Patrick Scalisi's Blog, page 5

Why I’m Tired of YA Genre Fiction -- And Why You Should Be Too

I just went through and removed every YA novel from my Goodreads “To-Read” list.

Why?

Because YA genre fiction is so stuck in a mire of stagnation that the entire genre has become a parody of itself. With so many books demanding my attention, I don’t have time to waste on the same story over and over again.

When did this happen? Why aren’t YA authors taking more risks? And why do we have a market flooded with books whose plots are seemingly chosen by throwing darts at a wall chart?

Choose setting: fantasy, dystopian or sci-fi. Insert female protagonist. Determine obstacle that she has to overcome (bonus points added for some kind of hidden past). And select love interest. If the author can somehow convoke a love triangle (a la The Hunger Games), that’s all the better for “narrative tension.”

Without coming off like a boy who hates lovey-dovey plots because of cooties, I can’t help but wonder: Where are the gay and lesbian protagonists? Where are the transgender protagonists? Where are the neuter protagonists who don’t care about finding sudden and meaningful love in the ruins of civilization? Hell, where are the male protagonists?

A good writer should create characters that the reader cares about — regardless of gender or sexual orientation. As a young reader, I loved Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, even though the protagonist was a female princess, albeit an unconventional one. The fact that the main character of the book was a young woman didn’t matter; it was the character and plot that made the difference. (Wrede’s princess, Cimorene, doesn’t find love until book two of the tetralogy, and even then doesn’t spend the entire volume swooning over Mendanbar’s warm lips and magical kisses.)

What happened to books like Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card), The Amulet of Samarkand (Jonathan Stroud) and The City of Ember (Jeanne DuPrau)? What happened to plots and romances — or lack thereof — that weren’t molded by the cookie cutter of today’s YA genre market?

Part of the blame undoubtedly rests with publishers, all of whom are looking for the next Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, Bella Swan or Tris Prior (and the lucrative film rights that go with them). This has, unfortunately, resulted in a trough of creativity as authors write toward current trends and publishers pump out copycat after copycat.

The only way for readers to respond is to demand with their wallets that YA genre fiction undergo a renaissance. We’ve already seen the start of this trend with YA genre films (see: Beautiful Creatures, The Host, Mortal Instruments) and the time has come for their source material to follow suit. Until then, I fear that I will find very little to inspire me in a genre that is in desperate need of reinvention.

News Mid-April 2014

Just a quick mid-month update with a few breaking news items. Katie Carroll, author of Elixir Bound invited me to contribute a guest post to her blog. The post, which is all about revising your work, can be found HERE.

Next week, I'll also be attending the Chiller Theater Expo in Parsippany, N.J., on April 26 with Post Mortem Press. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello. There will be some great celebrities, like Norman Reedus, at the event as well. See you there!

News: April 2014

Things continue to move forward with the publication of my short story, "Hex McGowan and the Cat's Meow." After more than 20 rejections, the story has found a home in the Allusions of Innocence anthology to be published by Solarwyrm Press. You can see a preview of the book's cover here on Goodreads.

Last month, we completed our crowd-funding campaign, raising nearly $900 in pre-orders to support the authors and defray publishing costs. For those who missed it, the anthology will be released in a variety of formats at the end of April. We're also getting some great advance praise on the book's Goodreads page.

Meanwhile, the cover art is still pending for my debut book, The Horse Thieves and Other Tales of the New West. As I mentioned previously, Dwayne Vance is doing the art. He's kept me appraised of the painting's progress, and it's coming along great. I simply can't wait to share it with the world.

Once the final cover art is in, the publisher should announce a release date for the book, at which time I will shout it from the rooftops.

Until next month, happy reading!

News: March 2014

Things are moving quickly this month for my short story, "Hex McGowan and the Cat's Meow." After more than 20 rejections, the story has found a home in the Allusions of Innocence anthology to be published by Solarwyrm Press. You can see a preview of the book's cover here on Goodreads.

