So here we are today, friends, neighbors, countrymen. An impromptu blog on the topic of books not yet written. If you're a writer, what books would you like to write? Maybe they're already planned, or maybe you don't have the guts to write them yet? But go ahead, what would you like to write?
And readers, here's your chance to submit your literary grocery list. What books would you like to see? Maybe from a specific author, but maybe just in general. What are you in the mood for? What do you see a need for?
Go ahead and share.
You will notice I am totally fudging here and not offering my own book ideas. But I will. I'll put them in the comment section below as soon as I think of them. There's nothing like being startled before your coffee to freeze up that creative flow. ;-)
25 comments:
Hello, Josh.
I'd like to see a story that takes place on a cross-country trip. Maybe two people from different backgrounds who are thrown together by negative circumstance--a death, homelessness. A hitchhiker could work. A cross-country move could work.
I'd love to see the Lanyon take on a vampire book. :)
An artist compelled during sleep to paint hideous things.
A cop who can't be a cop anymore due to illness or a physical condition.
Hmm...now I'm really ready to see some new JL treasures.
What's on the Lanyon List, Josh? :)
~Whitley
I'd like a protag who is a sexually happy healthy person with wheels, not temporarily disabled but someone for whom that is a way of life.
And JL + cowboys could be the perfect matchup.
Jan x
Most books are about new or developing relationships. I would enjoy reading a story or series where the couple in a well developed and stable relationship dealing with a mystery or adventure. Also wouldn't mind if the couple was part of the 'boomer generation'.
A modern day Nick and Nora? Jake and Adrien in 20 years? D&M's adventure on a european cruise?
When my kids were smaller, they would lie next to me, and say: "Tell me story."
(picture me: crashed out on the carpet, arm over eyes, deep breathing)"What kind of story?"
"About a little kid. Who has a dog. And a Mommy...."
The more questions I asked, the most the story would reveal itself.
"A story about a kid who gets in trouble for experiments."
"Experiments?"
"Like if they spilled the baking soda from the fridge and poured that stuff that costs monies on it."
"The balsamic vinegar."
"Uh huh."
"Then what happened?" I asked.
"Then, the Mommy needed a little break-down."
Stories are good medicine for what ails you.
Josh--I have so many books I want to write, and a good number on my PC unpubbed. *sigh*
If I could write anything right now...it would be either (ha!) another SAS book, or another story set in Bamfield on Vancouver Island. I want to explore stereotypes and grief (not at the same time). Most of my people have slightly dubious principles. I like making heroes do bad things :)
Has the coffee kicked in? What would you like to write?
Actually Josh you hit on a very New Yorker Magazine technique here. Let the reader fill in the possibilities. And Lin, did you hit a nerve! I've been trying to insert a permanent Nick and Nora kind of relationship in my mystery series--and love the whole idea that marriage isn't death to a relationship.
I want to see mature characters who know what they want and don’t want. Who have a grip on reality. A heroine who doesn’t spend half her time worrying if she’s dressed right and so on.
"An artist compelled during sleep to paint hideous things."
THIS. Love this idea!
"A cop who can't be a cop anymore due to illness or a physical condition." As a writer, I'm trying this one out, but every version never comes out right. Maybe the next one will.
I'm working on a shifter cop series. I'm getting excited to write again and I'd like to be writing this. NOW. lol.
And while I like a couple meeting and falling in love for the first time, I also like series where they either start out as an established couple or become an established couple. That doesn't really fit in the romance genre, but yet, it sorta does. It's a nice break from the OMG Will They Ever Get Together stuff.
A zombie thriller with a gay hero
Y'know, my only problem with this is that every idea I can think of, I want to write it myself;) What I'd really love to see is movies or mini-series made from some of my favorite M/M fiction. Like, wouldn't an Adrien English or a Psycop or a Captive Prince series be freakin' AWESOME?! To name but a few! I mean, really, don't those in the TV/movie biz know what an audience there is for this stuff? You'd think they'd have a clue after Brokeback Mountain alone - Pam
Oh! An Adrien English movie and a Psycop movie. I am soooo there! They would be perfect!
Let's see. Whitley, still to come this year (or as close to this year as I can arrange it):
The Parting Glass
Kick Start
The Christmas Coda collection
Stranger Things Have Happened (Adrien English nuttiness -- or maybe naughtiness)
The Boy With The Painful Tattoo
A vampire book! :-D
Hmmm....
Jan, I like that. I do think we need more realistic stories about disabled characters.
Hey there, Lin.
Romance is about the "journey," which is why most romance novels are about getting to know the other person and overcoming obstacles.
I do think a mystery with an established couple could be fun, although I expect a lot of readers would be hoping for some kind of challenge or turmoil to that romantic relationship.
Because, again, romance is about the journey. :-)
J. Wachowski, I love that reminiscence. :-)
Cowboys...hmmmm....
Hey there, Toni!
A day later my coffee HAS kicked in. I would like to write a WW1 gothic mystery/romance (M/M naturally) AND I would like to write an M/M steampunk adventure/mystery.
And where those things would fit into my carefully planned schedule, I do not know!
Jean, I don't think marriage has to be the death of a relationship, but for the romance reader, there has to be challenges and obstacles ahead to keep that journey interesting and lively.
And the challenge for the writer is to throw believable obstacles in the path of happiness -- without damaging or undoing all that has been achieved.
I would love to see that kind of story!
Rita, I am right there with you. I like characters who are smart (most of the time) and act like grown ups (most of the time).
The cop who can't be a cop anymore has been done a LOT in mainstream mystery. And even in gay mystery. But I think it's always interesting and always valid because it's something that really DOES happen.
A zombie thriller with a gay hero...?
Hmmm.
This is interesting. But surely these stories are out there right now?
Pam, I think the fun of writing is even if we both were to write the same idea -- even if a dozen writers get the same idea -- we would all write it so differently!
That's the really exciting thing about fiction. There are no new ideas. I haven't seen a new idea in twenty years, but an individual author's take makes the oldest idea fresh and interesting again!
If I were irresponsible and dropped my current WIPs and let them die on the vine, I'd move onto this karmic piece. MC feels a profound connection to people in her life (from "I knew you 400 years ago, but you died on me" to "I trust you with my life and don't know why") Her feelings of connection don't really apply to her current RL - and why is she friends with all these guys, anyway?? She thinks she may be a bit touched in the head, but a premonition or three pan out, and she realizes they were all soldiers in the same unit, and not everyone made it out alive. And, despite an obvious memory of a physical relationship, she wasn't a woman back then either.
Just a thought... it was festering in my mind yesterday when I was driving around.
Kate, make plenty of notes. That's what I do when I get those creative blasts and I can't do anything about them.
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