Comments Juno Editor/Paula Guran on 25 Jan 2009 10:12 pm
What kind of fantasy is it?
I’m trying to compose new guidelines for Juno and I keep thinking of a lot of things that really don’t belong in guidelines, but that still have bearing on what a “Juno Book” is and isn’t. So I started thinking about the heroines we’ve already featured and who are about to be featured.
1) Matters of the Blood is a rural urban fantasy 
It is set in Hill Country of Texas in a town with one stoplight. Keira Kelly, its heroine, belongs to (an absent) supernatural clan, but doesn’t yet know what her special power will be. There are two strong supporting characters, her best friend, and her brother, a shape-changing ex-Viking. Keira’s 38, but doesn’t look that old because members of her family live a very long time. Keira doesn’t really need to kick and butt, but she does fight for those who mean something to her. This world is “closed” (“otherness” is concealed from common knowledge).
2) Dancing with Werewolves is so packed with imaginative ideas that it is hard to describe. Ric, the ex-FBI agent who becomes Delilah’s partner and lover, and her wolf/wolfhound dog become her best friends. The rest of the “supporting cast” are numerous and, if not “in-depth” characters, they play their roles fully. Delilah has no idea she’s supernaturally “special” at first. Her investigatory background is that of a reporter, not a detective. She’s clever, but still often stumbles across clues because she’s plucky and headstrong. She’s an orphan who has managed to survive alone until now. Set in Las Vegas, this world is open (the “supernatural” is known to exist), but just how supernatural it is is not completely common knowledge.
Although character-driven, both of these novels have strong “mystery” elements.
3) Megan, of Personal Demons, is a psychologist who uses her psychic abilities to help people. Although she grows personally in the book, she is far from a “kickass” type of personality. She’s a highly responsible, high-achieving loner–and lonely as well. She does what she has to do, but there’s very little “attitude” about it. In the course of the book, she begins to realize there are those she can trust who can be a family of sorts. A closed world in an unnamed city.
There are certainly mysteries to be solved here, but Megan’s character in the impelling factor.
4) Amazon Ink’s Melniappe is an Amazon who has rejected her tribe. Her mother and grandmother live with her in Madison, Wisconsin where she runs a tattoo shop. She’s raising her daughter to be a “normal girl” and the teenager has no idea of her Amazonian heritage or even that such folks exist. When dead Amazon girls are left on her doorstep, she and her family are drawn back into interacting with the tribe. Mel’s about 100 years old. But she looks perhaps 35. Closed world. I guess Madison is urban…
Again, there is a central mystery — who killed the girls? — but Mel is also solving the greater mysteries of her life and her tribe.
5) Seph, in Vicious Circle, is a modern-day witch (think: Wicca not Wicked) who reads Tarot cards and writes a column on waeres. She allows waere-friends to kennel monthly in her storm cellar. She lives in rural Ohio, but close to major metro areas. (Suburban urban fantasy?) He grandmother, Nana, has just moved in with her. money is tight. She accepts the job of finding a killer primarily to protect a child who means a great deal to her. An open world, but the supernatural is only partially tolerated. Mysteries to be solved, yes, but the greatest mystery is Seph herself.
In these five books, the “good guys” kill only one person. The death is necessary and does not come via a gun or automatic weapon. It comes with some regret. The women are strong, most of the men are good looking, and the two children are both above average. They solve problems with brains and sometimes supernatural power, often with the help of others. They aren’t violent nor are they snarky. Three of the women take lovers, but only one lover is a vampire. One is a demon (although the demonology here is unique). The other is human.
Hmmm.
Some previous musings can be found here.
on 26 Jan 2009 at 12:13 am 1.Lori Devoti said …
They fight (literally with weapons, magic, fists, etc.) for what they love and believe in…and they are modern women with real life issues too.
