Switching Gears

Today, J.K. Rowling's latest book cover has been released. She has written a book for adults, and it sounds very different from the other works she's written. Well, of course - where does one go after such sterling success with the Harry Potter stories? Between you and me, though, the cover doesn't excite me at all. But then again, I'm not much of a grown-up.

As you know from reading my previous blogs and checking out my website, I love sci-fi. But I have other ideas for stories that are not sci-fi related. Oh, they are fantasy, to be sure. But they don't have a lick of science to them. I once asked someone in the writing industry about this. Does an author have to stick with one genre? He told me that once an author builds a fanbase, it's hard to switch gears.

So will the Harry Potter fans switch gears with J.K. Rowling and read her new book? Who can say? A lot of folks who started reading those books as kids are now into adulthood. I, for one, probably won't. No offense to Ms. Rowling, but I prefer those fantastical tales. But as a writer, I applaud her for changing things up!