Monday, May 16, 2011

The Big FAD truth of it.

Well, guys, as I'm sure you've heard by now, Blogger had a few technical difficulties last week, so if some of you left comments on Betsy's Wednesday post, there's a good chance they got eaten by cyberspace (including mine! Ha!). So, if you've got conference questions for her, you might want to repost them!

Thanks for all your great feedback about novellas versus novels! It's always fun to hear how different people write. I'm a big time nerd - I find it pretty fascinating that one plot can be written a million times by a million people and somehow it ends up with a million different stories. (Case in point: Beastly. I'm hoping to see the movie version soon!)

I have a confession to make: I really have gotten into couponing. I always tried to be good with coupons and sales and watching different prices, and up until recently I was one of those generic-only shoppers.

Until I came across this thing called "Extreme Couponing". And now, it's a TLC show (which actually scares me because I'm a little worried all these manufacturers are going to stop putting out such high-value coupons!). It's really becoming a fun game and I can see how you can get a little addicted to the thrill of finding a good deal.

So, basically, I'm a cheapskate nerd. :)

Couponing is definitely a hot fad right now. It's amazing to me what kind of fads we can get caught up in as Americans - anyone remember pogs? Beanie Babies? Stirrup pants? (I saw a pair of those in the store a few weeks ago. HEAVEN HELP US.)

Fads don't just exist in the retail world, though. They are very prevalent in writing too. Can I get an "Amen" for the Amish book craze? Ha! :) It seems like we are on a constant whirling path of ins and outs - everyone's writing chick-lit, everyone's writing suspense, everyone's writing 1800's books, everyone's writing Westerns.

I was at a conference a while ago and I sat down to talk with a publisher. The poor lady was slumped over her desk and said weakly, "Please, please, please tell me you write something other than a modern take on Indiana Jones! I've seen five of them this afternoon!"

So. Does that mean fads are a bad thing?

I'm so curious to see what you guys think about this!!

2 comments:

  1. Fads seem fun at first but then they get overwhelming. I think within fads some things will always have substance. For example, twilight will most likely always be a classic
    now but all the other vampire books?? I doubt it

    I remember hearing not to long ago the next thing in books or at least YA books is mermaids. Anyone else hear that?

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  2. I agree on Twilight, Tonya!

    I haven't heard anything about mermaids yet Tonya but that sounds cool! Still, that falls under the fantasy category of YA, which is a sub genre. I wonder why fantasy is so prevalent with YA? What do ya'll think? Do teens just enjoy other worlds more than adults? lol

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