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Post by tris on Aug 4, 2009 13:45:15 GMT -5
I learned long ago that normal is relative, and how you view the world depends on where you are. Being weird just goes with the territory. Unfortunately we're scattered so far apart it just seems like we're weird or that there's not too many of us.
But I've noticed a trend over the years. When I first fell in love with science fiction waaay back when dinos still roamed the planet (notice I did not say which planet), there was little science fiction or fantasy on library or book store shelves. Now it's taking over and making a respectable showing. Christian publishers are just behind the times in catching up -- present company excepted.
Still, it's very gratifying to find other gals around who share my gag reflex for romance stories unless a) they involve another world b) the heroine is just as self-sufficient as the hero or c)it's the underlying spice to the story and not the major thread.
FYI -- that's how my husband and I met...exchanging sci fi stories we'd written. He wrote short stories and I wrote novels....and they lived happily ever after!
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Post by Spokane Flyboy on Aug 4, 2009 15:26:11 GMT -5
Not ready for meds yet. LOL. I love romance, but to me romance is two people getting to know each other and loving who they are. I hate the ones where there seems to be a formula where she tries not to notice his strong jawline and he tries to listen to her without thinking she's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. (gagging now) I just hate them because they never have the man as a lankey, average–height dweeb with narrow, angular jaw and features. I'm almost the opposite of tall, dark, and handsome. Go average, ghostly, and plain!
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Post by Christian Soldier on Aug 4, 2009 22:34:49 GMT -5
Hear hear! And awkward! Romance heroes should have at least two left feet... yeah, you should see me marching. There's a reason why they ask me politely, but firmly, to stay out of ceremonies.
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Post by veryblessedmom on Aug 5, 2009 8:01:46 GMT -5
The women are never overweight with a pointy nose either. LOL
Well Jane Eyre broke the rules by making both Jane and Mr. Rochester unattractive. The other Bronte sisters said a book about less than beautiful people would never be accepted. Jane Eyre was written to prove them wrong.
How long ago was that book written? And people are still reading it.
My new WIP centers around a stick thin girl with unruly curly red hair and freckles.
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Post by Christian Soldier on Aug 5, 2009 11:27:10 GMT -5
Oooo! Do tell. And she falls in love with a gauky, pimply fellow who bangs his head on things?
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Post by veryblessedmom on Aug 5, 2009 12:02:18 GMT -5
No, sorry. My guy is dreamy.
But in real life, my first big crush was on a skinny guy who had so much body hair he looked almost furry. He tutored me in Calculus but stop charging me b/c he felt sorry for me. I loved English. He loved Physics and Chemistry but could hardly form a coherent sentence.
I googled him once. He's published on research from Cal Tech, NASA and NC State.
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Post by tris on Aug 5, 2009 16:55:15 GMT -5
I just hate them because they never have the man as a lankey, average–height dweeb with narrow, angular jaw and features. I'm almost the opposite of tall, dark, and handsome. Go average, ghostly, and plain! Hmmm....that sounds like a description of Luke Skywalker.
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Post by torainfor on Aug 5, 2009 18:04:05 GMT -5
Flyboy, they do! You just have to read English stuff. In a world where David Tennant is considered hot, anyone has a chance!
(I'm not saying he's not attractive. He has his moments. I'm saying Americans have much higher standards, and he would probably not be a typical leading man type here.)
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Post by veritasseeker90 on Aug 5, 2009 21:05:56 GMT -5
I'm going to pop in for a minute and heartily agree. Mostly for me, Fanatasy gives humanity a chance to redeem itself and me a moment to see a side that I wish everyone could act on:
-Honor -Love in the deepest sense -Loyality -And a chance to change somethine against all odds when everyone says you can't do it.
The same attributes can be given to people in real life but I've noticed the people I've been around don't act on it at all. It makes me quite sad.
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Post by veryblessedmom on Aug 5, 2009 22:05:51 GMT -5
Flyboy, they do! You just have to read English stuff. In a world where David Tennant is considered hot, anyone has a chance! (I'm not saying he's not attractive. He has his moments. I'm saying Americans have much higher standards, and he would probably not be a typical leading man type here.) I love love love Doctor Who. He's who I've based my dreamy new character on. My guys is ancient with no real powers anymore. Knowledge is his power. Plus he has this Pinocchio wanna be human thing going on. Oh, and I think David Tennant is way hot.
