WiP N0 6 V:4 has a title!

After a pretty frantic week or so of polishing the short story ready for Judi to take it on, I think I have settled on the title - INVICTUS Part One - Introducing Richard.

Of course 'Part one' tells the reader that there is more to come (and there is) but I wanted to write a series of 'bite size' books to fit in with peoples busy lifestyle. Obviously each 'novella' has its own story's within, and the long term view is that they build towards a natural climax - it doesn't half stretch the brain. Using myself as an example, I wouldn't pick up a novel of 500 plus words, I just wouldn't because I know I wouldn't finish it.

I'm also unsure of the 'Genre' pigeon hole that they will fit in. I spent sometime giving this some thought and it has proved a dilemma - switch to plan B - what Genre doesn't it fit into?!

There is some swearing (strike Childrens)

A few sex scenes (strike anything non Fictional!)

There are no vampires or monsters from the future (strike Sci Fi and people munchers)

A few battles scenes don't make it a war story.

A few tears don't make it a romance. 

Not enough blood and guts to make it a horror.

No gay and/or lesbian characters, so they're off the list

And there is nothing of any historical value so I'll strike that aswell

I think I'm left with Adult Non Fiction, and not even Young Adult because most of the characters are well over 25.

Something else that is creating some challenges are the correct descriptive terms. Not so much on 'Introducing Richard' but the next next one (WiP 7 V:1) - One of the main characters is a Maori woman, a particularly beautiful Maori woman at that. Maori's tend to have darker skin that the average pale Englishman but to use the term 'dark skinned' as a adjective is very open to perception. For example, a Mexican may well consider as native African 'dark skinned' where as a pale Englishman may consider anybody with a half decent suntan 'dark skinned'. Having trawled the internet for advice on this I find that it is quite popular to use foods as an example of colour - dark chocolate or milk chocolate are quite common BUT I'd consider these offensive if I was the one on the wrong end of those adjectives - hmmm.

After much deliberation I used "her flawless russet skin" - I'm still not 100% convinced about this line but I am really struggling to find a more appropriate and informative line, 
without the risk of offending someone. I think it is important to paint the right picture, I'm not in the habit of deliberately offending people, but it is so important to the story line that the reader understand's just how stunning this woman is, and that she is from a proud cultural ancestry - something that would be grossly understated by writing "This real stunning woman of Maori ancestry..." because there are a lot of readers that would have no idea of how a typical Maori person looks. Gonna have to give it a lot more thought.

Here is a link to a site that has helped me in the past - I hope it of of some use to others.

http://litreactor.com/columns/writing-powerful-descriptions