occupation elsie b. washington
___MASK82___ fiction ( often shortened to SF , sci - fi or scifi ) is a genre of speculative fiction , typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic ___MASK82___ and technology , space ___MASK89___ , time ___MASK89___ , faster than light ___MASK89___ , parallel universes , and extraterrestrial life . ___MASK82___ fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations , and has been called a " literature of ideas ." It usually avoids the supernatural , and unlike the related genre of fantasy , historically ___MASK82___ fiction stories were intended to have a grounding in ___MASK82___ - based fact or theory at the time the story was created , but this connection is now limited to hard ___MASK82___ fiction . Historical romance ( also historical novel ) is a broad category of fiction in which the plot takes place in a setting located in the past . Walter Scott helped popularize this genre in the early 19th - century , with works such as " Rob Roy " and " Ivanhoe ". ___MASK8___ fiction historical romances continue to be published , and a notable recent example is " Wolf Hall " ( 2009 ), a multi - award winning novel by English historical ___MASK78___ Hilary Mantel . It is also a genre of mass - market fiction , which is related to the broader romantic love genre ___MASK8___ fiction comprises fictional works that hold ___MASK8___ merit ; that is , they involve social commentary , or political criticism , or focus on the human condition . ___MASK8___ fiction is deliberately written in dialogue with existing works , created with the above aims in mind and is focused more on themes than on plot , and it is common for ___MASK8___ fiction to be taught and discussed in schools and universities . Sir Walter Scott , 1st Baronet , FRSE ( 15 August 1771  21 September 1832 ) was a Scottish historical ___MASK78___ , playwright and poet with many contemporary readers in Europe , Australia , and North America . The romance novel or romantic novel discussed in this article is the mass - market ___MASK8___ genre . Novels of this type of genre fiction place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people , and must have an " emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending ." There are many subgenres of the romance novel including fantasy , historical romance , paranormal fiction , and science fiction . Walter Scott defined the ___MASK8___ fiction form of romance as " a fictitious narrative in prose or verse ; the interest of which turns upon marvellous and uncommon incidents ". Elsie Bernice Washington ( December 28 , 1942 -- May 5 , 2009 ) was an American author whose 1980 work Entwined Destinies has been considered the first romance novel written by an African - American author featuring African - American characters . Fantasy is a fiction genre set in an imaginary universe , often but not always without any locations , events , or people from the real world . Most fantasy uses ___MASK60___ or other supernatural elements as a main plot element , theme , or setting . ___MASK60___ and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds . Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific and macabre themes , respectively , though there is a great deal of overlap between the three , all of which are subgenres of speculative fiction . Genre fiction , also known as popular fiction , is plot - driven fictional works written with the intent of fitting into a specific ___MASK8___ genre , in order to appeal to readers and fans already familiar with that genre . Genre fiction is generally distinguished from " ___MASK8___ fiction ". Screenwriting teacher Robert McKee defines " genre conventions " as the " specific settings , roles , events , and values that define individual genres and their subgenres ". These conventions , always fluid , are usually implicit , but sometimes are made into explicit requirements by publishers of fiction as a guide to authors seeking publication . There is no consensus as to exactly what the conventions of any genre are , or even what the genres themselves are ; assigning of works to genres is to some extent arbitrary and subjective . Fiction is the classification for any story or universe derived from imagination  in other words , not based strictly on history or fact . Fiction can be expressed in a variety of formats , including writings , live performances , films , ___MASK57___ programs , animations , video games , and role - playing games , though the term originally and most commonly refers to the narrative forms of literature ( see " ___MASK8___ " fiction ), including the novel , novella , short story , and play . Fiction constitutes an act of creative invention , so that faithfulness to reality is not typically assumed ; in other words , fiction is not expected to present only characters who are actual people or descriptions that are factually true . The context of fiction is generally open to interpretation , due to fiction ' s freedom from any necessary embedding in reality ; however , some fictional works are claimed to be , or marketed as , historically or factually accurate , complicating the traditional distinction between fiction and non - fiction . Fiction is a classification or category , rather than a specific mode or genre , unless used in a narrower sense as a synonym for a particular ___MASK8___ fiction form .