The anthology is being funded through the crowd-funding site Indiegogo, and you can find the campaign HERE. We've reached our initial goal of $500, but the editors would ideally like to raise $2,000 to provide as much support to the authors and to promotion. There are some great perks, too, like being able to pre-order this and another anthology in a variety of formats. If you would, consider making a contribution today.

The cover art is still pending for my debut book, The Horse Thieves and Other Tales of the New West. As I mentioned previously, Dwayne Vance is doing the art. He's kept me appraised of the painting's progress, and it's coming along great. I simply can't wait to share it with the world.

Once the final cover art is in, the publisher should announce a release date for the book, at which time I will shout it from the rooftops.

Until next month, happy reading!

News: February 2014

As usual, January has flown by and we're already into the second month of 2014. But the start of the new year has already brought with it a bounty of good news.

First, I'm proud to announce that after more than 20 rejections, my short story "Hex McGowan and the Cat's Meow" has finally found a home at Solarwyrm Press. The story will be released in an upcoming anthology that will be partially funded through Kickstarter. I'll post more information about the crowdfunding campaign when the initiative has launched.

Second, the magazine that I work for by day is up for a whopping 45 awards at this year's industry press conference. (I know, because I made PDFs for all of them!) Of those entries, three are stories that I wrote in 2013. Here's keeping our fingers crossed for the awards banquet in June.

Finally this month, I've seen some of the preliminary cover art for The Horse Thieves and Other Tales of the New West. I'm pleased to let you all know that the eminently talented Dwayne Vance will be providing the cover art, and it's a doozy. I simply can't wait to share it with the world.

Once the final cover art is in, the publisher should announce a release date for the book, at which time I will shout it from the rooftops.

Thanks for making the start of 2014 great! Until next month, happy reading!

News: January 2014

January is generally a time to review the past 12 months and look ahead to what the new year has to offer. 2013 was ... interesting to say the least, with a lot of professional ups and downs. Frustrated with my intermittent writing schedule, I established a new routine mid-year that allows me at least an hour to write every day. This has been hugely rewarding because I'm halfway through my next book, tentatively titled Abe Titterman and the Key to the Universe.

In terms of submissions, 2013 saw far fewer stories sent to publishers than ever before. On top of that, unprofessional publishers either reneged on at least one acceptance, and dealing with the editors of several Connecticut-based professional magazines was simply a nightmare.

On the other hand -- and this is a big on the other hand -- I was exceedingly fortunate to have a technical piece published in the November issue of The Writer, which you can read online HERE for free. Plus, my short story collection The Horse Thieves and other Tales of the New West was accepted for publication by the wonderful folks at Hazardous Press.

This is the writing life, tragedy and triumph -- and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Just before the close of 2013, I delivered the final galley for Horse Thieves. Final cover art should be coming soon, at which time the publisher will set a final release date. Stay tuned here and on Facebook for frequent updates as we approach the release.

Also -- can it be true?! -- a story that I thought dead, that had been rejected by a record-breaking 22 markets, may finally see the light of day. What can it be? Who is this glorious Lazarus? You'll have to wait until the ink is dry to find out.

Thank you for all of your support last year. Right now, the future looks bright, and 2014 promises to be a great year for my professional writing career. I hope you're all ready to go on this journey. I know I am!

Until next time, happy New Year and thanks for reading!

News: December 2013

As we enter the holiday season, I'd like to wish all of my readers a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and blessed Yule.

With the year winding down, I am gearing up for the release of The Horse Thieves and Other Tales of the New West. I am particularly excited because I saw the preliminary sketches for the cover art just a week ago and can't wait to show it to the world. Stay tuned here and on Facebook for frequent updates as we approach the release.

Last month, I also had an article about character development in the November issue of The Writer, which you can read online HERE for free. If you've never read the magazine before, I highly recommend that writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry check out a few issues for a lot of encouraging and insightful articles.

