Today, we finish up (probably) a series of articles and podcasts in relation to my next book, The Songstress Murders, available for pre-order now! Our topic of the moment is exposition, various types of that, and how it relates to genre fiction and world-building!
Enjoy!
This week’s The World Of .. focuses on fantasy gods and religions, as well as how those things can influence and inform us about the cultures and characters in those worlds, using examples from my next book, The Songstress Murders!
Remember, there’s a little less than two weeks left to get your pre-order of The Songstress Murders!
For the next few weeks, Wednesdays will be focused on the lead-up to the full release of my latest book, The Songstress Murders, which you can pre-order from Amazon at THIS LINK. So, without further ado, let’s get into The World Of The Songstress Murders!
Genre fusion is something that is pretty old-hat by now. It’s like chocolate and peanut butter; mixing the right taste combinations creates something greater than the individual ingredients. It’s at the very core of cooking, be it for food or for new literary cuisine. The Songstress Murders is no different.
But as with most elements of writing, genres and their fusions have to be handled properly. Each genre brings with it certain core elements and genre conventions, as well as certain preconceptions brought to the tale by the reader herself. To write a genre tale well involves understanding these themes and elements, as well as how to both cater to and play with the reader’s expectations. One must balance both embracing the genre and creating a unique and interesting interpretation of said genre. Rehashing the same formula, even if it is a tried-and-true formula, gets tiresome for readers after a while.
We’re mostly back on track today with another The World Of … article, this time talking about my soon-to-be-available first book in The Inspector Redmane Mysteries, The Songstress Murders! Initially intended to talk about world-building in genre fiction, my crushing fatigue leads me to ramble about themes, the origins of the story, and all sorts of things, but it does get to that pesky world-building thing quite a bit. Enjoy!
This week’s The World Of … takes a look at The Push Chronicles and how the book series tackles deconstructing and reconstructing the superhero genre. Also, I get in some more (fortunately on-topic!) gripes about Batman v Superman!
So demands for planing for Mobicon, work for editing clients, and other shenanigans, I regretfully inform you that I won’t have a Starving Review served up today.
However, I present as a substitute some extended thoughts on the ‘strong’ protagonist, male or female, and how to create and think about your creations, alongside examples culled from my own writing. An extension of this Wednesday’s Writing Is A Bad Habit, the audio log takes things deeper than before.
If you enjoy this, please let me know so I can plan to do more of these podcast-style articles in the future!
Kayfabe is a term used in the professional wrestling business to describe the keeping of appearances to create the illusion of hyper-reality of the sport/entertainment. We all know that the actual matches in modern pro wrestling is choreographed – I hesitate to use the word ‘fake’, simply because of the athleticism and inherent danger involved; it would be like calling stuntwork ‘fake’. – but the efforts of kayfabe are to create that same suspension of disbelief an author uses to engage a reader.
Meanwhile, most of the actual events are determined by the writers and ‘bookers’, the men and women who decide on the match cards, the storylines, and so on. They would be the reality behind the scenes, the wizard behind the curtain. Though the wrestlers and other performers have input, sometimes significant, it usually comes down to the Powers That Be to make the final decisions.
How does that all come together in The Opening Bell?
J. B. Garner - Musings of a Starving Author 