Teens Can Write Too! Blog Chain: I’d like to read more of this, please…

Tags

bbc merlin, brian jacques, c.s. forester, c.s. lewis, castaways of the flying dutchman, classic science fiction, dee henderson, dorothy sayers, dystopian fiction, fantasy, fiction, g.a. henty, historical fiction, immortality, irene hannon, j.r.r. tolkien, lori wick, post-apocalyptic fiction, redwall, romance, science fiction, speculative fiction, steven king, story dynamics, teens can write too blog chain, the hobbit, the lord of the rings, the sword of damocles, time travel, young adult/juvenile fiction

The prompt for this month’s blog chain was “What sort of fiction would you like to see more of?” My first thought would be, all of it! But I had to be more discerning. What sorts of fiction do I love? What sorts of fiction are under-written?

Personally, my favorite genres are fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, and dystopian. I love to write in them. I love reading them. Some of them, though, already have hundreds of books, and though no genre is consistently well-written, some of these genres have more than their share of marvelous stories. But we could still do with more!

Fantasy is probably the oldest of these genres; the only sort of fiction that is older is probably historical fiction, though if you include fairy tales in the fantasy genre, fantasy is undoubtedly older. As such, there is more material in fantasy than in most of my other listed genres. (It has giants like Tolkien, Lewis, L’Engle, and so forth–how are you supposed to beat that?!) Still, I would like to see more well written fantasy, with original themes and ideas. (For instance, in my latest work in progress, Generations, the sequel of Loyalty, the premise is that magic has been locked away from the world in order to protect it.) I would like to see more fantasy along the lines of The Lord of the Rings, in which the power of the Ring threatens to corrupt anyone who holds it; I would like to see the type of fantasy in which it is emphasized that power is often dangerous and can be intrinsically evil, and the answer can be to not use it, rather than the sort of sword-of-Damocles persecution that often falls upon any character with magical powers in modern fiction. (Yes, I am including BBC Merlin in this condemnation.) Some stories can pull the sword of Damocles off well. Others, it just seems cliche.

I would also like to see more fantasy such as the Redwall books and The Hobbit, in which no character has actual magical powers. Bilbo has his ring, true, but barring that, no one is “empowered”, except Gandalf, and he’s not the main character. I also like The Hobbit because the there-and-back-again has a price. About a third of the original company dies (no spoilers; I’m not saying who.) I don’t like the sort of fantasy where there is no price to be paid.

I would like to see more historical fiction that is more focused on event than romance, such as the works of G.A. Henty. Despite the fact that no one often dies (except the actual historical enactors) in Henty’s works, they are still highly enjoyable. I very highly recommend the Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, even though it’s for older readers, and should be partaken of in moderation. I would like to see historical fiction that’s more of a bridge between Henty’s style and Forester’s. I would like to see more French Revolution-era and more centered around the actions of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, especially since much of what there is involving the latter two is biased toward the English rather than the Scots–“the victor writes history.” That may be true, but it takes reading works biased in both directions to be truly balanced.

The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman trilogy isn’t historical fiction, per se; more like a crossover of the best of both fantasy and historical, but I would like to also see more of this sort of story, involving immortality and/or time travel. (Please don’t start with me on Doctor Who. Right now, I just don’t have the time for it 😦 ) It’s a fascinating sort of one-off story that has me intrigued; how would it be if more people took on this sort of premise and actually did well by it?

It would be nice to read more mysteries in the style of Dorothy Sayers, more complex and balanced and well-integrated. Few modern authors can pull off a good mystery as well as the late nineteenth and early twentieth century mystery writers, with the notable exception of Irene Hannon and Dee Henderson (who both classify their work as romance, but whose work also fit into the genres of suspense or mystery.) More on those two later.

