Just A Writer That I Used to Know

When I first realized I wanted to be a writer I knew exactly what genre I wanted to write.  Big, historical romances.  I've always been a history geek and I was drawn to the big romances with super alpha heroes and women with big dresses to match their big personalities.  And so my path was chosen and I worked on my craft.  I have notebooks with historical notes, websites I know backwards and forwards, etc., etc.  I honed in on 18th century Britain and America for my stories and felt perfectly comfortable writing in the genre.

Historical Romance: its all about the covers

But people are dynamic.  We rarely stay with the same interests forever.  Those that do are lucky, particularly writers.  I discovered paranormal romance as a reader and loved writing it.  So I identified myself as a writer of contemporary paranormal romances.

...until I moved onto something else.

I found dark, urban fantasy and really grasped onto it.  I very much like writing in first person and feel I'm a much stronger writer when I follow that point of view.  It plays to my strengths as a writer and I have to say I had more success in writing the genre than any other previously.  So, I'm a writer of dark urban fantasy.

Dark Urban Fantasy heroines are not allowed to cover their midriffs

But wait....

All I would need is a pair of goggles and an airship to write in

Have you tried Steampunk?  Who couldn't love the combination of Victorian fashion and sensibility with clockwork technology and airships?  For me, I like the dark tensions that simmer below the controlled Victorian environment.  I'm attracted to the class struggles that a runaway industrial revolution can create.  So, I started working on a Steampunk novel.  And I really like it, lot of work because of the world building but it is fun to write.

Thus is my quandary as a writer.  I don't fit any definition and I've come a long way from what I started at as a writer.  Trying to find where I'm comfortable writing is not easy.  When I say I've not been writing it isn't exactly true, I've been writing quite a bit just not finishing.  Struggling to find the writer I want to be has been difficult.  That I can at least recognize this as a big issue for me I think is a major step to getting back into the rhythm of writing.