Subverting your genre (and/or mixing genres) ?

I kinda feel like the answer might be- it doesn't matter/it's totally random, because you never know if you'll end up in a heat that has a judge(s) that absolutely love tropes and will blast all those who don't stick 100% to the genre definitions NYCM uses..  so prbly shouldn't even worry about it, and just write your story..but wouldn't mind hearing other's thoughts and opinions on it.  (and yes, I am #totallyprocrastinatingonwriting)  :P

I have seen a fairy tale done in scifi take top spot, but that is not

to say that would be the case with every set of judges.  For the

most part mashups, as we call them, do quite well.

One thing I do know is that subversion, or sedition, is not something

anyone takes lightly.  I use the movie, "The Last of the Mohicans" as

case in point: in it this was a hanging offense, of course Colonel Monroe

did not live to carry out his questionable judgement.  Now, I am not

saying that NYC Midnight will take these seemingly extreme measures,

but it might be better to err on the safe side.

Pretty much this. I drew Romance (not a complaint; as LaurieH is fond of pointing out practically everything I write is a romance and I've sold them.) So basically I'm doing what I'd do if this were any other submission call: MY kind of romance, MY way, MY terms. The judges will either like it or they won't. I have little control over that. As long as I'm happy with it, it will likely sell to someone somewhere even if I don't advance here. (I find how well my stories here place is inversely proportional to their actual quality and salability so I've given up guessing what the judges might want.)

I do try to make sure it DOES fit the category somehow, though. 

I am worried about my current assignment I just submitted though - it was historical fiction, and while I did reference things from the past, it reads more like a drama. I'm wondering if my references to the time will be enough? I did not include well-known historical people or places, just a few historical events that lend themselves to recognizing what era the piece was written in. So I am a bit worried this time around!