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catofninetales
Junior Member
People are the only thing you can take with you to heaven.
Posts: 66
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Post by catofninetales on Aug 7, 2009 1:08:43 GMT -5
"so are you ever going to actually finish that or is it just a thing you talk about, like so many other things you talk about doing." I've learned that all those things we talk about doing or "half-do" in the eyes of others are really research for everything we haven't written yet. I grew up thinking I was flighty; turns out I'm a writer.
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Post by veryblessedmom on Aug 7, 2009 6:36:38 GMT -5
"so are you ever going to actually finish that or is it just a thing you talk about, like so many other things you talk about doing." I've learned that all those things we talk about doing or "half-do" in the eyes of others are really research for everything we haven't written yet. I grew up thinking I was flighty; turns out I'm a writer. Me too. And I didn't know how to write and finish a story until i discovered Fantasy.
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catofninetales
Junior Member
People are the only thing you can take with you to heaven.
Posts: 66
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Post by catofninetales on Aug 7, 2009 10:28:17 GMT -5
Me too. And I didn't know how to write and finish a story until i discovered Fantasy. I simply haven't had the motivation to do the editing/rewriting and keep my eye on the endgame until I decided to throw in the towel on the more common genres and go spec. I don't have a problem with standard contemp writing, as long as it's not mere formula...but I don't like formula. Doesn't matter whether it's general market or CBA, if I know the ending *and* the story based on the cover, I'm not going to waste my time. I do like it when authors develop their own formula and brand themselves by it, using it to generate stuff where the predictability is designed in a fresh way and the story's still not typed enough to never surprise. To me that's sonnet writing. I admire anyone who can do a high-quality product within a strict structure. That is a tough gig, man. I suspect that also makes me weird. I often get blank stares when I say that kind of thing. ("You like pulp?" "Not precisely. I also like lit, if it's not too litty. And space pirates. But not if they're just, like, a guy with an octopus on his head or something. That's too formulaic." ...."Erm. Right." )
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lexkx
Full Member
How nice to know that if you go down the hole, Dad will fish you out.
Posts: 125
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Post by lexkx on Aug 9, 2009 13:48:45 GMT -5
Brandilyn Collins, who writes Christian suspense, is often quoted in ACFW cricles because she says "There are normal people, and then there are writers. As if that didn't make us weird enough, we are further divided. There are normal writers, and then there are those scifi/fantasy writers."
I think there comes a point where we kind of accept that weird is normal. Otherwise, we'd be tempted to fall into Satan's trap of telling ourselves to stop being so weird and start acting like the world tells us is normal. Please. Who wants the bad guy to win?
The fairy tale of "The Ugly Duckling" is appealing across the board, because the idea that out there...somewhere...exists a race of beings to whom we are normal and beautiful calls to that part of us that is tired of being strange among the familiar. But, on the other hand, God made us to be unique. Sometimes, He made us to be the only one of our kind. That doesn't mean we can't be loved, it just means that the place we feel most comfortable is at the feet of Jesus.
Where we're too busy looking at him to notice ourselves.
(And on the subject of geeky heroes and romantic expectations, write the hero you want to win the girl. If you've never met a beautiful man and think you can imagine one who would fall for your girl, try that. Though in real life they're seldom as interesting as full-fledged "normal" people. Frank Peretti puts these charming little romance bits into his novels, often about lumpy, average guys who do not compare well against the world's idea of pretty. And, it must be said, David Tennant is hot.)
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Aug 11, 2009 7:53:48 GMT -5
Now imagine a world in which everyone loves SF/Fantasy and only weird people do not.
I'm such a nonconformist that I wonder if in that world I would actually love chick-lit better than all other kinds of fiction. ;-)
It reminds me of our discussion of autism a month or so back. I asked us to imagine a world in which people on the autism spectrum vastly outnumber those off it. Because really, what makes autistic people seem strange is that they're different from the norm. But what if they were the norm and "regular" people were a tiny minority? What would that look like?
Jeff
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