Why I Stopped Reading the Genre I Write in (for Now)

I mainly write cozy fantasy. In fact, that’s the category of my debut novel, HERO ADJACENT. I also read the genre a lot because:

• I love it

• I wanted to know the market I would be publishing in

• I wanted to support my fellow authors. (Side note: It also helps when you start asking for author blurbs if you’ve read their books).

But now, I’m at the point where I’m trying to write the book that will come after my debut, and I’m getting stuck. All I was reading was cozy fantasy. I’d completely immersed myself in the genre—and forgotten all the others.

I realized this was stifling my creativity, because I was constantly comparing my work to what other were doing. It also made me worry that some of my ideas were too closely aligned to something that was already out there. In other words, it was putting me in my head WAY too much. I had to get out (it’s dark in there).

So, for the time that I’m working on the first draft of my next cozy fantasy, I’ve decided to take a step back from reading the genre and giving my brain a break so I can fully commit to it when it comes to my own writing.

As soon as I’m done the drafting phase and back to editing, I’m positive I’ll return to my beloved genre as a reader. Until then, give me your Thriller, Romance, Mystery, Epic, and Non-Fiction recommendations to fill the void!