When is paranormal not paranormal?

A week from Monday, my m/m short novel, A Simple Charm, comes out from Liquid Silver Books. When it shows up on the website, it's going to show up under the genre heading "paranormal."

Except it's not. Not really. But paranormal is the best category fit for it, so unfortunately, that's the one I have to live with.

See, I wrote the story with magical realism in mind. Magical realism is usually defined by the introduction of the magical into the mundane, where something shouldn't be happening but is, without fanfare or explanation. Think...Chocolat. Vianne's magic is subtle, accepted by her without question. Her issues with the community stem from the fact that she's a single mother more than anything else, that mundane overtaking the magical in terms of importance. It's only paranormal in the sense that things other than normal happen in it.

That's much the same with A Simple Charm. Levi is different than anyone else in town, but he lives the life he's expected to. His greatest fear in the beginning is that his father will discover he went to the carnival, when his father dislikes it more than anything else. He's a simple young man, innocent though not afraid, and the magic that sets him apart is less important than his hopes for a future where he can experience life rather than watch it. There's no monsters for him to overcome. There are just men with their own agendas, who aren't necessarily bad guys as they are looking out for themselves.

And yet, you'll find it under the paranormal category. Because honestly, it doesn't fit anywhere else.

Its singularity is one of the things I love most about it.