Now for sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, and speculative fiction. This is one genre in which I won’t particularly lament for the authors of yesteryear. There are a great deal of good authors out there in these genres, and each one of them has fascinating premises. This may be because the genre is comparatively young, and still going strong. It would be nice to see more science fiction in the style known as “classic science fiction,” only meant for younger readers. It can be hard to find good fiction in the young adult/juvenile sections; maybe reading Madeleine L’Engle has spoiled me? ;-P

About romance… Any regular reader of this blog will know that I don’t particularly care for it. It’s not always well-written. Some of it is very unrealistic. And I just don’t feel comfortable writing it. In any book of mine where there is romance, in order so it doesn’t suck I have to make it very subtle and let the action take hold. I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons in that regard, but… meh… with precious little success. However, if Dee Henderson writes more, I will read it. If I can find more by Irene Hannon, I will read it. The other day, because I was bored, I picked up a book by Lori Wick. Just Above a Whisper, I think the title was. It was partly suspense, but mostly romance. What do I mean? Well… I almost stopped reading several times, because the menace from the insane fellow was not close enough. It wasn’t emphasized nearly enough. I didn’t have an urge to keep on reading. The only reason I didn’t put it down was because it was cool in the basement, and I was bored. Call me spoiled, but I didn’t particularly like this book; I couldn’t see why the author was a bestseller. The plot focused more on the heroine’s personal psychological problems, and I didn’t feel the ominous overhang nearly enough. It wasn’t that well integrated and felt almost like a side plot; however, I think it should have been mixed up and made part of the main plot. I felt as if even I, with my lack of talent in the genre, could have done better. It was like a romance with a side of half-baked suspense. Irene Hannon and Dee Henderson don’t have these problems. Nothing important is ever sidelined in their books; the suspense is scary enough to keep you turning pages, but not enough so it keeps you up at night like a Steven King novel (even just a summary!), and the romance is well-balanced and peppy. I want to see more romance that’s well written, even if it’s just for the sake of all the romance fans out there. 😉 I would also like to see more romance that’s based more on commitment and deep friendship rather than shallow passion. Much of what I feel tends to be deep, but I also feel in terms of commitment (if that even makes sense.) Why isn’t there more romance that just speaks to people like me? Forgive me if I’m morbid, but I think this is representation inequality right here. (And I didn’t mean to rant about bad romance. Sorry about that. I don’t mean to bash books, either; I mean, Lori Wick has promise, but I think she needs a good editor and more practice. :-P)

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

May 5th – http://sammitalk.wordpress.com/

May 6th – http://www.nerdgirlinc.blogspot.com/

May 7th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

May 8th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

May 9th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

May 10th – http://randomofalife.blogspot.com/

May 11th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/

May 12th – http://www.fidaislaih.blogspot.com/

May 13th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

May 14th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com/

May 15th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com/

May 16th – http://taratherese.wordpress.com/

May 17th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

May 18th – http://oliviarivers.wordpress.com/

May 19th – http://afoodyportfolio.wordpress.com/

May 20th – http://magicandwriting.wordpress.com/

May 21st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

May 22nd – http://www.brookeharrison.com/

May 23rd – http://eighthundredninety.blogspot.com/

May 24th – http://www.oyeahwrite.wordpress.com/

May 25th – http://avonsbabbles.wordpress.com/

May 26th – TheUnsimpleMind (no web address)

May 27th – http://thependanttrilogy.wordpress.com/

May 28th – http://www.lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

May 29th – http://sunsandstarsanddreams.wordpress.com/

May 30th – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ Announcement of the next month’s blog chain. 🙂

(Oh, by the way, before I go… does anyone know the difference between speculative fiction and sci-fi, if any? Thanks 🙂 )

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Hello? Anyone out there?

Tags

accidents happen, angels' reflections, camp nanowrimo april 2014, dystopian fiction, keyboard, laptop, laptop returned, nanowrimo, national novel writing month, original stories, story dynamics

Preparation for Nanowrimo Camp: FUN! 😀 Is anyone else super excited? I sure know I am!!!

