I went to my local author market to sell in July, and what I noticed was there were more cosy romances or romantasy books selling than anything else.

I write Jackie Collins-esque blockbusters. Actors, authors, murder, assault, kidnapping, stalkers, bombings, swearing and sex, baby drama, second chance romances, love triangles, all kinds of shit happening. Pretty much everything Jackie wrote.

That’s my style. That’s the type of books I write because they always appealed to me. The big ’80s blockbusters set in the high glitz world of Hollywood. But I’m wondering if those types sell anymore.

Jackie’s been gone eleven years, but does her type of book sell anymore? Romance is the biggest genre, followed by romantasy. I don’t read fantasy, let alone romantasy, so I have no interest in that genre.

I want to see people get their comeuppance, fall in love, strong women kick-ass, Hollywood types get their due, but again, I’m wondering if that style is read anymore. Do current authors write that genre or have they moved to the romantasy/love triangle/whatever the fuck is selling today genres?

I’ve given myself a writing and publishing end date (you can see that post if you scroll back) and that will be it for my adult stories. I’ve written so many, but no more. I’ll be done with them by then.

Have we come to the end of the big blockbuster stories of the ’80s and ’90s? Because that’s what they were. Judith Krantz, Shirly Conran, Jilly Cooper, Danielle Steel, Jackie Collins, and so many more.

Have these types of books fallen by the wayside? While my current reading lists are Karen M McManus, Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s Inheritance Games, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Christina Henry, Riley Sager, Catherine Ryan Howard, Alex North and several more, they fall under women’s lit, unisex thriller, and probably something else.

I don’t read the big “new trendy” books that hit the number one spots on Booktok, Barnes & Noble or the USA Today and NYT lists. I don’t care for books that don’t interest me, I stick to books by those that do, although, every now and then I’ll branch out if I do find one that’s interesting, but none of them are like Jackie’s books. None of them are like the books I write. The stories I’ve been given to write by Muse.

But then again, maybe that’s fine and maybe they’re just my stories to tell, no one else’s. Because while everyone else is jumping on bandwagons that are already passing by, I’m writing stories that are individual and stand out as something else. A genre that’s almost passed us by, maybe. Blockbuster Hollywood types with everything thrown in. I may not live the life Jackie did to have the inspiration, where her friends would call up the next morning to talk about everything that went on, but I’d love to live that life. Love to be a part of something fantastic. Maybe it’s not as fantastic as it used to be.

Times have changed, genres have changed, and with Jackie gone, it looks like her genre has been long left in the past. And the dust.

Damn!