The first book I can remember falling in love with (and only wanting to rewrite the ending instead of the whole book) was Charlotte's Web. But, CL, that's not supernatural, or paranormal. Oh, you think it's not? Hellooooo, a talking pig and a writing spider. Have you ever seen that in real life? I know I haven't. (If I had, I may not be so freaking arachnophobic!) The only part of Charlotte's Web I rewrote in my head was the ending; I didn't want Charlotte to die.
As I search my memory of books that stand out in my head, I always go back to Stephen King. I first discovered the master of horror in fifth grade. Yes, you read that right; I read Stephen King in fifth grade. Did it scare me? Yep. Did I love it? Yep. Something clicked inside my head when I read Pet Semetary (I always tried to read books before I saw the movies); I needed more monsters, more horror, more action. Give me a horror flick or action movie over a chick flick any day!
But again, I ask why? Why is it I find things that don't exist (or do they?) to be so intriguing. I think I've come up with the answer - because the rules don't apply! In supernatural, paranormal, horror, etc, the characters don't have to play by the same rules as the rest of us. They can fly, read people's minds, kill the bad guys, rematerialize anywhere they please, and some live forever. Who wouldn't want to lose themselves in that kind of universe, if only for an hour at a time?!
But here's another thought; I don't read Science Fiction. Of course, there are rules in these books which don't apply to the rest of us, yet I find it distracting to try to imagine these technological worlds on top of trying to follow the storyline. I'm sure some SciFi fans feel the same way about the paranormal worlds, so maybe I'm not too weird.
Now it's your turn - Why do you read your favorite genre? Why do you write the genre you do? Was there some major turn of life which brought you over to the "dark" side, or have you always been fascinated with make-believe?
Yeah, I'm a sci-fi fan who doesn't like paranormal/urban fantasy stuff because in the sci-fi world, it is what it is. To buy into urban fantasy I have to accept on some level that (in the world of the book, at least) there's a magical world happening alongside my boring one, and my brain can't reconcile that.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite genre to read and to write is young adult, basically because when I was in middle school and high school I wanted to read about characters the same age as me in similar situations, and as I grew up I never outgrew them. I feel like I know the genre really well, so I feel comfortable with reading and writing it. I also like that the good YA books are fast paced and have interesting characters. I don't like that adult fiction isn't under that same pressure to hurry up and get to the story. I can handle it for a good enough story (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was about my limit) but in general I wouldn't read adult fiction unless it comes very highly recommended (or if I know the author personally and know he/she is a very good writer!)
The first books I remember reading and re-reading are the ones in the series called The Secret of the Unicorn Queen. I still have them and read them sometimes. :) But as I got older I wanted scary with my fiction. I loved the possiblility that there might be something else out there. And how many have you read where the main character doesn't even know that he/she has special powers of their own, so maybe one day I might develop something special too. I've given up on that part but I haven't given up on the otherwordly stuff. And if I'm the one writing it, at least I can live in the head of someone with whatever special powers I want to give them.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a hard question to answer. I love several genres and my favorite changes from year to year (and sometimes seems to change from week to week). I've been really attracted to YA dystopian and YA in general since reading The Hunger Games trilogy. I started reading paranormal before the huge surge in popularity and still enjoy paranormal/urban fiction. My most favorite genre is Southern Literature. I love books written by Southern authors set in the South. This is probably because I'm a Southern girl and I like reading about things that are familiar.
ReplyDeleteI must be, and have always been terribly left-sided brain-wise because I always chose to read non-fiction over any kind of fiction. It's gotten better as I've grown up, but as a kid I always found fictional books hard to follow, even though I grew up a history buff, especially World War II - which if you go really in depth in dates and people is very complicated. Rightly so perhaps, the hardest thing for me to write is fiction. I always fear readers will feel like my worlds/characters aren't realistic enough.
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