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I often doubt whether I should really classify my WiP as science fiction – it absolutely is, technically, but I don’t really get into a lot of the tropes. I feel like from a marketing standpoint, I would let down a lot of the expectations that the most dedicated sci fi readers would be looking for.

My plot is largely literary, and I’ve also been really enjoying drawing heavily from western tropes. Think Cormac McCarthy in space (except not really, because I’m so so so far from that skill level. Goals, though, right?).

I want to be able to talk about God like its 1880s Kansas, but with the sense of hope and progress that space provides. So I have an agricultural research planet run by an interstellar version of NASA. The rest of the plot is just dealing with disaster and coming of age. The thematic climax involves not an action sequence, but a wedding. It’s rural. The science in question is not particularly lofty or futuristic – crop genetics, not unlike research that you would see today. Maybe some clean energy advancements. A vactrain in disrepair. There’s whispers of better tech on other planets, but this is the frontier.

I guess what I’m saying is that this is going to be a nightmare to market if the time ever comes. But is it a good or bad idea to press it as sci fi?