cornerofmadness

I could have use my time at the laundromat thinking on my post here but I was too busy going 'there are only TWO machines left.' Note to self avoid the mat on a sunday.

I wanted to talk a little bit about dystopias and their runaway success right now. I think I may have touched on this before but I find this a bit distressing. There is a quote that I've seen attributed to Chesterton and to King "Fairy Tales are blamed for teaching children that there are such things as monsters. Children already know that there are monsters. What Fairy Tales really teach is that monsters can be killed.

I've wondered if that is why dystopias are so popular right now and directed at young adult audiences. Here's the thing, as an adult I don't need to be told that life sucks and maybe it can be overcome. I already know this. I've lived it. Frankly, reading about it is depressing. I just read through one where the main character stabs the hand of a competitor in a violent 'school game' pinning it to the table and made him cut his hand off if he wanted free and the other guy is like sure, no big deal and did it.

1. I never want to hear anyone say my YA stories are too violent ever again or I will make them read this bestseller.
2. Why am I reading something this psychotic and why is it a bestseller (okay I'm reading it because I was given it to review and I had no choice)? I'm really surprised at the level of violence in YA/NA fic right now.
3. Seriously if someone says my YA is too violent I'm going to slap them with this book or The Hunger Games or any YA dystopia. And yes I was both annoyed and hurt over the years by beta readers saying this.

So thoughts as to why dystopias are so popular because I'm all out of idea. I touched off a bit of a debate yesterday when we were asked what trope we didn't want to see in fantasy/SF any more and I answered dystopias where women are breeding stock and NOTHING else. (someone did link me up with one where they weren't so there's that).

I have no problems with all male casts. I DO have a problems when the women have been reduced to their uteruses and nothing else. Right now something called Glass Arrow is soaring up the YA charts and it's a dystopia where girls are sold as breeding stock on the open market. No, I've not read it and don't plan to. It disturbs me especially when I look at current legislation. I could handle it if there was a reason women suddenly couldn't have kids and work at the same time but we usually do a pretty good job of it. It seems to me to be a distressing idea to put in front of young girls and yet they're eating it up. At least The Hunger Games didn't discriminate that much between the sexes.

I was calling my one SF a dystopia but compared to these things, it's a pollyana story and you know what, I'm just fine with that. I don't want to be this dismal.

Maybe that's a mistake. Apparently I could make a fortune if I churned out the next dystopic YA masterpiece.


Yearly Word Count -

Yep I nearly wrote my entire word count for the year over again this week (I was short by only 1100 words of achieving that. I have done no editing at all to Splinters of Silver and Cold IRon I SUCK.

However, I did fix up A Wolf in the Fold to the point that after I give it one more once over I'm sending it in to Wayward Ink publishing and based on evil_little_dog and silvrethorn's suggestions I completely rewrote the opening scene of Blood Red Roulette. ELD seemed to like it, barring the italics issue.

Also thanks again to everyone who liked that paragraph of my SF not-dystopia (i swear I thought it was...) and if you would like to read that on a chapter to chapter basis let me know.