Currently I’m reading J.K. Rowling’s new novel The Casual Vacancy and I can’t help but notice the marked differences between this work and the Harry Potter series for which we were first introduced to this author. For one, J.K. Rowling went from writing Children’s Fantasy to Adult Fiction which is a complete 180 degree change.
As I continue to read The Casual Vacancy it makes we wonder what other authors have decided to change genres they write in and how successful they’ve been at it. Below we’ll look at authors which have seen success and have experienced the sting of public criticism afterwards.
James Patterson is most known for his adult thrillers and suspense novels – most notably his Alex Cross series. But Patterson has seen quite a bit of success in the genre of Teen Fiction with his novels Maximum Ride and the Daniel X series which has gotten him nominated for the Children’s Choice Book Awards Author of the Year two years in a row.
Anne Rice gained popularity in the 1980’s for her vampire suspense novels including the book Interview with a Vampire that was later adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. But Anne Rice is known by another name… A.N. Roquelaure is the pseudonym for Anne Rice’s erotica novels of which she’s experienced a great deal of success. Written in the 1980’s her Sleeping Beauty Series was created because Anne Rice said she couldn’t find true erotica on the bookstore bookshelves. After the popularity of 50 Shades of Gray, Anne Rice recently re-released the series hoping to appeal to a whole new generation of erotica fans.
Stephenie Meyer is best known for her teen paranormal romance novels The Twilight Series which is closing out with the last installment of movies to be released in theaters this year, Breaking Dawn 2. After the popularity of The Twilight Series, Meyer went in another direction when she created the 2008 science fiction novel The Host, about a girl who fights her possession by an alien life force. Meyer has released one novel since 2008 called The Soul, a sequel and promises one more to end the series. She has seen mediocre success with this trilogy as she’s alienated her Twilight readers but gained a new following in the science fiction world. In 2012, Meyer announced her return to teen paranormal romance with The Apple, a story about a love triangle between Adam, Eve and Lucifer.
Stephen King is best known for his Horror Fiction books such as Carrie, The Shining and The Dark Towers Series. But King is ADD when it comes to writing and has branched off in many different directions with mixed success. One story of success for Stephen King would be his 7-issue comic book series for Marvel Comics called The Gunslinger in which profits are donated to charities in which King has influence. Before the release of Carrie in 1973, King had dabbled in fiction writing but never released a series of novels to be published. Later, after his success he reworked these thrillers and released them under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. When Richard Bachman was exposed to be Stephen King, King created a press release stating that Bachman had died from Cancer of the Pseudonym, a limited novels were released under this name afterwards. Bach has, for the most part, been an unsuccessful endeavor for King which is why it probably wasn’t that hard to kill him off once exposed.
The final author we’ll take a look at is J.K. Rowling, who after seeing immense success with the children’s series, The Harry Potter Series, decided to branch out into Adult Fiction with The Casual Vacancy, released earlier this year. J.K. Rowling has received very critical reviews of her latest novel thus far and Potter fans who have grown up are disappointed in the under developed characters and generic setting of the new novel. Not long ago, while promoting her new book at a book festival, Rowling announced that she has been working on several projects and we would most likely see a children’s novel in the near future, though she said it would be for kids younger than her HP demographic was.
Do you know of other authors that have seen success in one genre try out other genres? If so, what was their success like?
