Mechanized Love: A Review of Gearbreakers, by Zoe Hana Mikuta

            Genre can be a tricky thing in writing.  Some authors are very strict about sticking within certain genres, and abiding by the various common plots or tropes that come along with those genres.  For example, ask three different people about what the cyberpunk genre is and you will receive three different answers.  Science-fiction and fantasy are often seen as distinct genres, and many do not think the romance genre could cross over with a noir story.  However, genres are not set in stone.  There is no comprehensive set of rules stating what you can or cannot do as a writer, even the most traditional authors subconsciously mix and match genres all the time.  The terminology is meant less as a set of rules and more as a set of guidelines.  There are common tropes associated with science-fiction, certainly, but there is absolutely nothing stopping an author from combining those with romance.  Many times, the best stories are the ones where authors pick and choose the parts of a genre they like the most, combining them with aspect of other genres until an engaging fusion emerges.

Chosen: A Review of Cast in Secrets and Shadow, by Andrea Robertson

            One of the oldest genres, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, is the coming-of-age story.  A tale concerned with the transitions between eras of life.  Child to teenager, teenager to young adult, young adult to adult.  People are constantly changing and, hopefully, maturing as they grow older, and we all have stories that exemplify these transitional spaces.  Within storytelling, there are so many ways to handle this story, and it has been handled by nearly every author throughout history.  Characters spend the arcs of their stories learning from their experiences, ending the story wiser than they began.  There can be starts and stops across the journey, as we are all familiar with the concept that we have become our perfect selves, only for that notion to be proven false very quickly.  Sometimes, there are even characters who believe to have found the correct path, only to require course correction from a trusted voice.

Hogwarts Department of Human Resources, a Harry Potter Fanfiction Novel, is Now Up on Archive of our Own

My project for National Novel Writing Month is finally complete! Capping out at over 57,000 words, Hogwarts Department of Human Resources is a Harry Potter fanfiction novel that images what would happen if, after the conclusion of the Harry Potter novels, Hogwarts finally established an HR department. Read all 30 chapters for free on Archive of our Own using the following link. Enjoy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35453086/chapters/88371739