Into the Fire

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Passionate: right or wrong. Writes love stories with a passion. Raw Romantic Redemptive

Awards . . .

 

Most people enjoy awards—at least most of the recipients of those awards. Unless of course it’s “Worst Dressed” or the “Rotten Tomatoes” label or some other acknowledgement of how awful something is.

 

I continue to be surprised at the different awards, i.e. The Academy Awards, and their choices of nominations. Utterly mind boggling at times. This bewilderment occasionally extends to the various Christian Fiction awards. One prevalent difficulty in the process is the categorical assessments and divisions. Rarely enough of them—at least in the book awards.

 

I just saw this morning where “The Tourist” is up for a Golden Globe in the Musical or Comedy Division. Um. Wow. Did those few snickers and the concluding laugh-out-loud moment qualify this light-hearted film for a comedic classification? Did I miss the whole point? In spite of those several silly moments was I supposed to assume this fun adventure qualified as comedy? Satire, maybe. But comedy?

 

In the Christian Fiction Christy Awards, Suspense division, an Athol Dickson novel competes with the likes of Robert Liparulo. Uh, no. Not even close in genre or style. Why is this? Now I know the Christys must have a publisher nomination (with a fee) to be included. 

 

It seems to me that if you’re going to have awards, you need enough classifications to truly compare like-products to each other. And before organizing awards I think it would be wise to define the categories with enough specifics and qualifiers so as not to end up with the apples to oranges comparisons. I know judges are gathered according to certain criteria, and standards for judging are established by the organizers, but in the end we still come away with opinions.

 

I prefer lists I think. Of favorites. In proper categories. That speaks of where the “judge” is coming from in their reading experience. And in this situation it can truly be said, “It’s an honor just to be 'nominated'—or listed.”

 

And you?

 

 

Father, thank you that you are no respecter of persons. That your love and favor extend to all who desire them and even to those who don’t. Let us seek your favor above all others. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

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4 responses to “Awards . . .”

  1. Brenda Avatar
    Brenda

    This is one of those areas where no matter what you do, someone won’t be satisfied. And some books, to me, defy classification. Athol Dickson’s “Lost Mission” for one. I’ve read it, and I STILL don’t know how I’d classify it.
    And I don’t understand the “speculative” fiction label or requirements any more than I understand what makes some books qualify for “general” fiction (for instance, why isn’t Charles Martin under contemporary romance? Is it because the lead is a male protag? I dunno).
    I figure it’s my job to write, someone else’s to slot it.

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  2. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    I agree with your assessment of Lost Mission. It’s a contemporary/historical hybrid which is similar to those last few novels of Susan Meissner’s. And since there are more than one of those kinds of books, they, being uneasy to shove into existing categories, need one of their own in order for fairness in the genres.
    But someone(s) decided they apparently have enough categories to squeeze in all kinds of novels, and that’s that. If you’re going to have categories at all, you need to define the specifics for your genres because no one I know would place Athol Dickson novels in the same group as Robert Liparulo. And neither do other novels fit easily into their assigned categories in the different contests.

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  3. Athol Avatar
    Athol

    LOL! If you could only sit in on some of the sales and marketing discussions my publishers have had about my novels…they could not agree with you more.
    I hope you start a movement here, Nicole, because it would be much better for everyone if there was an established genre for the kind of stories I write. Better for readers who enjoy that kind of novel, because they could more easily find them, and better for authors who write that kind of novel, because they would be more easily found.
    But what would you call it?
    I don’t exactly write speculative fiction. It isn’t just suspense. And it’s not straight literary or historical. How about SpecSusLitHis? 🙂
    Seriously, I think the problem is not so much that there aren’t enough categories, as it is they don’t know what to call novels like mine.
    If you ever come up with a catchy name, please do let me know!

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  4. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    I know, Athol. Contemporary is too broad, but it’s better than shoving them into Suspense. And some people seem to think virtually anything biblical that includes facets of the supernatural ilk make it “Speculative” fiction. I disagree.
    So, I think we should work on coming up with a category that suits novels like yours because I totally agree about making it easier for readers to find them.
    Thanks for stopping by, Athol.

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