[Please forgive the Meatloaf reference. I couldn’t resist. And now I can’t get the song out of my head.]

Unlike several of my characters (Who’s thinking Sabine? You’re all thinking Sabine, aren’t you?), I have boundaries.  There are some things I will not do, both in life and in writing. But since this is a writing post, I’m going to stick to my writing wont’s. You’re welcome.

The following is a list of things you won’t find in a Rachel Vincent book. (except that the formatting didn’t work out, and some of these bullet points are supposed to be sub-points. Sorry.)

• I won’t write vampires. I’m not speciest. I have nothing against vampires. I just have nothing new to add to the vampire subgenre, and I don’t want to write a book in which I have nothing new to say. That said, I did write a vampire short story once, for the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance. I wrote that story for two reasons. First, because I was invited to contribute to an anthology, and I was very, very excited. Second, because I was able to find an angle on vampires that I hadn’t considered before. The vamp alternate universe, in which EVERYONE is a vampire.
• Would I ever consider expanding that story into a novel? No. Because the concept wasn’t well-thought-out enough for a novel. For instance, if EVERYONE’s a vampire, who do they eat? Riddle me that, oh vamp enthusiasts.
•  Okay, I suppose they could drink animal blood. But that seems to be defeating the purpose of writing about the great human predator, right?

(Funny story: I missed the part about that anthology being a romance and I may have…kinda sorta…written horror instead. Then had to go back and squeeze in a little romance when my agent pointed out the lack. )

• I won’t write gratuitous sex. Many writers are really good at writing intimate scenes, and that’s awesome, but that just not the kind of thing I enjoy writing. I wrote three complete adult novels without writing any sex, and only added an intimate scene in Stray (the third of those books) before it went out on submission at my then-agent’s behest. As it turns out, she was right, and the scene did fit. It changed something between the characters. And ever since, that’s been my literary litmus test for the “Will they or won’t they?” question.
• Does it change something for the characters or the plot? Does it mean something beyond physical gratification? Yes? Then yes, u can haz sex.
• No? Then no action for you. (None “on screen,” anyway. Feel free to imagine whatever you want. But don’t feel like you have to tell me about it. Seriously. Did I mention the boundaries?)

• Speaking of action, I will try very hard not to write gratuitous violence. Truthfully, I often fail at this. I’m pretty sure my editor has a stamp somewhere in her desk that reads, “Too much, Rachel. Dial it back.” I’m a dial-it-back kind of girl. What can I say? I love horror and action movies. I love horror and action books. And I like girls who can hold their own with the boys, even if they’re physically smaller or weaker. They can make up for that with stealth, speed, and enthusiasm. So I will try to write only the plot-necessary violence. But I make no promises. Which probably means this entire paragraph doesn’t belong in this list. But I’m leaving it anyway. ‘Cause this is my blog post.

• Most importantly, at least IMO, I won’t write easy-outs. No deus ex machina (god from the machine)—characters won’t suddenly be rescued from horrible fates by the miraculous appearance of a new character, a conveniently timed natural disaster, or the revelation of an awesome new power.
• No convenient deaths—characters won’t be saved from choosing a lover when one dies or backs out of the running. My job as a writer is to make their lives harder, then help them grow into the characters they need to be to triumph, not to make things easier so they never have to grow or change.
• In fiction, as in life, choices are hard and they have lasting consequences. Faythe’s dead loved ones won’t be coming back to life. In her world, death is permanent. Kaylee’s dead loved ones could return (because of the rules of her world), but not without steep prices and lasting consequences. Words can’t be unsaid. Actions can’t be un-taken. Forgiving doesn’t always mean forgetting. Sometimes your best isn’t good enough. Sometimes the bad guys win (at least for a little while).

Will there be some happy endings? Yes. Of course. I’m not trying to drive my readers into depression. But those happy endings must be earned by the characters. There are no trophies for second place. No consolation prizes. And in most of the worlds I’ve created, Miss Congeniality would be nothing more than an appetizer for the Big Bad (thank you, Joss Whedon, for the most apt description of a supervillan ever).

In my writing, characters strengthen and mature or they get eaten. Ask Kaci, from Shifters. Ask Kaylee, from Soul Screamers. (Or Sophie, in “Never To Sleep.”) Ask Kori, from Shadow Bound.

So what will you find in a Rachel Vincent book? Flawed characters doing the best they can. Characters making tough choices, then struggling with the consequences. There will be a lot of good vs evil. A lot of recurring themes (which I only usually realize in retrospect)—fighting on behalf of the weak, vigilante justice, strong (and sometimes twisted) family ties. And…humor. At least, I hope. I’m well aware that darkness needs the light for balance. I’m also well aware that humor is usually twice as hard to write as violence and angst (at least for me).

Now you know what I won’t write. What won’t you write (or read)?