Romantic elements

My book is currently on submission. My agent forwarded a strange comment this week from an editor (my science fiction has too much science in it) - which got me thinking about subgenres. I've heard from those who don't read science fiction that it's a limiting genre - it has to be about spaceships and rayguns and robots, right? The reverse is true. Science fiction is the most expansive genre there is because you can combine it with other genres and quite literally write about absolutely anything. You just need to include a "What if?" What if something about science, culture, or history was plausibly different from what we know now? (I say "plausibly" because the implausible, or more accurately the impossible, would push the story into the realm of fantasy.)

Song of Scarabaeus is science fiction with what I call "a touch of romance", or what the industry calls "romantic elements." (I use the former description because the romantic elements are very light - I wanted to allow room for development in a sequel.) Other subgenres include mystery, suspense, adventure, historical, literary, etc. Then there's "futuristic romance," which reads like a romance novel but in a sci-fi setting (the relationship is at least as important as the plot). Examples I've enjoyed are Linnea Sinclair and CJ Barry. I enjoy a good romance - in fact, I prefer to see a romance in just about any fiction I'm reading - and I belong to our local Romance Writers of America chapter.

And speaking of romance, it's Valentine's Day. I considered making my husband pink starship cookies but settled for something more traditional. I am Christmas-Cookiemaker Extraordinaire, but it was nice to try something different: