Meanwhile With Trevor
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The Future: For Readers and Writers
September 20, 2024
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Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember, my friend: Future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here. 

So begins Plan 9 from Outer Space, often considered the best, worst sci-fi movie ever made. But I often think of that line: “We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives.” Well, it’s true and sounds profound.

Then you think about it for a second and realize it’s just reductive.

Nevertheless, we are interested in the future as it relates to many things. One area of particular interest to me is the future of science fiction publishing because, if everything works out, it’s an arena in which I may spend a significant part of my life. There are other genres which I want to explore, like pulp crime fiction, adventure stories, westerns, murder mysteries, and so forth. But so far I’ve had the most success in writing and selling stories set on other planets or featuring alien spacecraft. 

That’s the market.

Or is it? This recent article from World Magazine notes that Christian science fiction and fantasy writers are having a difficult time getting published. The evangelical press doesn’t know how to edit or sell those genres anymore, or simply doesn’t think they’ll do well in the Christian market. Never mind that C.S. Lewis, arguably the most successful Christian storyteller since Jesus, wrote in both genres and most of us grew up reading his work. Never mind that all modern fantasy is indebted to Tolkien, who wrote from a Catholic worldview. Never mind that Christians are just as likely to read Harry Potter or The Expanse as anyone else.

No one in the Christian publishing houses knows how to read or sell sci-fi or fantasy. Nope.

The article does note that this seems to be changing. A representative at Baker says she hopes, “we’ll be able to return to publishing more traditional fantasy novels.” Given a mention earlier in the piece about Realm Makers, a gathering of hundreds of Christian writers of speculative fiction, I’m sure places like Baker are getting inundated with genre manuscripts. If traditional publishing is going to survive, they’ll have to accept the supply and the demand.

But is it too little too late?

Baker “hopes” they’ll eventually “return to publishing” genre fiction. Big ships turn slowly. Smaller presses, like Enclave, are swooping in to capture the market. But they only publish 20 titles annually, when, as the article notes, speculative fiction makes up 85 percent of the secular market, it’s not enough. The future is (obviously, to some of us) indie. World tells us that seven of the 12 books of the year at Realm Makers were independently published. That makes sense when we consider the lack of publishers putting out speculative fiction. There will be more indie books in the small pool.

Here’s the other thing to consider, and it should scare publishers: indie novels are good.

We’re at a point now where the independent author can get enough beta readers to handle the editing, AI to make cover art, and crowdfund the printing. No more waiting for a manuscript to work its way up to the top of the slush pile and go through the editing process. Traditional publishing worked well for a long time and will never completely go away. But it won’t be the norm for much longer.

Besides, the nerds have always been the outcasts.

BasedCon was created because the traditional sci-fi book conventions became hostile to those who lean right. I have no idea how Realm Makers leans, which is a shame given that it’s for Christian writers. But the majority of the authors I met at BasedCon also have religious convictions and work those themes into their novels. I suspect, however, they too would struggle to get published through a trad publisher. I know I would. My two most successful stories have featured protagonists who are explicitly agnostic, and while they have character arcs and I incorporate spiritual themes from a Christian perspective, they never have that Come to Jesus moment. Why? Because I’m more interested in those spiritual themes than messaging.

Let the reader connect the dots. Or not. I’m just here to entertain as many people as possible.

Some of the BasedCon authors use bad words in their books. They write how real people talk. Readers want a degree of reality in their fantasy, and nothing will change that. I write characters who are on the fence on spiritual matters. That’s where many people are. No amount of preaching in what’s supposed to be entertaining will change that, either. And I don’t think the Christian bookhouses are any more comfortable with that than they are dipping their toes in a market dominated by Harry Potter’s witchcraft.

So where will readers and writers be spending their time, money, and future? In indie novels.

Need some help finding something good? Head over to Upstream Reviews and find something new to love.

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Leo and Britt come face to face with a prehistoric god a new cult on Saturn. Can they save the children doomed to sacrifice and escape?

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Leo and Brittany have arrived on Saturn, but not in the way they'd hoped. Captured by a pagan cult, they don't have time to stop the unthinkable from happening. But they'll try anyway.

Content warning: language and sexual situations.

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Star Wars is dead and the more apathy you show the faster it will be allowed to rest in peace.

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If you'd like to buy the story and read ahead, it's available in the Fall 2020 issue of Cirsova, available here: https://amzn.to/3yRRywY

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Ironheart and Superman: A Failure to Launch

Yesterday two trailers were released for upcoming superhero projects. First, we had Marvel's Ironheart, which Disney has been sitting on for years at this point. Apparently it follows Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a young black woman at MIT who is (was?) intended to take over for Tony Stark as Ironwhathaveyou. If you haven't seen the trailer yet, take a look.

I stopped paying too much attention to the MCU a long time ago, but apparently Riri was introduced in Wakanda Forever, and her fans have been clamoring for a standalone show ever since (/sarcasm). Watching the trailer, I can't help but notice how many times we're told she's smart and capable. Any suggestion that she can't do something is shot down immediately. We're supposed to believe that The System is against is her because she's poor, I guess, and doesn't have Tony Stark's advantages.

