Review: Gregor, the Overlander -- Overcoming Genre Norms

Pity the poor boy whose two-year-old sister saves his life when he drops down the laundry chute into a strange underground world.  Fortunately, Suzanne Collins created a caring eleven-year-old boy in Gregor, the Overlander who managers to be the hero because he's able to work with a team rather than be a super-hero, who can take on all comers. Collins has Gregor using his brain more than his muscles -- even when one of the "good guys" turns into a traitor.

Think I like Gregor more than Collins' Hunger Games series, even though that work is a masterpiece. Why? My intro is one reason. The other is that Collins creates a complete, self-contained alien world out of the few elements that might exist in an interlinked cavern world. How would you do with a group of humans who disappeared into the independent underground world, giant cockroaches, giant rats, spiders, and bats?

[Cows are mentioned and explained briefly, but aren't concerned with the over all plot -- except to provide jerky which runs out. Fish also provide protein.]

Running out of food is the least of the problems Gregor faces. The book is basically a quest novel. Granted Collins has Gregor being the focus of a vague prophesy. But, once he learns his father is alive, Gregor's main problem to find his father, who is a captive of the rats. All in all, Collins kept coming up with twists on the obvious as Gregor built his team ... which had me amazed at her creativity.

More important, Collins left me thinking I should read more middle grade.  Only problem there? Too many books seem to have the hero/protagonists do most of the heavy lifting. Actually, it's a problem inherent in much of genre fiction. You know a good author, when they break the conventions. 

On the other hand, writers have come a long way from many genre limitations: Ilona Andrews a popular fantasy writer [and one of my favorites] wrote a blog on Rules for Mystery Writers. As I read through them, I kept thinking urban fantasy couldn't exist if writers still followed them. Of course, the Brit social life was once bound by all sorts of rules of conduct.

What do you think? Can you have civility of discourse with hide-bound rules of conduct?

Another lead from Andrews sent me to another discussion of "strong Women" by Shana Mlawski on Why Strong Female Characters are Bad for Women. Actually, Mlawski takes on the super-nerdy concept of females as they all too often appear in action movies. Made me feel bad for nerdy adolescents who dream of banging the cheerleaders as opposed to the human encapsuled in the body, which would entail making love rather than banging.

Which makes me wonder what kind of flaws you give your characters to overcome. Isn't that the key to writing memorable people? I know I struggle with it. Do you?

Suzanne Collins: War's Not Glorious

The Read ...

Ever since I listened to World War II tales as a kid, I knew war wasn't "glorious" -- in spite of having heros.  The impression I got was more like war was the "drizzling shits".   

Over the weekend, I immersed myself in Suzanne Collins' Catching Fire and Mockingjay.  Along with the Hunger Games, the books well deserve the raves the trilogy is getting.  Collins lets you know front and center that even just rebellions are dirty, disgusting, and fearsome things that damage people even if they manage to survive.

Again, Collins' lean prose impresses even if the violence in the books upsets some people.  War is violent by definition ...  and it hits the most submissive the hardest.  Collins had me suspending my disbelief and totally immersed in her world.  So, immersed that I haven't started reading another book since Sunday.  [I'm watching the DVD and VHS of two different versions of Pride and Prejudice instead.  How's that for escaping?]

Opening hook in the first three sentences of Catching Fire.  "I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the tea has long since leached into the frozen air.  My muscles are clenched tight against the cold.  If a pack of wild dogs were to appear at this moment, the odds of scaling a tree before they attacked are not in my favor."   The paragraph ends:  "I can't fight the sun.  I can only watch helplessly as it drags me into a day that I've been dreading for months."

The reader knows immediately what were the effects of the Hunger Games on Katniss Everdeen.

Mockingjay has a brilliant opening hook too.  "I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.  This is where the bed I shared with my sister, Prim, stood.  Over there was the kitchen table.  The bricks of the chimney, which collapsed in a charred heap, provide a point of reference for the rest of the house.  How else could I orient myself in this sea of gray?"

If I ever wore a hat, I'd take it off to Collins.  Even her secondary ... and tertiary ... characters are well, and pointedly drawn.  I don't think I'll ever forget Snow and his bleeding mouth he got from ingesting the poisons he killed people with.  [While not stated, I assume it was the old mystery writers' arsenic ploy: build up a resistance and you eliminate yourself from suspicion.]

Progress...

Yeah,  I'm worrying about opening hooks at the moment.  There's these two projects I want to query Emma and There Be Demons.  I'm seem to be bumping my head against a blank wall when searching for marvelous images.  No changes in the manuscripts yet.

The demon book may break too many rules, especially the ones about presenting your viewpoint characters, but then again, I use two main viewpoints in a tween book.  Emma is more conventional middle grade book.  Okay, in Demons, I've got the demon rising from the portal, but he doesn't appear again until the end of the book.  :throws hands in the air:

Rules.  Rules.  Am back on the fence for Dark Solstice  [About my Half-Elven, not Tolkien's]  There's entirely too much telling, I think, for current tastes ... plus I have all sorts of multiple viewpoints giving their interpretation of the same events.  Does that sound like literary?  Maybe, I'll just self-publish the thing ... and go on and finish the trilogy about Kerry as a young adult.  In short, I don't know what I'll do.

