Yes, I'm still talking about Lady Gaga. It occurs to me that as writers, we can learn from her.

Consider the evidence. Here's a short clip talking about some of her more wackadoo outfits:

And here's another one of her videos. This one features her in a weird Hello Kitty get-up (toward the end), and some sort of cyborg paraplegic outfit. Seriously.

You might be watching that and thinking "Dang. Bitch is crazy." And she totally, totally is. And I (and nine bajillion other fans) absolutely love that about her. She is not afraid to be strange, and absolutely, completely unafraid to take people out of their comfort zone. She loves making her audience wonder what she is going to do next.

I love that about her.

I mean, sure. There are always people that do not get it. That's the same for any kind of artistic form, whether it be music or books or watercolors. And we're not going to talk about that today, because that's totally another blog post. What we're going to talk about here is pushing the envelope.

Do you push the envelope in your writing?

See, I think that aspiring writers don't push the envelope. When you are seeking publication, I've noticed that there's a big focus to find that "new" thing that has never been done before. Frog-changelings! Never been done! Let's run with that! Were-turtles!

I've been there, done that. You see, I wrote a book about a valkyrie heroine back in 2004. Back when the urban fantasy craze was really just beginning. Vampires were 'over' (yes, even back then) and everyone was scrambling to find the 'next' vampire. So I wrote about valkyries (since I'm a Norse mythology geek) and sent it out, proud that I'd come up with something 'so original'. And I sent it out, and sent it out. Half the agents I sent it to didn't know what a valkyrie was and weren't interested.

When that book didn't sell, I was stumped as to what to do next. I mean, here I had this great idea and nobody knew what to do with it or how to market it, right? One agent flat out told me that "We need something easily marketable, and a valkyrie isn't it." (at least, at that time)

And then I got an idea for a new novel. And discarded it. It was a little too 'out there'. It was about a female vampire, but instead of blood, she fed on...sex. I thought it was completely and totally ridiculous. It was crazypants. No one was going to want this! But I started writing it anyhow...and I just threw in whatever. Sex in a confessional? Sure! Historical figure turned evil nemesis? Why the heck not? Speedboat chases and fallen angels? Who cares at this point? There was no mental filter to tell me 'No' when I wrote that book. Anything I wanted to put in there, I put in there.

I wrote it. And as I wrote it, I realized...this one was marketable. It wasn't the concept itself (immortals that feed on blood, yawn). It was that I'd pushed the concept of vampire into a different territory. I'd made it into a succubus, but kept the same basic concept as a vampire - feed or die. Except it wasn't like all the other vampire stories out there. Not quite.

And it sold, along with a sequel.

I recently sold another book, about a dating agency that deals exclusively with paranormal clients. Again, a basic concept, neatly twisted into something different. Pushed outside of the regular envelope. It's the same old thing...except, not.

This is why vampire books continue to sell. And Twilight clones. And Regency romances starring dukes and bluestockings continue to sell. This is why Navy Seals continue to sell. People love to read what's familiar and comfortable. Why re-invent the wheel? There's nothing more basic or versatile other than the wheel (except for maybe a stick!) and the reason why we keep using the wheel is because IT WORKS.

You can come up with wacky, mythical creatures known only in the most obscure of mythologies (lamias! catoblepas!) but you're also going to run into a lot of head-scratching and puzzlement. Whereas if you take the established and put a twist on it and push it outside of the ordinary, it's...clever.

After all, if you take away the wacky videos and the strange outfits (and the odd name), Lady Gaga is just a young, blonde pop singer. Nothing special about that. But she packaged herself in a unique way to stand out, and continues to push the envelope and surprise her audience. And they keep coming back for more.

So what are you going to put in your book to push the envelope?