Alice McIlroy: On Writing Genre-Blending Fiction 

Alice McIlroy: On writing genre-blending fiction 

It’s funny stumbling upon my debut novel in the crime section of bookshops, which is where it tends to be. Each time, finding it being stocked is a unique thrill. There is nothing quite like walking into a shop and finding it on the shelves: the sheer joy of it.

When I was invited to sign copies of my debut novel, The Glass Woman, in Hatchards Piccadilly this morning, I was met by a very enthusiastic and lovely bookseller, who asked about the genre. She doesn’t usually read crime, but she’ll give mine a read, she said. There is a little crime in The Glass Woman, although to me, it will always be a blend of speculative fiction and psychological thriller.

I guess speculative thriller would be a simpler definition, to avoid throwing too many words into the mix. (Whilst recent press has reviewed it under science fiction.) Did I set out to write a mix of genres? No, it really began as speculative fiction (and a little bit literary to my mind, if I’m honest!) but after writing the first draft, I realised that to make the story work, it needed the pace of a thriller, and the claustrophobia of an almost entirely domestic setting. I rewrote it from scratch from a quarter/third of the way through with ‘thriller’ in mind as the primary genre. I did this by compressing the timeline to heighten the stakes, and by introducing further plot twists and red herrings, but more than this, by approaching every chapter and interaction by asking: what is the worst that can happen at this moment? What will heighten the conflict between the characters in the scene? Always seeking the most suspenseful, uncomfortable dynamic. This feels a slightly perverse attitude to take, but it makes it interesting to write, and, hopefully, to read. 

As a result of this rewrite, I think its primary genre is thriller, and it is right to be in the crime/thriller section. But the ideas behind the book make it speculative fiction at heart. My hope for it, and for readers, is whether you love or hate the characters and the book itself, the ideas will stay with you and provoke some thought or discussion. And by necessity of not fitting tidily into pre-made boxes, I hope it does surprise and feel a little different. I have a natural aversion to labels, and I purposefully wanted to write a novel that does not fit neatly into one category. However, I am learning the need for them: when it comes to getting the book onto shelves and into readers’ hands. 

As a result of writing a blend of genres, it took me longer to reach publication. I started writing the novel in 2017, with no specific genre in mind at first, and then enrolled on a novel writing course with Faber Academy. The book evolved over the course of that year, and through several redrafts in the years after, and another on the advice of my agent with a tonal shift towards horror, into what it is today.

From my experience, it is harder to pitch and sell a cross-genre novel. It took me almost seven years from concept to publication – although not without taking breaks, whilst writing a second novel also and working a day job. Back in 2018, I was in such a hurry to get it finished and published (partly because the subject matter – AI – felt so time-sensitive), when my Faber Academy tutor, Sarah May, told me writing needs oxygen. The book needed time and space, and I think this is particularly true of cross-genre fiction – if you refuse to be pigeon-holed, you need to be prepared to work even harder to get it right.

It took seven years for it to find the right home. I will always be grateful to my publisher, Datura, for taking a bit of a risk on something not entirely conventional and having the foresight to see where it could sit in the market. I could not have predicted that by the time it was published, AI would be such a debated topic at the forefront of public consciousness, which is a lesson in itself: not to write to trends. Due to the publishing industry’s long lead-in times, if you write to current trends, they are likely to have moved on by the time a book reaches the shelves. 

The novel I’m working on currently also has aspects of speculative fiction. The reason I’m drawn to speculative fiction is that, as a genre, it opens up new possibilities, challenging accepted thoughts and the current status quo. It inhabits a possible space, an almost here and now that feels imminent. It allows us to conceive of possible futures. The old advice is to ‘write about what you know’, but personally, I find the unknown, or that liminal space, between knowable and unknowable, where speculative fiction lies, is what captures my imagination. Likewise, with genres, the intersection between prescribed genres, is an incredibly freeing space, where you can write something that is at once familiar but transformed in unexpected ways into something strange and new. 

 

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THE GLASS WOMAN by Alice McIlroy

Black Mirror meets Before I Go to Sleep by way of Severance.

If you could delete all the hurt and pain from your life… would you? Even if you weren’t sure what would be left?

Pioneering scientist Iris Henderson awakes in a hospital bed with no memories. She is told that she is the first test-subject for an experimental therapy, placing a piece of AI technology into her brain. She is also told that she volunteered for it. But without her memories, Iris doesn’t know what the therapy is or why she would ever choose it.

Everyone warns her to leave it alone, but Iris doesn’t know who to trust. As she scratches beneath the surface of her seemingly happy marriage and successful career, a catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, and secrets will be revealed that have the capacity to destroy her whole life.

BUY HERE

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Alice McIlroy’s writing has been longlisted for the Stylist Prize for Feminist Fiction and Grindstone International Novel Prize. Her debut novel, The Glass Woman, was published on 2nd January 2024 by Datura/Angry Robot Books in the US and UK. It can be ordered here.

She can be found on Twitter @alice_mcilroy and Instagram @alicemcilroy_author.

Find out more about Alice on her website http://www.alicemcilroy.com

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing