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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Name That Genre #25

TITLE: Adult
GENRE: Secret

The phone rang at 4 A.M. No waking up was necessary. I knew where I was: Helmsley Medical Tower Hotel in New York City, eight hundred miles from home. Bob was in New York Presbyterian Hospital across the street. Bob, my life partner of more than twenty years, lover, friend, ex-smoker, hero of my life, and world-class packrat who filled our home with his collections. He was also a twelve year cancer survivor.

“Hello, Sandy.” It was Bob’s doctor. This couldn’t be good. “Bob’s coughed up a sink full of blood. We need to get him stabilized to stop the bleeding.” I grabbed a pencil to take notes, and tried to focus enough to listen.

“How is he?” I asked. Stupid question, Sandy. “Is he conscious?”

“He understands what we’re going to do and agrees to it,” the doctor told me. “He’s peaceful.”

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34 comments:

  1. S.D.KingApril 9, 2015 at 10:29 AM

    Realistic women's fiction?

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  2. 1000th.monkeyApril 9, 2015 at 11:52 AM

    Women's Fiction

    Didn't seem to have any specific markers of other genres.

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  3. greta garboApril 9, 2015 at 12:04 PM

    I'm going to guess medical thriller. I puzzled over this longer than any of the others I've looked at so far.
    Women's fiction is also a possibility, but consider this: Bob is sick and has a "life partner" named Sandy--as androgynous a name as they come!
    Really, I don't have any idea where this is going except that there will be a risky medical procedure. For all we know, they're going to put old Bob into a permanent coma and blast him into outer space for a century. :D

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  4. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 12:06 PM

    LGBT fiction
    I was really torn on this one between women's fiction and LGBT. Women's fiction came to mind because the mc is at a traumatic point of life. But the gender neutral name Sandy and the use of 'life partner' made me think the mc might be a man.

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  5. SusanApril 9, 2015 at 12:50 PM

    Contemporary...until I noticed greta garbo's comment and burst out laughing. The comment about blasting off of his coma into space was a riot. Thanks for the chuckle. Heck, maybe it is science fiction!

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  6. AnonymousApril 9, 2015 at 12:52 PM

    I can't tell.

    For starters, I don't know if the MC is male or female (which would make the difference between Women's Fiction and LGBT Fiction - although why they can't be grouped together under Contemporary Fiction is a whole other argument). But I also couldn't tell if this was going to be Sci-fi (a futuristic new medical technique), or Paranormal (Bob dies and haunts the MC). As well, the phrase "coughed up a sink full of blood" made me pause, wondering whether this was a particularly unsensitive doctor, or whether the term "sink full" had some kind of specific meaning to the world o the story.

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  7. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 1:08 PM

    I'm going with LGBT fiction
    That's based on the life-partner line

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  8. Rocket Ma'amApril 9, 2015 at 2:51 PM

    Contemporary but got not much else. Could be LBQT.

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  9. Rocket Ma'amApril 9, 2015 at 2:51 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. gondaline26April 9, 2015 at 3:08 PM

    LGBT fiction, as suggested

    Though the sense of urgency has a medical thriller drive. And the fact that Sandy is writing down notes plus conversing with Bob in a fairly blunt and clinical way make me think Sandy might be a doctor, too.

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  11. LanetteApril 9, 2015 at 3:34 PM

    Contemporary

    LGBT is not a genre. Whether Sandy is a male or female, it's still contemporary unless it turns out to be a medical thriller or poor old Bob really will be blasted out into outer space.

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  12. RickApril 9, 2015 at 3:40 PM

    Contemporary.

    With the word life partner I immediately thought Libya. I was thrown off by the name Sandy that canbe male or female

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  13. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 4:56 PM

    I'm just going to go with contemporary. It could go any number of lovely directions from here. Greta garbo, you win!

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  14. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 4:56 PM

    I'm just going to go with contemporary. It could go any number of lovely directions from here. Greta garbo, you win!

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  15. Eisenman SoftwareApril 9, 2015 at 5:25 PM

    Women's Fiction

    Sounds like the Sandy is going to be dealing with her emotions and learning life lessons when Bob finally croaks.

