tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8661117100748148070.post1905285286163855342..comments2024-02-20T15:12:28.660-08:00Comments on A Time-Travelling Apocalypse: Analysis of science fiction published in January 2014 in the US.Graham Clementshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8661117100748148070.post-58234840986341153972014-02-23T16:22:53.463-08:002014-02-23T16:22:53.463-08:00I am not going to bother writing science fiction t...I am not going to bother writing science fiction that does not interest me just to follow a trend. So I will keep on writing my first contact and dystopian novels (although Stalking Tigers is hard to categorise). <br /><br />I wonder whether writers like James Patterson and Tom Clancy who sub-contracted their writing out actually enjoy what they are writing. They did perhaps at the start but then might have got trapped in a genre probably because of a massive publishing contract. <br /><br />Very much like the way J K Rowling has gone about escaping from Harry Potter - crime novels under another name, and a social commentary type novel under her name. She obviously loves writing and she has decided to explore other genres. <br /> Graham Clementshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8661117100748148070.post-32815965767312074562014-02-23T15:41:46.312-08:002014-02-23T15:41:46.312-08:00Thanks for the compliment Graham.
I think you jus...Thanks for the compliment Graham.<br /><br />I think you just have to follow what interests you as the whole process of getting a novel published takes so long that anything could be on the cards by that time. I do think publishers look to cash in on trends which is why they select novels that suit - so I think you just have to keep trying in the hope that eventually what you've written will tick the boxes.Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8661117100748148070.post-30538151504909166612014-02-08T19:30:24.667-08:002014-02-08T19:30:24.667-08:00Hi Anthony,
I would like to read your dystopian n...Hi Anthony,<br /><br />I would like to read your dystopian novel to see what it is like, especially since you are such a good writer.<br /><br />In my next post, on what readers thought were great science fiction books released in 2013, there's an awful lot of dystopian fiction, so I reckon John Marsden might be wrong.<br /><br />I have never identified a trend and tried to write to it. Of the five manuscripts I have in various states of completion, three are dystopian, but with very different focuses, another is a space opera (the one I recently completed the first draft of), and the last one, Stalking Tigers,(closest to completion) is thriller set in space. At the moment I am editing a fantasy/sci-fi short story that is narrated by Sam, a Golden Labrador.<br /><br />But I am finding looking at what publishers are publishing and what readers are reading (which could be quiet different from what they are buying - which might be a further post) very interesting. Graham Clementshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430135062211828206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8661117100748148070.post-74136445955619559392014-02-03T01:21:16.285-08:002014-02-03T01:21:16.285-08:00Very well researched Graham. How do you find out a...Very well researched Graham. How do you find out about all this stuff?<br /><br />It's both interesting and yet very frustrating to me. I finished the first draft of my dystopian novel in 2006. I tried for years to get it out there. I thought I was a little ahead of the game, but now its lagged behind. Thank God I didnt bother with a zombie or vampire novel (not that I ever would) but people who try to follow trends end up in the same position I find myself in.<br /><br />Having said that, most of these don't sound very inspiring. I think you nailed it when you said you need to move to the U.S. You can also follow every rule and dot point and still come up empty. So much is about timing and luck, and of course, knowing the right person.<br /><br />Informative, but (for me) depressing. I wish you well on your journey and hope you beat the bastards. Anthony J. Langfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02027216695415849158noreply@blogger.com