I've got a question regarding what genre of fantasy I should be marketing my series as. The entire series was designed to be Urban or Low Fantasy, but as the books progress I will be adding more magical and ethereal elements, worlds, and characters. It won't be High/Epic Fantasy, per se, but because my normal human characters will be traveling to other worlds and realms and dealing with beings with powers, ie gods, angels, sorcerers, etc, it will take on some of that flavor. However, stories like the Marvel universe where Thor and Loki, et al function on a contemporary plane of earth as well as in their own realm of Asgard, are considered Urban/Low Fantasy. This is a good example of how my series is being written. Basic premise: I have two storylines that weave in and out of one another. Higher beings messing with humans, and the human's storyline as they deal with the consequences of that interference. Despite the fantasy setting, it's really a story of humanity overcoming challenge, and I focus most of my writing on character development and relationships. MC is a young human male living in a future about 40 years from now dealing with the intentional destruction and crumbling of society. He is aided and protected by enhanced beings and other humans who have been training to fight the evils that have destroyed, or are actively working to destroy, human civilization. He is taught that he, like many others, harbors special talents, like the ability to communicate telepathically, and the ability to use ambient energy to affect the environment around him. Lots of things happen to him, each a challenge that shapes him into a truly enhanced being, something elevated above "normal" humans by the time the third book rolls around. His mentors are a female Phoenix, and her human guardian who wields weapons made of pure energy. Despite their origins and abilities, these people live normal "human" lives. The story begins in Texas on a cattle farm. It's a weird mix, but all of my characters, including the gods, angels, demons, etc that eventually come into play, are all very human in their behaviors and dialogue. One of my angels, Silas DeMaar, runs a weapons development firm out of a complex in Northern California. He is an example of the opposite approach to my MC in that he is already an elevated ethereal entity who is trying to live as just a "normal" human being, albeit a very rich and corrupt human being. Any thoughts on classifying such a book? Fairly certain Low Fantasy covers it, but don't want to be overlooking something that suits it better. This will be a self-published work.
If it takes place in the real world, regardless of what other elements it has, it'd be classified as urban fantasy.
I have difficulty sticking my writing to a genre. It is likewise still involving fantasy, and I don't just start off anything I write with what would be called high fantasy. But nothing I choose for scenarios involves contemporary urban settings in our world. Urban fantasy would not be a fitting name for it. I like using scenarios less familiar, in our world or somewhere indistinguishable from our world, where persons might be more accepting of there being exotic differences from what is already known. From there more elements of fantasy can be brought in, with perhaps another realm or world as well, depending on the direction I am taking. But I find my writing moving into almost any other genre at times. Of course, there have been a number of sources of inspiration for me, and I am sure there will still be, but my creativity does not feel like stopping.
Yeah I find Urban Fantasy a challenge because it does require more work to stick to the reality of the story. People will question elements they are familiar with. However I find this to be somewhat true of fantasy anyway because the fandom crowd know more about the fantasy realm than most authors. They will pick apart things that are too familiar, like the world of elves or sorcerers if the characters don't fit into the accepted narrative that's been created by that very large group of fantasy addicts. I've watched arguments in forums that get really heated between people, sometimes even involving the authors themselves. It's wild.
Have you done as foolscap of the story? If you ate unfamiliar with it. The story grid was developed by a publisher as a method to originally wade through the slush pile. Take a legal pad, divide the page into 4 sections. 3 for a screen play. In the first define your genre, or mix of genres and your beginning hook. The middle section(s) are your bulid, and the last is your ending. This gives you a road map for your project in a one page summary.
