Getting Over the Need to Please Fanboys in Genre Writing:

 

While the assertions by many genre fiction fans that literary fiction is dead or dying are ridiculous, the fact that genre fiction has attained market dominance is most certainly not.  In fact, a 2014 report issued by the German Book Office (GBO) New York ranked fiction and “Juveniles” in its top two for 2012 and 2013, adding that, “Fiction and Juvenile genres continue to dominate the market, accounting for over 27 percent of new titles and editions in 2013.” That trend has shown no signs of slowing down either, especially considering the enormous popularity of fantasy-based television programming and pop culture monoliths such as the San Diego ComicCon.

  With the popularity of genre fiction has also come the inevitable feeling of exaggerated importance on the part of those who feel responsible for its market dominance; fanboys and fangirls.  In case you don’t know what those terms mean, the Oxford dictionary defines “fanboy” as an informal derogatory regarding, “A male fan, especially one who is obsessive about movies, comic books, or science fiction.”  The definition is incomplete, however, as its compilers overlook the genres of horror and fantasy.

With apologies to Persian Poet Muslih-ud-Din, I lamented that I was a fanboy until I started using social networking.  Yes, I’m a fan of all the genres mentioned above. Yes, I have definite and sometimes emphatic opinions about how others present my favorite characters and storylines.  However, as a writer who prefers to dwell in his own fictional universe, I am forced to bring my adoration to a screeching halt several feet from the border of irrationality so many fanboys (and girls) embrace as their Information Age right.

Simply put, there are some real nutters out there and they’ve got major buying power!

           Let’s be clear: There’s nothing wrong with feeling a sense of ownership when it comes to a series of books and its characters. One thing literary fiction readers will never understand is the sense of community and we’re-in-this-together mentality of genre fiction.  For many years, anything aside from straight-forward fiction was relegated to second-class status, with a smattering of works somehow rising “above” their perceived lower caste.  Deceased authors of speculative fiction often found themselves being “rediscovered” by those of a more literary bent, their work now available in the fiction category. As an author of genre work, I get all that. I really do.  But that doesn’t excuse the behavior so prevalent on message boards and social network sites.

            A great-fanged beast has been uncaged thanks to the perceived “power” on loan from the Web gods, and it is hell-bent on devouring anything before it that dares not agree with its views.  For those of us who seldom agree with them but still like to think of ourselves as fans, that’s rather disheartening.

            We might be a minority—although I suspect we’re actually a silent, cowed majority— but there are those of us who enjoy a good genre film or book and don’t feel the need to run around in costumes or play roleplaying games.  Some of us see it as fun or even enlightening entertainment designed for social commentary as well as thrills, still holding out hope that the stories being told can help humanity grow and learn from its mistakes as well as its accomplishments.  Pleasant diversions aside, the inmates are not merely running the asylum; they’re also running the town outside its walls.

            So, what does all this mean for those of us toiling away to supposedly make a difference and, in our lofty inner worlds, keep things elevated?

            The first and most important thing is to not allow any of that to sway us from our chosen paths.  Much has been made in the creative fields of not “selling out,” and while it’s a cliché, it would be a disservice to writers everywhere to deny its inherent value as a sentiment.  The very fact that you are contemplating the consequences of doing it means there’s some level of integrity others might not share. It also means you should stick to your guns and follow your heart and several other horribly unoriginal sayings I refuse to employ in this sentence.

            The fanboy might seem loyal and committed, but he is often fickle and on the cusp of turning his back.  Last year’s hot premise is this year’s mocked dying fad.  Remember those sparkly vampires?  How many imitators made a significant impact on the publishing industry?

            It simply cannot be said often enough that a writer’s time is better spent developing her own ideas rather than trying to create the next pop culture event based on what’s already popular.  Don’t worry about pleasing the fanboys; if what you’re doing is something they can claim they were into before it was cool, they will find you.

            Remember: They should be following you, not the other way around.

 

Hobby Lobby Remaining Open Because "God"

 God-fearin' and exploitin' Hobby Lobby CEO David Green's "prayer warrior" wife Barbara prayed so hard about this Covid-19 epidemic bugaboo that she was rewarded with a vision in the form of three easily memorized and repeated words: "Guide, Guard and Groom." And since God apparently talks like a sales seminar, that phrase is somehow meant to comfort the thousands of Hobby Lobby employees who are being made to continue working at the arts and crafts superstore.
As you can see from the memo to the left, Hobby Lobby has no intention of modifying its hours, let alone closing during a global pendemic; not when there are sales and money to be made.
You don't have to take this blog's word for it, however. The email pictured below gives pretty clear indication of the extent to which the Hobby Lobby corporation will go to profit off of tragedy.