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  16. Bonnie StaringApril 9, 2015 at 5:46 PM

    Contemporary
    Can't narrow this down any further without knowing the MC's gender. Doesn't feel like a medical thriller since Bob's illness doesn't seem out of the ordinary, given the details provided.

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  17. cindy norrisApril 9, 2015 at 6:20 PM

    Contemporary, I think. My heart is already going out to Sandy.

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  18. cindy norrisApril 9, 2015 at 6:20 PM

    Contemporary, I think. My heart is already going out to Sandy.

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  19. KathleeaApril 9, 2015 at 6:58 PM

    Medical thriller

    The suggested line about he knows what to expect makes me think Bob is going to be part of a medical experiment of some kind. It almost sounds like they are going to put him into suspended animation so the space comment might not be too far off!

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  20. SussuApril 9, 2015 at 8:27 PM

    CONTEMPORARY.

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  21. JAZApril 9, 2015 at 10:35 PM

    Contemporary
    It's realistic and the gender of the m.c. and the term "life partner" are intentionally ambiguous, suggesting the focus will be on the relationship as it necessarily will change.

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  22. AnonymousApril 10, 2015 at 5:36 AM

    Contemporary.

    Because not enough hard clues to say otherwise.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't LGBT an audience category such and YA, MG or NA etc. If that's correct, wouldn't it be: Audience catagory: LGBT, Genre: Romance (or whatever the genre is), liking it to Adult, Horror or YA, Fantasy and so-on and so-on? Since the author indicated it's Adult, I assumed there was no LGBT issue here, even with the "life partner" reference. Heterosexual couples who aren't married can also be referred to as "life partners."

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  23. shelleyApril 10, 2015 at 7:54 AM

    Not sure. I'm guessing Thriller.

    M.c.'s partner is either seriously hurt or seriously sick. If hurt, someone needs to pay. Just guessing.

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  24. MarilynApril 10, 2015 at 9:17 AM

    Women's Fiction. Sounds like the beginning of a story in which the MC has a major life change.

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  25. HeatherApril 10, 2015 at 12:26 PM

    Women's Fiction or Romance
    Small note: I'm not sure the doctor would be so informal as to say "coughed up a sinkful of blood"? Even if they've been with the doctor a long time, it still sounds a little glib -- I'd want a little more professional phrasing.

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  26. GinaApril 10, 2015 at 1:06 PM

    Contemporary. Agree with previous commenters that it could be LGBT depending on if Sandy is a man or woman.

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  27. sbjamesApril 10, 2015 at 5:04 PM

    Contemporary and possibly LGBT because Sandy could be a guy's name but I'm also wondering about "he understands what we're going to do and is OK with it" could be some sort of science fiction/ paranormal.

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  28. H. R. SinclairApril 10, 2015 at 5:40 PM

    Contemporary

    There aren't enough clues to denote another genre.

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  29. C. R. BaileyApril 10, 2015 at 6:09 PM

    Contemporary romance. Love.

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  30. GeeWizApril 10, 2015 at 6:22 PM

    Women's Fiction - love the description of Bob. There is clearly intrigue and not sure if narrator is man or women, just guessing woman!!

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  31. Robin OlsonApril 10, 2015 at 8:11 PM

    Women's fiction.

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  32. AnonymousApril 10, 2015 at 9:18 PM

    LGBT Fiction

    Partner, not wife or husband.....but could also be a medical thriller......

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  33. AnonymousApril 10, 2015 at 11:00 PM

    I would say literary because of the characterization of Bob, but if that's not a genre per se then Women's Fiction or Contemporary

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  34. AnonymousApril 12, 2015 at 12:24 AM

    Thanks everyone for the comments - this is a memoir about grief, celebration of an eccentric life, and coping with surviving a hoarder who left a house full of "stuff".
    I especially appreciate the comments on the word partner and the question of my name. It hadn't occurred to me that would be an issue (now I'll have to figure out what to do about it). In a later chapter I do address why we didn't marry, even after all that time together, but I didn't realize it would cause confusion up front. - thanks again, Sandy (female)
    PS on the issue of hoarding, I've been blogging my progress at HoarderComesClean.wordpress.com - please stop by

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