If you like to follow blogs, this one is a must to keep in your repertoire: Ron Estrada

Here's an example of one of his posts.

The Elite Writer-Gardener-Fisherman
by Ron

I officially planted my first heirloom garden this weekend. Twenty tomato plants were moved out of their cozy home in the basement and into the good outdoors (this is Michigan, the outdoors won't be great for another month). Also in the ground are peas, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and onions.

While I've always enjoyed gardening, there's something special about moving into heirlooms. It's like going from a big club into a specialized group. I can say, "Well yes, I garden. But I grow heirlooms." It's like the difference between being in the Navy and being a SEAL. Okay, no, I didn't have to crawl through barbed wire or endure "Hell Week," but I'm definitely part of an elite group now. I don't even have to know what I'm talking about. I just insert the word "heirloom" into my gardening conversation and it sounds really impressive. If all my plants survive, I'll really have bragging rights.

Writers are no different. We're not just writers, we're Mystery Writers. And then we step it up again to Cozy Mystery Writers. But that's not enough. We're Christian Cozy Mystery Writers. Oh but wait, there's more. We're Gen X Christian Cozy Mystery Writers.

We are an elite group, are we not?

But we are simply a microcosm of society. Every one of us has a place of elitism. NASCAR fans will nod and smile at each other on the street. Jeff Gordon fans will high five and swap wives. Okay, I'm sorry for that there. I know several NASCAR fans and all are upstanding citizens who would never buy live bait from vending machines.

You get my point. Sub-genres are just a way of narrowing down our particular audience so that we know who we're writing for and they know what they're getting when they plop down $7 in PayPal for an e-book. Can you plop down in PayPal? Dunno. But I'm sure I've done it.

Now I've let my future readers know that I also enjoy heirloom gardening and am not a NASCAR fan. Believe it or not, readers like the fact that their favorite writer enjoys the same hobbies as they do. After all, if you've chatted online about what organic fertilizer is best for Cherokee Purple tomatoes, you're sure to have a reader for life if you use part of that conversation in a novel. I know for a fact that there's a mystery series out there with auto racing as its backdrop, so I'm guessing that race fans will rate those novels at the top of their "must read" lists.

If I were to break my current series into the smallest sub-category, it would probably fall under Foodie-Gen Exer-Up North-Fly Fishing-Heirloom Gardening-Dog Lover-Not So Cozy-Christian Light Mystery.

I guarantee I've got fans out there who will say "Finally!"

So how about you? What is your sub category?