Finally, I'm continuing work on my latest manuscript, the sci-fi novel Abe Titterman and the Key to the Universe. I'm excited to announce that I finished part one of the book last month and have begun work on the prologue for part two. I hope you all have an opportunity to read it some day!

That's all for this month. Until next time, happy holidays and thanks for reading!

News: November 2013

November is traditionally a time to express one's thanks for the bounty of the year. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for in 2013: some of the great freelance opportunities I've received, my network of support and, of course, the pending publication of my first book, The Horse Thieves and Other Tales of the New West.

Things are moving forward on several fronts. Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work with Mathew Duman on my new author photo. Matt has taken all of my pictures to date and is an accomplished photographer and writer in his own right. Last year, he self-published a coffee table book titled An Education in the Grotesque that is getting a wonderful response from the local community and from Yale University, the subject of the book. You can learn more at YaleGargoyles.com.

This month, I also have an article about character development in the November issue of The Writer. The issue is on newsstands now, but you can read the article online HERE for free. If you've never read an issue of The Writer before, I highly recommend that writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry check out a few issues for a lot of encouraging and insightful articles.

Finally, I'm continuing work on my latest manuscript, the sci-fi novel Abe Titterman and the Key to the Universe. I broke 30,000 words this month, which was a huge milestone for me. I hope you all have an opportunity to read it some day.

That's all for this month. Until next time, thanks for reading!

News: September 2013

Trumpet blare!

It is with great joy that I announce that I have signed a book contract with Hazardous Press to have my debut book published. Later this year will see the release of The Horse Thieves and Other Tales of the New West. The next few months will likely be a whirlwind of editing and other duties as I develop cover art with my hired artist and prep the book for publication. The release date is TBD.

With an editorial shift at FictionMagazines.com, the release date of PRIMER, which was set to feature my short story, "The Zumundo Cog," has been pushed back to an as-yet-undetermined date. Since the cover art for the magazine was so cool, I can only hope that things get back on track soon; I'd love to see that magazine in print.

With all the excitement of the past month, I've been trying to work as steadily as possible, writing in the morning or on my lunch hour when a.m. time isn't an option. I'm proud to say that I've made some good progress on my YA sci-fi novel and have been "living" regularly in the book's universe so that I can do some serious world-building and character development.

Speaking of character development, I will have an article published on the topic in the November issue of The Writer, one of the industry's biggest trade magazines.

That's all for this month. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Why is it so Difficult to Write a Good Tie-In Novel?

As readers of my fiction, blog, website and Facebook page know, I am an unequivocal geek. And as a geek, I like geeky things. Like Star Wars. Like Star Trek. Like Magic: The Gathering and the Lord of the Rings. Like superheroes and everything in between.

So what are geeks like me to do when we have exhausted our “primary sources”? When we have watched all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and still want more? When playing Dungeons & Dragons once or twice a week isn’t enough to sate our enthusiasm for the property?

We turn to the “expanded universe.”

We geeks are lucky. Fans of, say, literary fiction can rarely — if ever — boast that they can read tie-in novels or play tie-in games once they’ve finished reading their primary source. Compare that with Firefly, whose 14 episodes are bolstered by comics, games, official companions (not those kind of “companions”!) and even books of scholarly essays.

Yet for all of this expanded universe material, very little of it is any good.

Why is that? Why is it so difficult to write a good — if not excellent — tie-in or expanded universe book?

This strikes me as very strange. After all, most primary source owners (by which I mean the companies that own properties like Star Trek and Magic) are big organizations that should have the clout and financial backing of any New York City publisher. These same companies, though, don’t seem to be using their resources to (a.) hire good storytellers and (b.) ensure that they’re putting out a quality product.

Let’s look at two examples.

In his book, Sometimes the Magic Works , acclaimed fantasy author Terry Brooks talks about his nightmare experience writing the tie-in novel for the movie Hook . Brooks recounts that he was receiving script revisions on a daily basis and that people involved with the film weren’t accessible when he had questions or concerns. Brooks swore he would never do another tie-in book again.

