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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Name That Genre #9

TITLE:
GENRE: Secret

Quinn tested the bookend’s weight. It has potential, she decided.

She launched it across the room, her frustration fueling the throw. The bookend connected with the floor- to- ceiling mirror. A solid hit. Shards of glass splintered from the point of impact, but none fell to the floor.

Quinn bunched her fists. She could feel her molars grinding together. This was not what she had been hoping for. A weapon of some sort would have been nice but the Facility wouldn’t allow her to escape, not again.

“Wonderful,” she muttered to the room. “Can’t even let us throw a tantrum properly. Just great.” She raised her hands to the security camera dangling in the corner. “WHAT? AFRAID WE’LL OFF OURSELVES BEFORE YOU GET THE CHANCE? IS THAT IT?”

No response.

Not that she expected one. The next person she would see was her escort . And, oh buddy, that wasn't going to be a joyful interaction.

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30 comments:

  1. Brent SalishApril 9, 2015 at 10:56 AM

    YA dystopian.

    Interesting start. But I think you're telling us too much - and I mean "telling" in both TMI-for-right-now and telling-not-showing. For example, the "not again" at the end of the third graf is overkill right now. It's a cool fact to learn when the escort shows up, but to me it's a mood-killer as it stands. Likewise the first and third sentences of the all-caps shouting - they tell us what to think about what she's saying, rather than allowing you to show it through her gestures and feelings. She seems to have a self-mocking sense of humor, but you're not letting us discover it by bracketing it with the extra words.

    Which is too bad, because this is a cool start with an interesting character. We don't now why she is so angry, but we're starting to want to find out.

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  2. S.D.KingApril 9, 2015 at 11:58 AM

    Contemporary realism

    Sounds like she is in a mental hospital in an old mansion. Please NO ALL CAPS.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1000th.monkeyApril 9, 2015 at 12:08 PM

    I Can't Tell

    The non-shattering mirror and 'Facility' could make it Sci-Fi or Fantasy

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 12:39 PM

    YA dystopian
    I considered whether this might be YA contemporary with the mc in a locked ward, but I couldn't imagine any contemporary psych facility allowing a mentally ill person to have a large mirror in her room. This left me thinking she and the others at the facility are being held there by some dark governmental power.

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  5. AnonymousApril 9, 2015 at 1:49 PM

    Dystopian/Sci-Fi (I think there's some overlap here).

    The "Facility" has a mirror that doesn't shatter. Definitely seems beyond Contemporary Fiction here.

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  6. HeatherApril 9, 2015 at 2:08 PM

    Sci Fi or Dystopian or both. "Facility" is a definite clue to either, plus the fact that she' s being watched.
    Paragraphs 3 and 4 need some polishing. The end of 4 makes it sound like she might have used glass shards to commit suicide but she refers to the bookend as a weapon. And actually, I'd drop paragraph 3. Backstory too soon.

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  7. Rocket Ma'amApril 9, 2015 at 2:28 PM

    YA dystopian.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rocket Ma'amApril 9, 2015 at 5:49 PM

      Modern overtones and she's trapped in a room and wants to escape, implying an authoritarian regime

      Delete
  8. Rocket Ma'amApril 9, 2015 at 2:28 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 2:30 PM

    Contemporary

    Like the person above, I thought she was in a mental hospital.

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  10. Michele HelselApril 9, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    I can't tell. I guess Contemporary.
    I got a YA kind of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest feel.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michele HelselApril 9, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    I can't tell. I guess Contemporary.
    I got a YA kind of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest feel.

    ReplyDelete
  12. SussuApril 9, 2015 at 3:17 PM

    FANTASY.

    She is too cocky and sure of herself to be a mental patient. She sounds like a fighter because she is used to weapons. And why would they give her a book if she was in a mental institute and knew she was violent? This sounds exactly like secret facilities people are kept in as in "The Tomorrow People." I admit the floor-to-ceiling mirror got me puzzled. It sounds like they keep her in a dance studio. A one-way mirror as in a police station would not break.

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  13. KathleeaApril 9, 2015 at 3:54 PM

    SF/dystopian

    She's being kept in a Facility and watched by someone. The government?

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  14. Eisenman SoftwareApril 9, 2015 at 4:11 PM

    Dystopian Fantasy

    I don't know what she's done, but being locked up in a mirrored room seems pretty unusually dystopian for a room full of bookends and presumably books. I could go with Historical Romance too I guess.

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  15. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 4:16 PM

    Not sure -- it could go a few ways: adventure, sci-fi, dystopian, even fantasy. The mirror and camera place it in a contemporary or near-future setting.

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownApril 9, 2015 at 4:16 PM

    Not sure -- it could go a few ways: adventure, sci-fi, dystopian, even fantasy. The mirror and camera place it in a contemporary or near-future setting.

    ReplyDelete
  17. JAZApril 9, 2015 at 4:46 PM

    YA Dystopian.
    Her name, anger and the Big Brother is watching camera not to mention her "Escort." Eesh. If the mirror is made with safety glass then this could be near future. If the shards not falling to the floor is literal, then Sci-Fi.

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  18. Bonnie StaringApril 9, 2015 at 5:00 PM

    I can't tell
    This voice and most of the description feels contemporary, but the shatterproof glass made me think this could be due to magic or something.

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  19. LanetteApril 9, 2015 at 6:26 PM

    Dystopian

    A floor to ceiling mirror in a cell is not contemporary, which makes me think it's some type of sci-fi, probably dystopian, but there really isn't enough in this page to glean much information on genre. Even though you didn't give the age category, the voice sounds YA.

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  20. Heidi StallmanApril 9, 2015 at 10:48 PM

    Dystopian.

    Facility, an escort coming to lead her to her death. The only thing that doesn't fit with this genre is the book end. Seems a strange thing to have in a detention facility.

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  21. GinaApril 10, 2015 at 1:37 PM

    Dystopian. Sounds like some kind of death camp in an old house.

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  22. RickApril 10, 2015 at 2:16 PM

    Contemporary

    I'm thinking mental hospital but if it is a mental hospital why would they have mirrors.

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  23. shelleyApril 10, 2015 at 2:19 PM

    Contemporary realism.

    Girl hospitalized or institutionalized for mental illness/behavior disorder of some sort. Know it's modern-day b/c of security camera. (I'm thinking the mirror is shatter-proof glass.)

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  24. sbjamesApril 10, 2015 at 4:10 PM

    Dystopian. The Facility. And the grimness.

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  25. GeeWizApril 10, 2015 at 6:25 PM

    Dystopian - not really sure. This is outside my area, but there were threads that appealed to me.

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  26. C. R. BaileyApril 10, 2015 at 6:52 PM

    Dystopian. Incarceration.

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  27. Robin OlsonApril 10, 2015 at 10:03 PM

    Contemporary. But honestly, not sure. No category was given. YA, NA, A???

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  28. AnonymousApril 10, 2015 at 10:15 PM

    Science Fiction.

    Due to the "facility" setting and a mirror that won't drop its shards when it's shattered.

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  29. AnonymousApril 10, 2015 at 11:31 PM

    Don't know yet, could go many different ways
    I like the idea of mental hospital, but could be dystopian government too

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