I know a good number of gaslamp fantasy romance authors, and the running joke among us is that hardly anyone has actually heard of "gaslamp fantasy romance" as a genre, including our readers.
Are we right, though?
Have you heard of it and know what it is?
It's a bit of an existential question. Categories are important for books: They help readers find more of what we like—as long as it's generally understood what the category means.
Otherwise, it's about as useful as a bicycle for fish.
I was chatting with a non-gaslamp author about gaslamp as the fish-bicycle of genres, and she had an excellent suggestion: Stop assuming what readers know, and start asking them.
So here's where you come into it:
Would you mind taking this short survey?
Five questions, easy-peasy. (And the last one includes a handy list of a lot of gaslamp authors, if you're curious.)
So ... what is this genre?
The most common definition I've seen is fantasy romance with settings that feel like the 19th or early 20th century, hence "gaslamp" (used for illumination during that period).
Some gaslamp fantasy romances are set in our world. Some are set in made-up worlds.
And some are set in a 2020s America controlled by wizards and a hundred years behind on women's rights, complete with corsets and coverture, cough Clandestine Magic cough.
I wrote the series not realizing there was such a thing as gaslamp fantasy romance, and if not for a kind author telling me years ago that (a) there is and (b) that's what my books are (despite no actual gaslamps in them), I would have spent a lot more time flailing around. I mean, I'd heard of and enjoyed steampunk, of course, but I knew my novels weren't that.
Nailing my genre helped me find books I've loved reading and awesome authors to chat with.
So, whether you've heard of it or not, I'm grateful gaslamp fantasy romance exists.
But here's hoping more people find out about it. 😉
P.S. Here's that short survey again. Thanks for helping me and other gaslamp authors test our assumptions!
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