Fast forward to 1999. Brooks is offered the chance to write the novelization of Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace . Brooks only agrees to undertake the project if he has what some might consider unrivaled access to the film: the ability to get in touch with George Lucas and his staff, concept art, ship drawings, scripts, etc. All of these things were provided, and Brooks’ novelization of Episode One, I would argue, is one of the better tie-in or expanded universe books that I’ve read, regardless of how you feel about the film itself.

This may be one reason why tie-in and expanded universe books are rarely up to snuff: bureaucracy. When writers are tasked with getting into the head of another creative person, the writer needs access to that person’s vision of the property. Since Brooks had access to all of LucasFilm for his novelization, the book turned out successful. This wasn’t the case with Hook, where the writer’s access was severely limited.

I want to turn now to my second example. I recently finished reading Ari Marmell’s book Agents of Artifice , a tie-in novel for Magic: The Gathering. For those unaware, Magic is a collectible card game owned by Hasbro, and the Magic novels are put out by Hasbro’s subsidiary Wizards of the Coast (which also owns Dungeons & Dragons). Most people also don’t know that Magic is Hasbro’s most valuable game brand.

Think about that for a second.

Magic is the most popular game brand of a company that owns Monopoly, Angry Birds, Battleship, Clue and so on. In 2012, the game reportedly generated $200 million in revenue for Hasbro.

I feel that it’s necessary to put Magic into this kind of context. Agents of Artifice wasn’t a self-published book. It wasn’t fan fiction. It was a professionally released hardcover put out by a multi-million dollar company. If that’s the case, why does Agents of Artifice have sentences with missing words? With words repeated? With sentences so unclear that they have to be read multiple times to understand the writer’s meaning? The book reads like a second draft that wasn’t edited before being sent to press. Point of view changes from limited omniscient to true omniscient point of view occur mid paragraph, to say nothing of the storytelling structure as a whole. How did Hasbro let this embarrassment reach the market?

Regrettably, no tie-in novelists would comment on the record for this blog post, though I did try to contact a few. Instead, I turned to my friend Nick, who is both an economist and a voracious reader. Not surprisingly, Nick thinks the answer comes down to money.

“Let me opine baselessly and say that I think the reason the quality is so often lacking is due to economics. In a case where the rights-holder is commissioning the work, presumably their reason for doing so is to advance the brand. Hasbro probably doesn't care about telling the story behind G.I. Joe, but they see an opportunity to make money, both directly by selling the book, and indirectly by promoting sales of the toys. It's a purely commercial decision; accordingly, they hire the cheapest author they can find who meets a certain level of quality, which is probably in turn determined by the venerability of the brand (Star Wars will probably have better tie-ins that Andromeda). Essentially, the lowest bidder is the one likely to get the commission, and so the quality of the product is low. In part they can get away with this because they have a built-in market in the form of consumers of the brand; the novel doesn't have to stand on its own merits; it just needs to be good enough that fans will shell out for it.

“There may be some genuine labors of love out there — some of the Star Wars expanded universe novels were pretty decent, if I remember correctly — and sometimes big properties will attract big talent, but this will probably only happen where the rights-holder expects a big profit to justify the big investment.”

I think there’s a lot of truth here. Still, some of the reviews for Agents of Artifice on Goodreads come from people who admittedly don’t or haven’t tried the Magic card game. In the name of advancing the brand and promoting sales, wouldn’t a company like Hasbro want to put its best foot forward for those who have never been exposed to the property before, or perhaps in only a limited way? Wouldn’t a truly kick-ass book be more likely to get someone to go out and buy a stack of Magic cards than a mediocre one?

Sadly, the answer seems as elusive as the Rebel Alliance. I suppose I could lament the fact that money rules the publishing world, but that would be about as useful as spitting in the wind. Instead, I invite readers to share the best tie-in and expanded universe novels that they’ve read, as well as the worst. In publishing, public opinion still does matter, and discerning geeks like me should demand the best of their favorite geeky properties.