At this point, if you still don't want to accept the evidence as presented by awesome Twitter user "Towanda the Avenger," maybe this actual notice from the Hobby Lobby website will convince you. Pay especial attention to the sentence where they say any employees who exhibit signs of Covid-19 will be sent home to self-isolate but nothing about immediately closing down right after. Clearly the CDC guidelines are not a concern for Green because his wife's conveniently catchy God-provided vision will save the day.

None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the Hobby Lobby saga over the years. Providing meager sick pay and violating the Family Medical Leave Act at least once, Green's fundamentalist hypocrisy has been on full display for years. Many would consider this a new low, however. A non-essential business remaining open based on dubious claims of Godly protection that is clearly exploiting a global pandemic for sales reasons isn't just affecting individuals or even the company's employees. Keeping their stores open when the World Health Organization, The CDC and your local veterinarian all agree you should not is irresponsible and the very hallmark of profit over people.

Author Quote: Paul Bowles

"... It's unsettling to think that at any moment life can flare up into senseless violence. But it can and does, and people need to be ready for it. What you make for others is first of all what you make for yourself. If I'm persuaded that our life is predicated upon violence, that the entire structure of what we call civilization, the scaffolding that we've built up over the millennia, can collapse at any moment, then whatever I write is going to be affected by that assumption. The process of life presupposes violence, in the plant world the same as the animal world. But among the animals only man can conceptualize violence. Only man can enjoy the idea of destruction."

 - Paul Bowles

I haven't read "The Sheltering Sky" yet and I already like this guy.

When Writing Hurts.

Two days ago, I finally located the flashdrive that had so much of my work on it, both finished and in-progress. I wasn't too worried about finding it. I knew it was safely put away in my house and I had gone through a rather impressive creative spurt these past few months that kept my submission rotation going strong.

While revisiting some of the stories on the drive, I located one that I thought had been published before. However, when I asked Google, the only result was a post by yours truly discussing the odd rejection letter it received from an editor. That post was written nine years ago and can be read here. (For the record, it is no longer the oddest rejection letter I've received) Since this was the only thing I could find associating that title with my name, I had no choice but to conclude that it had never been published. There's probably a good reason for that.

This story, possibly more than any other I've written, is so uncomfortably personal, so intense and unflinchingly honest about its subject matter, namely the complete loss of sanity from rejected love and the depths to which one can sink, that I'm surprised I finished it without winding up in a fetal ball in a puddle of my own drool.

Yes, it's that intense.

The amount of pain and anger that went into that story makes me uncomfortable, so I can only imagine how the editor felt!

But a writer shouldn't shy away from baring his or her soul. Ever. If you ever doubt that I fully embrace that philosophy, you should probably pledge at least a dollar to my Patreon page and see for yourself.  The third and latest post in particular will tell you everything you need to know.

I feel this decade-old story deserves to be published, but I also know it's a difficult sell because of its subject matter and execution. So, I'm going to send it out once or twice and see what happens. If no one bites, it will wind up on the Patreon page and, somewhere down the line, in a short story collection.

When writing hurts, share it with others so they can experience it, too. Not to be sadistic, but shared human experience shouldn't stop at fuzzy self-help moments. Unless you're open as a reader to all that life offers, you are cutting yourself off from truth and that, my friends, is when things will really start to hurt~

Two Pop Culture Things that are Annoying me at the Moment

Every so often, something occurs in the genre sub-culture that reminds me I work way too hard for way too little. This week, thanks to finally watching a TV series on DVD that premiered a year ago, I wound up with two things rightly pissing me off instead of just one, which is my weekly average.

I'll start with the less offensive one because even though it's moronic and awful, it lacks the personal connection I require to really throw up in my mouth.

I'm not what one would consider a Trekkie. My mom was one of the original ones, but I grew up on "Star Wars," which basically became the blueprint for my life along with comic books. It wasn't until the first "Star Trek" movie was released that I realized this old, cheesy-looking show had more going on than I'd thought. I loved the movies and became much more appreciative of the original series because of them. I also enjoyed "The Next Generation" despite creator Gene Roddenberry's bizarre, L Ron Hubbard-esque approach to the franchise. Watch the documentary Chaos on the Bridge to find out just how batshit crazy he'd gone. Still, the show got better and I enjoyed the films it spawned as well.