Be careful when you complete more than one project.  Your headaches increase exponentially.

Web Stuff ...

Voice is an important problem for writers.  Even though I've given up on what I "sound" like when I write, Justine Musk has an significant blog on the distinctions between your  "essential self" and your "social self".  With the rush to e-publishing and building platforms, I think it's especially important.  Include, chasing an agent too in this discussion too.

[I gave up on figuring out what my voice is long ago.  If it's there, it's there.  If it's not, I don't know under which rock to find it.]

Had the above all set up for my web comment when I read Scarlett Parrish's blog on Erotica vs Porn  -- Let's Talk About Sex on Sunday night.  A lot of writers shy away from writing sex scenes, ie. the story fades to black when he carries her up the stairs.  Others jump in with both hands and feet, giving the reader minutes details.  Parrish makes a good distinction between what makes explicit sex in a book/story a part of the plot ... or porn.  [Don't ask me what porn is unless someone is getting hurt against their will, either.]

[My "sex" writing?  Well, I did indicate the females in my Gorsfeld story were running around without shirts on while they worked in the field.  I also implied a threesome ... which is a big plot point in Dark Solstice.  Sorry, no groping.] 

Then, there are the invaluable Beta readers and critique partners.  The GotYA blog has a neat bit on comparing them to characters in the Lord of the Rings.  Check it out for fun, if nothing else.

Trivia ...

The last of the home-grown peaches are eaten.  We had to buy more at the farmers' market.  Raspberries too.

Distopian Fiction -- Commercial or Literary?

The Read ...

When I think of futuristic distopian  fiction, I think of commercial fiction ... like science fiction.  Of course, there are literary writers who do crossovers like Margaret Atwood, but I don't think any one has done it like Suzanne Collins with her Hunger Games.  Collins has "crossed-over" in a couple ways -- I know of several adult literary book groups who have included her on their reading lists.  

For years (since 2008?), I think I glanced at her rankings on the New York Times best seller lists.  She's been there for good reason -- magnificent writing that far surpasses her first series. [Gregor-something-or-other which I've picked up in the past and put back down.]  

Just read this opening hook if you haven't already:  "When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.  My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.  She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother.  Of course, she did.  This is the day of the reaping."  So much of the coming story is hinted at in the coming story in that one paragraph that I'm lost in amazement [ ... and envy?... ]

Took me a long time to buy the book, given my congenital cheapness, but I found a used copy of The Hunger Games ... and read it in two sittings, in spite of having episodes of True Blood sitting in the DVD player.  She hooked me on the series when she got me sniveling in a couple spots -- no misty-eyed sadness here, but nose-blowing sniveling.  I was lucky enough to find a used copy of the hardback of the sequel [Catching Fire], but I've ordered  Mocking Jay, which hasn't been released yet.

How's that for faith in a series.  Hope more adults cross-over and read her "kid's" books.

Media Stuff ...

A lot's being written about e-readers ... about buying books for them.  I'm not opposed to them.  In fact I plan to buy one when the technology allows me to buy books from any retailer I want.  Hey, I've bought CDs that work in my CD player in Cardiff, Wales ... London, UK ... and Sogenfiord, Norway. 

I think e-reader technology should allow you to do the same.  When I buy a book, I want to own it ... not rent it.  From what I've read, it seems that the purveyor of an e-book can yank it off your reader -- after you've paid good money for it -- when it gets upset with the original publisher or author.

Actually, my questions go farther.  No one talks about the people who don't own computers and/or e-readers.  Print stuff lays around used ... and cheap, if you look in the right places ... and doesn't need any technology [except electricity at night] to read.  A poor kid can give up a couple chips-and-soft-drink and buy a book, if they're so inclined.  End of expenditure.  With the the corporate paradigm taking over so much of our economy/social contacts, I worry that the poor will be left even further behind.  I call it the new serfdom.

Progress ...

Still trying to cross Renna's gossip about Mariah with a narrative short story.  So far, it's telling ... tellling and more telling.  I'm writing the short story to give away on my Half-Elven site ... aka adding content to the thing.  Need to work fast on it because I have a critique session coming up.  Words are coming out really slow ... and I've deleted maybe 20% of the ones I thought I was going to keep.  Unfortunately,  they were side-tracks or backstory ... and I still have huge amounts of backstory in the thing ... the first two pages.

Of course, I'm non-conformist enough to go against the fiction formulas and decrease my chances of major publishing.  How non-conformist am I?  Well, recently read an article on query advice that said you needed to format your query only in New Times Roman.  I prefer Ariel.  Nuf said.

Did come up with good advice from two writers on Twitter that all writers should heed:  writers should write ... even if they think what they are writing isn't any good.  I'm paraphrasing Yasmine Galenorn and Laurell K. Hamilton here but that's the gist of what they said.

Trivia ...

Took off yesterday to do a day trip --  over Cameron Pass up to Laramie, Wyoming and down again.  Was rewarded by mile after mile of beetle-kill spread across the mountain and road sides.