You're a writer? What do you write?

As humans, we tend to use careers as social currency. Because of this, or because of limited imaginations when it comes to small talk, inevitably someone will ask about your career in the first two or three minutes after an introduction.

I, myself, have had to adjust how I share that information. Those of you know my day job will understand why. Sticking to boring information that is truthful but that limits further questions has saved me a lot of annoyance when meeting new people. That said, in writing circles, when meeting new people, we tend to assume that anyone attending a given event is a writer, which leads to the question, "So, what do you write?

For some writers, answering the question is simple: fill in the blank with their genre. For me, this is a difficult question to answer. I like to write a lot of different styles, lengths, themes, and genres. I dislike pigeon-holing myself to any one thing. So my answer often depends upon who asks, and what I already know about them.

That said, if I had to describe my writing, I still most enjoy saying that one of my fellow writers described my writing as "whimsical and creepy." I find myself repeatedly exploring the idea of vengeance, especially when combined with the paranormal. I also explore feminism, acceptance of all body types, and loss quite frequently. I have primarily written flash and micro fiction lately, though my work also entails poetry, short stories, a novella, and an unfinished novel I have abandoned for the time being. Usually, this is too long an answer, so I typically answer the question by saying that I write science fiction and fantasy, or speculative fiction, or paranormal fiction.

If you're a writer, what do you write? You may find it harder to declare your genre than you would think.