Now that my book is sort of out in the world, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what to work on next. I know, I know — don’t get ahead of myself, worry about what’s in front of me. Like I’ve already established though, patience might be a virtue, but it isn’t my strong suit.

I should tell you that I’m over 50% done with what I have always intended to be my next book. I’ve been working on it since June of 2025, and while I feel good about it, I’m facing a conundrum about whether it’s the right book to follow my debut with.

One of my concerns about my debut novel is that it sort of sits in between genres. It’s very literary in tone, but has elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror (and even romance) sprinkled throughout. In fact, as I was establishing the metadata for my publication, I had a very difficult time narrowing it down to which genre it belongs in. At the end of the day, I’m comfortable with that because, well, that’s who I am. I sort of create my own genre by blending existing ones. It’s literally why I call my company Liminal Realms.

And while 2/3s of my new book sits squarely within the fantasy genre, the entire first third is something entirely different. As I reflect on it, I’m worried that I might be missing out on finding a niche to establish credibility within. I believe in this book, but I’m now wondering if it might be better received after I’ve made more of a name for myself as an established author.

I have many other ideas for books, and I even came up with one over the weekend that I think would make for a very interesting horror novel. Horror is my favorite genre, and I’ve always wanted to write the next great scary book, but I’m also nervous about starting from scratch. I have a goal to have my next book completed by end of July, and I’d have to hustle to get this one written.

Anyway, I’m interested in getting all of your thoughts on it. What would you recommend I do? Help me escape this conundrum.

Court