Does that describe all of them?
on 26 Jan 2009 at 1:10 am 2.Juno Editor/Paula Guran said …
Yup. In fact “fighting for what they love and believe in” was part of the original Juno analogy.
on 26 Jan 2009 at 2:03 pm 3.Karen Duvall said …
I’m finishing up a book in a new series that’s a steampunk urban fantasy and might be described as “Moonlighting” meets “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman.” It’s not a romance, but there are two main characters, a man (half-demon) and a woman (an exorcist) who work together to save New York City. The two are partners, but not in a romantic way, at least not yet. I’m wondering that since a male and a female share lead roles, is this too far outside the paramaters of a heroine dominated story that you emphasize in your guidelines?
on 28 Jan 2009 at 5:03 pm 4.Tracy Sharp said …
This is so exciting. Thanks so much! I’m currently writing an urban fantasy. I hope it lives up to the profile!
on 21 Feb 2009 at 3:14 pm 5.Rene Butterfield said …
I’m presently writing a novel with Juno in mind for my publisher. While the story is set in a rural area of Michigan and the country is filled with giant water dragon lizards from distant space, none of the heroes and heroines are lizards. They do, however engage in activities to defend the creatures from destruction. Is this o’kay? Would this also be called urban fantasy? Thanks!
on 13 Mar 2009 at 4:41 pm 6.JAG said …
Ooohh! This is so good to read. I never knew how to exactly classify what I wanted to write about. I still have a long way to go, but all my story ideas are there! Hopefully one day I can send my first 3 chapters to Juno for consideration!
on 24 Jan 2010 at 5:59 pm 7.Jessica Henry said …
This pretty much fits into what kind of book I am writing, but you are oddly specific with guidelines. However, I am sure that you get a lot of submissions, because these kinds of books are really quite interesting. Look out for me, cause you’ll be getting a submission from me soon!
on 30 Jan 2010 at 12:43 pm 8.Barbara Rogers said …
This piece and your earlier one linked to the recent post on three years of writers ignoring guidelines seem very helpful to me. I have been writing for a long time, but without finishing anything much in a marketable format–partly, I think, because, as a reader, I never paid much attention to how a book was labeled as to genre/subgenre and I therefore had no idea how to describe my own books. Even after I grudgingly accepted the need to fit a genre, I had trouble figuring out which label was most likely to let me write the way I wanted. Trying to read within genres/subgenres has been helpful, but having someone else spell out differences and give examples is a nice change from puzzling over it for myself.
Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts about it into words.
on 17 Mar 2010 at 4:44 pm 9.Cin said …
So humans crossing cultural boundaries on another planet, with paranormal elements, isn’t the kind of fantasy Juno is seeking? (No real romance between humans or aliens, although it could happen if necessary).
Thanks for being specific - it helps a great deal.
on 27 Apr 2010 at 2:37 pm 10.LaurenFaith said …
What kind of genre, then, would be a near-future Dystopian story that fits all your requirements listed here except one? That one being the kickass female protagonist is just about the only person in the book who does not have some kind of supernatural or paranormal abilities?
on 27 Apr 2010 at 3:14 pm 11.Juno Editor/Paula Guran said …
As noted elsewhere, heroines in urban fantasy/paranormal need not have powers themselves. Your book crosses sf and fantasy and possibly horror.
on 27 Apr 2010 at 3:50 pm 12.LaurenFaith said …
Thanks for the quick reply. Someone recently told me it was Slipstream, which further confused me. Your blog is extremely helpful. It was recommended by Emmanuelle Alspaugh.
on 27 Apr 2010 at 4:51 pm 13.Juno Editor/Paula Guran said …
Most genres cross these days. “Slipstream” is a word that has had different meanings over the years. Bruce sterling originally used it in an SF context in 1989. James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, in “Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology” mentioned “cognitive dissonance” and “literary effect”. In other words, it is not a word you might want to attach to something as literary debating is one thing and marketability is another. If you want to know more about slipstream, you might try http://vectoreditors.wordpress.com/2006/09/07/now-all-slipstream-until-the-end/