Remember Tony Stark? Sure, he was rich. But he was also a self-absorbed man-child who found himself in a cave in Afghanistan who had to engineer his own escape with scrap parts. Tony Stark, who had to learn about self-sacrifice and the consequences of his actions. Robert Downey Jr. make us like the guy, with his easy charm, even though we wanted to see him grow up. There was room for a character arc. No offence to Dominique, but she doesn't have the charm, and her character clearly has nowhere to go.

A few hours later, Warner Bros./DC released the trailer for James Gunn's Superman, the latest reboot of the iconic superhero. We've been waiting for a good Superman for a long time. Something to reunite the fans, the casually interested, and possibly the entire country. And to be honest, I don't think this is gonna do it. Take a look.

Before I go any further, I want to spin my theory on the interview scene, which is a little different from what I'm hearing from most anyone else. Notice how David Corenswet pitches his voice really high when he says, "Sure!" At this point in the movie, I don't think Lois (Rachel Brasnahan) knows that Clark is Superman, and thinks he's just playacting. But when Clark drops his voice, he's showing his cards a little bit. Then, when he completely loses his cool, he's just acting how Lois thinks Superman would respond. In context (the scene is reportedly ten minutes long!), it might be interesting. Out of context, in a trailer, it's a stupid decision.

Throughout the entire trailer we see Superman smacked around, knocked out, screaming out in self-defense, and made fun of for having a dog. There are some super-heroics, to be sure, but they're mitigated by the overwhelming amount of thrashing he takes. Unlike Riri, I guess he's got some room for growth. But it doesn't inspire me to see the movie. Some are defending this approach, suggesting that someone with such a clear cut understanding of right and wrong would be frustrated and confused by our complex, political climate. And I agree. But his moral compass and grace towards an unfair world should have been set before leaving Smallville and going out into the world.

So on the one hand, we've got a flawless female character. And on the other, we've got an immature Superman. Neither character is attractive, warts and all. Neither character is relatable or inspiring in the ways the filmmakers intended, as presented. Maybe the show and movie will be good. But someone else will have to let me know. Because right now, I'm not inspired to see either one.

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What Do We Want? Familiar Originality! When Do We Want It? Now!

There is an ongoing debate over what movie audiences really want. On the one hand, there are those who bemoan the upcoming slate of films that are nothing but sequels and prequels. “People want original movies!” they say, and use the spectacular failure of recent comic book movies as proof. But when an original movie like the recent Black Bag doesn’t make a dent at the box office and is quietly shuffled onto streaming, the other side can say, “No they don’t.”

So which is it?

I say, both!

The average viewer likes familiarity. That’s why every night on TV millions of people watch the latest episode of their favorite procedural. Every episode is the same. Has been for years. Doesn’t matter if you’re watching Bones, House M.D., or NCIS, at the end of the day, the story beats are invariably the same. The characters fill the same archetypes. 

Even if you aren’t a student of scriptwriting, you know the flow.

Engaging with a story is sometimes like singing a song. Sometimes you want to sit back and listen to a master perform, but other times you want to join in. And if the tune is simple and familiar, you can learn new words that much more easily. If the melody is complex, with tempo and key changes, it demands attention. That’s when you just sit back and appreciate someone else’s artistry. 

More often than not, we’re drawn to the familiar. 

We go to the movies to be entertained more than we go to be challenged.

But Hollywood seems determined to challenge us. They challenge our ideas of who are familiar are. They challenge our core beliefs about right and wrong. When they do make something that isn’t from a well established intellectual property, they challenge us to accept an unfamiliar actor, who likely isn’t attractive or charming. Why should we want to get to know this person and the character he or she is playing?

We don’t. 

Mass appeal isn’t difficult. Our mainstream entertainment providers are making it difficult, probably in large part because they don’t know or understand what we want. And unless they do, people just like us will move to replace them. 

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Book Review - The Revenant and the Cult - Book Two: The Terror in the Wychwood

In the forward to The Revenant and the Cult - Book Two: The Terror in the Wychwood, author Herman P. Hunter mentions that his influences are J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, C.S. Lewis, and H.P. Lovecraft. While it may seem odd to intersperse deeply religious writers with those antagonistic to the idea of a benevolent God, from a writer’s perspective it makes sense.

For a fantasy writer, particularly one of faith, they are essential.

It’s also worth remembering that all four men were producing their greatest works around the same time on opposite sides of the Atlantic. Theirs was the golden age of worldbuilding, and it’s practically impossible for today’s writer of the fantastic not be influenced by their work, consciously or through osmosis. But to fully appreciate modern genre fiction, it’s to our advantage to drink deeply from their bibliographies.

Because genre fiction doesn’t always mean science fiction and fantasy.

As I noted in my review of The Revenant and the Cult - Book One: The Missing Spy, that story draws heavily from western tropes. Howard, always one to blaze his own trails, also dabbled in Lovecraft’s mythos, but before taking his own life seemed to be moving into writing cowboy stories. He was a Texan, after all. Unlike many authors, he was never satisfied staying in category for too long. 

With his series, Hunter is doing something similar, but different.

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Two words: Moonlight Hunters.

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Christian and otherwise, alike.

As the series has gone on, Hunter’s writing has only gotten richer. The books fly by and are pleasant reading, even with the elevated style of the classics. Anyone looking for the pulp violence of Howard, with the weird of Lovecraft, the tenderness of Lewis, and the worldview of Tolkien will feel right at home.

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