Then "Deep Space Nine" turned out to be a giant turd and no series after it was watchable to me. Besides, the vastly superior "Babylon 5" had shown what a laughably naive vision Roddenberry's was. The franchise went into hibernation after the abortion called "Enterprise" went off the air a year earlier. I felt it was time for it to die but JJ Abrams revived it with his enjoyable alternate timeline films. Now there is another series that supposedly takes place in the original timeline and it is, quite possibly, the worst one yet.

The acting makes the early TNG days look Oscar worthy. The so-called "Klingons" speak phonetically as if being fed lines. The main character is an arrogant, unlikable Mary Sue who is also somehow inept. The effects work looks like a bad early 2000s video game and once again everything looks too advanced to be taking place prior to the Kirk and Spock years. This article goes into greater detail than I think the show deserves.

Bottom line: Aside from the "Kelvin Timeline," the Star Trek franchise has nothing left to say and needs to go back to sleep. It's become a shameless parody of itself.

If that sounded angry, you either don't know me or you should probably avoid this next part. I can't promise there won't be swears a'plenty!

First off, take a look at this:

That's right. Much like the STD that refuses to be cured, Rob "What's Human Anatomy" Liefeld has once again decided to spray his venom all over the Marvel Universe. It isn't bad enough that he gave us the most annoying character in comics history, namely Deadpool. It isn't enough that he didn't even create the definitive version of that crappy character yet takes credit in the noble tradition of Bob Kane of Batman fame.  Easily one of the most hated comic artists in, well, ever, Liefeld's total disregard for practical physics and anatomy under the hilarious pretense of stylistic choice is the reason most people despise him. Well, that and his cocky, self-entitled attitude.

As a writer, however, I despise him because he thinks he can write and he sucks as a visual artist. Entire pages have been devoted to his lack of talent. For example, click here and here.

Here is Liefeld's description of the character and his origin:

“When we were coming up with the team, I said look, back in 1991 I was jamming with two guys: Jim Lee on X-Men and Whilce Portacio on Uncanny X-Men. We were the three engines running that office in the early ‘90s when all the launches happened,” Liefeld says. “So I just reached out and said Whilce, I’m having a party, it’s called Major X, could you join? I sent him the plot, and we got him for a key chapter in the story. I’m a giant Whilce Portacio fan, fans were jamming on him and the stuff he was doing on Uncanny in the ’90s, and when he sent the pages, I could not be more thrilled. It’s 1991 again, I’m jamming with Whilce, we’re making X-Men comics. It’s myself, Brent Peeples, and Whilce. We are handling the art. I’m the bookends, and then Brent and Whilce are the middle chapters. There’s a pride of ownership when you go this is my team, we’re gonna introduce Major X and these new concepts. Marvel gave me six issues to tell the story, and I’ve seen three so far. It’s explosive, it’s jam-packed.”

Leaving the aside the ridiculous hipster-laden speech pattern, what really grinds my nuts is Liefeld's obvious total lack of growth. This guy had over two decades to mature and improve and all he could come up with is a thinly conceived character that's an obvious mish mash of Cable and Bishop with alternate universe theory switched out for time travel? And the character looks like the abandoned love-child of Boba Fett and Deadpool. Naturally, he has the requisite square-barreled handguns that probably never need to be reloaded and the samurai sword because...who the hell knows?

Then there's the ridiculous concept that sounds like an early draft of the New Universe character Justice. An entire universe of nothing but mutants? Seriously? What the fuckety fuck!? Does he not realize that they're no longer mutants if they're the only thing that exists? And where the hell is the dramatic tension? Why would we care if he wants to bring his universe back to life? And what is with that goddam sword on his back!?

ARGH! 

This is the kind of hackery that gets rewarded. Liefeld was just about the highest paid comic artist at one time yet almost no one can say why. Even Todd MacFarlane realized he needed to concede his writing duties to someone more qualified.

Someone very important to me recently said I needed to lower my standards so I would be delighted when I saw things. Well, I am delighted when I see things: GOOD things. They do exist. For every Liefeld, there's a Brian Michael Bendis or Geoff Johns. But I have to work way too hard just to get the small opportunities I get to sit back with lowered standards while marginally talented assclowns keep puking their half-digested horseshit into the mainstream.

Okay, rants over.

Gonna go lie down now.