Back in 2017, I debuted as an author of contemporary Christian young adult fiction. In the years since, I’ve strayed very little from that norm, only varying by publishing an upper middle grade contemporary novel in 2018 and a nonfiction book for Christian authors in 2022.

With three published books, and two on the way, that will stay within the contemporary Christian YA genre, I’ve pretty much stayed true to the genre as an author. However, that doesn’t mean I’ve not considered branching out.

Today, I’m spilling the tea on some genres and age brackets I’ve considered writing for in the future.

Christian Young Adult Fantasy

I know, it’s weird for me to start off this way, especially since I literally just confessed in last week’s blog post that I’m not generally a fantasy reader. The even stranger thing is that I’ve thought of not just one, but two, possible book ideas in this genre.

Idea 1: A Celtic-Inspired Original Fairytale

The first, which I haven’t come up with a concrete title for, is one that I actually started drafting almost ten years ago and never finished. The book follows a princess named Aislinn who is secretly in love with a peasant musician in her kingdom… where music is forbidden. Honestly, I didn’t get far into writing this book. I’m pretty sure it was at 14,000 words or under the last time I opened the document, and I didn’t really have an idea as to where the story was going. For a while, it was just a fun little thing to write. I’m not sure if I’ll ever actually finish or publish it, but I’ve thought about going back to it a few times.

Idea 2: A Contemporary-Meets-Hidden-World Fantasy

My second idea, however, was one I spent a bit of time planning but very little time executing. Entitled “Katketty”, which means “hidden” in Finnish (not quite sure why I picked that, to be honest), the book follows five (I think) cousins who find a secret portal to a fantasy world at their grandfather’s cabin in the mountains. One of their older cousins went missing a long time ago, and the family has mourned her loss ever since. The cousins, however, believe she’s been swept away into the fantasy world. I think I may have written a page or two of this, but I’m not sure where I’ve placed it, since it was on loose-leaf paper *facepalm*. This is one I would honestly like to pursue one day, but I have several more concrete book ideas that I’d like to get to first. 🙂

New Adult Christian Rom-Com

Surprise, surprise! Though I’ve mentioned a book idea for this genre on my WIPs page, I don’t know that I’ve ever mentioned it here in a blog post. For a few years now, I’ve been brainstorming a New Adult romance following a woman in her early to mid-twenties who has been unlucky at love, entitled “The Last Before Forever”. In her years dating, she’s always been the last person her ex-boyfriends have dated before they found “the one”. This genre is probably the first one I will pursue after publishing the next few young adult novel ideas I have, so don’t expect this from me anytime soon. 😛

Young Adult Christian Dystopian

Are you really a writer who graduated high school in the 2010s if you don’t have some sort of plan to write a dystopian novel? XD

Ahem. So, yeah. I’ve got a very loose idea for a Christian dystopian book with a teen heroine.

When I was into following politics a couple years ago (a toxic habit that I’ve finally managed to break, thank God!), I first got the idea for a book centering around the deterioration of honoring Christian values in the United States and what could possibly come of that in the near future.

I haven’t even started writing this, nor started developing characters, so this one may not ever pan out. It’s been a shiny little idea to think about, but not one I think I’ll jump on soon.

Cozy Mystery

I’ve recently come to the conclusion that Mystery is quickly becoming my new favorite genre, and I would love to write clean or Christian mysteries, which I feel like are summed up in the “Cozy Mysteries” genre. Do I have any book ideas yet for this genre? Absolutely not, but I wish I did. Honestly, I don’t think I’m smart enough to pull off a believable mystery, but maybe one day I’ll write one, Lord willing.

Talk to Me, Arrowheads!

If you’re a writer, what is the main genre you enjoy writing? What other genres have you considered writing?

If you’re a reader, which of these genres would you like for me to pursue first? I can’t promise that I will, but I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Aim high, stay strong, and always hit your mark.

-Allyson 😀