It’s ironic that I began to make a switch into becoming a thriller and suspense author not long after I write this blog post.

Judging from the blog post itself, I was happy with my decision to write YA novels.

So, why in the world I’ve decided to make a switch?

Is it because there’s no money for me as YA author?

Of course, the answer is a resounding no. I’m a firm believer that you can make money in writing in any genre that you want.

That is as long as you know how to find your target readers.

I was making a switch because of this very reason.

It’s hard for me to introduce myself as YA author

I remember the conversation that I had with my late mother’s friend. At that time, she was asking me what type of books that I wrote.

Of course, I would tell people that I wrote fiction and nonfiction since it was true that I wrote both types of books.

For the most part, people would never bother to ask me about the genre of my books after I told them that I was a writer.

I had no idea why they weren’t curious enough to know the genre that I wrote.

But it could guess why. It was because they weren’t a reader themselves. So, they wouldn’t be asking me about the genre of my book if they didn’t even have any interests in books.

Somehow, the conversation that I had with my late mother’s friend made me realized how I should introduce myself as an author in the future.

When she asked me what kind of fiction book I wrote, her question made me paused for a moment. For some reason, I felt reluctant to tell her that I wrote YA novels.

Why should I feel that way? I thought that I was fine with calling myself YA author?

Without much thought, I told her that I wrote books for teen readers.

She didn’t judge me for writing that kind of books when I told her that, though. But I had a feeling that she must be thinking that I was writing romance novels.

Well, most teens love reading romance novels. So, it wasn’t wrong for her to assume that I wrote teen romance novels.

Why does it have to be a romance novel?

I don’t know what goes into their head whenever I tell people that I write fiction. They seem to assume that I write romance novels.

They thought that someone in my age would write that kind of book. What was the best way to get the relationship I desired other than to put those imaginations into words on the paper?

I’m sorry to burst their bubble. But I don’t write such books. And it’s the last genre I will ever want to write.

Strangely enough, I find it easier to write a book about someone killing someone than a book about someone who is trying to find the love of his or her life.

It got me thinking hard about my career as an author

That one question left a bitter taste in my mouth after that.

Because of that, I began to dig deeper into which genre that resonated with me the most.

That was when I realized that the thriller and suspense genre wasn’t just resonating with me. But it was also the genre that made me feel proud of my own body of work.

For me, being proud of my own body of work is far more important than anything else.

So, I settled for becoming a thriller and suspense writer from now onwards.

You have no idea how I felt relieved when the first book from the Trigger Locked series, The Mind Control Assassins was published.

Now I can finally call myself a thriller author because of the Trigger Locked series.

Whenever people ask me what kind of books I write, I only say that I write thriller novels.

Sure, the word thriller itself can give them a negative impression about me. After all, I’m writing a book about someone killing someone. And they could die in a horrifying way.

Aren’t they going to judge me when I tell them that I write a thriller novel?

Well, like I care. The only thing I know is I’m happy with my decision to write a thriller novel. That’s all that matters to me right now.

Will I ever write in a different genre?

Maybe. But certainly not in the romance genre.