More on Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling

Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling features several authors and essayists, including Maurice Broaddus, Nisi Shawl, and Victor Raymond who are all in town for WisCon 41 this weekend. I thought this would be a perfect time to bring up this collection of short stories and essays again, and post the full Table of Contents for the X-page book. You may recall that I wrote about the anthology for Scalzi’s The Big Idea, and that the concept for the collection came from some serious discussions about tropes and cliches.

Challenging what we think about tropes and cliches can be both fun and uncomfortable, and that has shown in the reviews, like the starred review of Upside Down we received from Publisher’s Weekly. I quote: “When the stories are shocking, they demonstrate how thoroughly these narrative conventions have become embedded in our psyches.” This, by itself, was one of the reasons why I wanted to put together this collection.

I know I’m a smart-ass, but I try to operate from the mindset that I don’t know everything, that I am always learning, to prevent cynicism and bitterness from taking over. Editing Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling taught me that my lessons in life will never be over, and that isn’t something to fear–but to celebrate. Everyone has a story to tell, and sometimes the best thing we can do as writers and readers is to truly listen to that tale to understand our differences and what we have in common with one another. I’m very proud of the collection, and am so pleased to have worked with such fine and excellent individuals.

If you’re interested in this collection, the anthology is available in digital and print wherever books are sold. You can find Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling on Amazon.com, DriveThruFiction.com, and many other bookstores, too!

Table of Contents

Introduction. JERRY GORDON

SECTION I: INVERTING THE TROPE

On Loving Bad Boys: A Villanelle. VALYA DUDYCZ LUPESCU

Single, Singularity. JOHN HORNOR JACOBS

Lazzrus. NISI SHAWL

Seeking Truth. ELSA SJUNNESON-HENRY

Thwock. MICHELLE MUENZLER

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Paprika Place? MICHAEL R. UNDERWOOD

Chosen. ANTON STROUT

The White Dragon. ALYSSA WONG

Her Curse, How Gently It Comes Undone. HARALAMBI MARKOV

Burning Bright. SHANNA GERMAIN

Santa CIS (Episode 1: No Saint). ALETHEA KONTIS

Requiem for a Manic Pixie Dream. KATY HARRAD & GREG STOLZE

The Refrigerator in the Girlfriend. ADAM-TROY CASTRO

The First Blood of Poppy Dupree. DELILAH S. DAWSON

Red Light. SARA M. HARVEY

Until There Is Only Hunger. MICHAEL MATHESON

Super Duper Fly. MAURICE BROADDUS

Drafty as a Chain Mail Bikini. KAT RICHARDSON

Swan Song. MICHELLE LYONS-MCFARLAND

Those Who Leave. MICHAEL CHOI

Nouns of Nouns: A Mini Epic. ALEX SHVARTSMAN

Excess Light. RAHUL KANAKIA

The Origin of Terror. SUNIL PATEL

The Tangled Web. FERRETT STEINMETZ

Hamsa, Hamsa, Hamsa, Tfu, Tfu, Tfu. ALISA SCHREIBMAN

Real Women Are Dangerous. RATI MEHROTRA

SECTION II: DISCUSSING THE TROPES

I’m Pretty Sure I’ve Read This Before… PATRICK HESTER

Fractured Souls. LUCY A. SNYDER

Into the Labyrinth: The Heroine’s Journey. A.C. WISE

Escaping the Hall of Mirrors. VICTOR RAYMOND

Tropes as Erasers: A Transgender Perspective. KEFFY R.M. KEHRLI

SECTION III: DEFINING THE TROPES

Afterword. MONICA VALENTINELLI & JAYM GATES

Trope Definitions/Index of Tropes.

SECTION IV: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND

ADDITIONAL BIOS