There’s nothing wrong with a scoop of ice cream if that’s what you want. But ordering a hot fudge sundae and scraping off the hot fudge because you prefer plain ice cream doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Just order the ice cream. You’re hoping I have a point. I do. As authors, we hear it all. And it usually comes in trends. Last month it was unsolicited advice. This month, genre confusion seems to be in the water.

Historical Fiction is a genre that was meant to give readers a way to enjoy a mystery, romance, whodunit, etc., against the backdrop of an era in which they don’t live so that they can learn facts about that time period. Today someone actually said “this book would be perfect without all that history in it.” No, they were not talking about my book, although I’m sure somebody, somewhere will eventually say that about mine as well. But anyway, the book the person was talking about would NOT have been perfect without “all that history in it” because it was (brace yourself) a HISTORICAL fiction book. In other words, the author “meant to do that.”

Obviously, not everyone is interested in history. And that’s okay. But if that’s the case, you kind of have to wonder why the person would choose that genre. If you just want to read a romance, there’s plenty of romance books out there that don’t give you any facts or information about the time period other than things you can figure out on your own. The same is true for mysteries or whodunits or anything else. You can buy those books if that’s what you prefer and I have done so many times myself. Historical fiction is my favorite, but I’ve read plenty of great books that just focus on the mystery or the romance, etc. etc. without any historical facts. But buying Historical Fiction and then complaining that it had history in it is something I just don’t get. Unless people simply don’t know what the term means anymore. That’s kind of sad if it’s the case.

There’s a genre out there for everyone, but 15 graphic sex scenes between Fabio and the woman he must tame does not become Historical Romance just because the author describes the woman’s gown. Similarly, a mystery doesn’t become Historical Suspense because eventually in the 29th scene they mention what year it is. I don’t get what people don’t understand about that. I guess that leads me back to where I started. Ice cream. By all means have a scoop of ice cream if that’s all you want. Or have the hot fudge sundae. But ordering the hot fudge sundae only to complain about the hot fudge is kind of silly. Isn’t it?