Okay, so I’m working on the same project as I have been last year for the past two camps and hoping to complete it this time. As soon as I get my laptop back, I’ll start preliminary editing. This is why I love first drafts: you can mess with them as much as you like and see what works best. (I’m addicted to everything Microsoft Word. Did you notice? :-P)

Okay, that first bit was written before my laptop came back. I am currently writing this on my laptop! YAY! 😀

So, besides announcing camp… I have a laptop return to announce! Yay!

Well, recently I’ve been working on getting together the camp workshop, using these blog posts… I think that this blog is like journal keeping for me. I have an obligation to write, since I’m writing for people. Keeping a journal just for myself feels sort of counter-intuitive. Thus, I write my blog more than my diary. It’s almost like I’m keeping a record of all my most pertinent discoveries, and not just for myself, so it keeps me accountable.

I will be continuing my camp project of April and July 2014 that I failed to complete in November. In this chapter of the Angels’ Reflections saga, we meet a whole new group of characters, the Shape-Shifters of Kalya: Karyll, the Raven; Verun, the Wolf; Nadya, the Falcon; and Beckra, the Bear. These four are the only survivors of a genocide against the Shape-Shifters’ race, and play well into the dystopian theme of the previous stories, since they are different from the other people of the world, they want more than simply what they are given, they live under a brain-washing government that promises a utopia, but doesn’t properly deliver… I could take all day listing the reasons why they fit! 😉

Verun, especially, will share a special bond with the Binders, Jay and Aliana: All three of them possess powers that they don’t fully understand, all three of them have a special destiny to complete, and all three of them are questions that have never been posed before.

This is it. This is the final battle for both Elayatar and Kalya. There is nowhere to turn, nowhere to run. Sides must be taken. There is no going back from this moment.

All roads lead here.

Dystopian is the New Romance

Tags

bbc sherlock, beauty and the beast, bound to the flame, brave, disney, divergent, dystopian fiction, frozen, insanity, long rants, madeleine l'engle, pixar, romance, star wars, tangled, the hunger games, veggie tales

Of course it is. No matter what the romance authors say. I suppose it was bound to happen; romance is being replaced.

Just kidding. Nothing really can compare to the juggernaut that is romance. It even outstrips fantasy (though, let’s face it, fantasy fans are more passionate than romance ones.)

But, if you look at recent book sales, I think you’ll start to notice a trend. Think of all the literary versions of BBC’s Sherlock (which, you’ve got to admit it, for a show to be like that and go from zero to sixty in that little space, that never happens!), like the Hunger Games. Dystopian. Divergent? Dystopian. Veggie Tales?

Okay, I guess it could happen… 😛

And now I find myself caught up in the genre. I was writing a dystopian-style alternate universe Star Wars fanfic, and all of a sudden… Bam!

It mutates into an original dystopian and I topple over the line between fantasy and sci-fi and land solidly (on my posterior, no less) in the dystopian fiction world.

It’s happening more and more often. I mean, really, Bound to the Flame started as a crossover between Star Wars and Brave (I wanted to see what would happen if Star Wars took place in the historic Scottish Highlands, and then Merida hopped in, and for some reason Qui-Gon Jinn and Tahl were the king and queen of a small kingdom and guess what? They have a son named Obi-Wan! Who promptly goes off on his own tangent like he always does…) that gained influences from A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Rowan’s disability and the way he gained it? Blame L’Engle. It all came from Matthew Maddox. I even borrowed an Ecthros or two! Or five…), Beauty and the Beast (umm, yeah. Rowan’s not comfortable with being half-crippled, no matter what he tells you to your face.), Tangled (minus the lock on the tower and the sheer isolation, but for some reason Margery is Flynn Rider and got herself arrested to get herself into the tower), and possibly even Frozen, though I haven’t even seen it yet!!!

Dare I say, oops?!

I guess I’d better just enjoy my own madness, at this rate. 😛

But anyway, about dystopian. It’s here to stay, people. It’s all about stepping up and standing out. It’s about purpose. It’s about people who really make a difference.

And maybe that’s what makes it so powerful.

Then, too, it’s a challenge. After all, not everyone can rely on an innate magical ability, can they?! 😛

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!