The Harry Potter author delved into another genre and got her booty spanked by the critics. She now proclaims that she is headed back into her stereotypical closet and will not venture forth into the adult realm again. I feel sorry for her. Not in the fact that she is rich to the tenth degree of vulgarity. Harry Potter was her pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and I salute her. I feel sorry for her in that she has been placed into a box of limited creativity by the public. If I were Ms. Rowling, I would snub my nose at the critics and write what I wanted to write. Lord knows she doesn’t have to worry about it affecting her bottom line. In one way, I am glad my writings have not become famous, much less actually read by the public at large. Too many people on the public stage are what I call ‘Gilliganized’. Bob Denver was the slapstick, maniacal first mate on the show Gilligan’s Island. It was very popular and made Denver a star. That is, until the show ended. From then on, he was Gilligan. From that time until his death, he was Gilligan. There are many more examples of people being typecast and after their ‘famous’ run is over, they can’t get gigs doing anything else. Some have been able to jump over that hurdle, but they are the exception. Before Gilligan, Denver was also known as the beatnik, Maynard G. Krebs, but who remembers that anymore? Louis LaMour was known for his westerns. Stephen King is known for his horror. Christina Abbey is known for Romance. Personally, I shudder to think that the majority of what I write would be restrained into one genre. While I readily admit I am no Harold Robbins (would be that I were), my anonymity allows me to write about different things. My western comes out in July and I have four e-books on Amazon.com. One is an action/adventure novel set in the Brazilian Rainforest. One is a true crime novel about my uncle who killed a deputy sheriff in 1939 and never saw a trial. The third is a detective/crime drama based in Houston. The fourth is a horror novel set in 1590 England where I lived for almost four years. I am presently writing a murder mystery, circa 1965 in a place where I grew up. I plan on a science fiction and a Zombie story in the future. If I should ever be fortunate enough. I have written a biography about my deceased daughter and a non-fiction and a fantasy/adventure novel of wizards, warriors and dragons. I also have a collection of poems on the market. Should I be a hundredth as lucky as J.K. Rowling and hit it big with one of my novels, it will not matter if I am then ‘Gilliganized’. I was able to write stories of different things in different genres and explore my inner psyche in them all. If I ever am boxed in, it will be too late to repress my desire to write of other things. J.K. Rowling should write to her heart’s content. Her bank account is contented enough.
www.robertcoward.com