 Fantasy: December 30, 2009 Issue [#3469] |
  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: shaara
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1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
As one of your Fantasy editors, my goal is to challenge you to think outside the KNOWN and to help you inject your tales with fascinating facts while jagging left and right through troublesome frolics and teethe-writhing dilemmas.
Perhaps we can help each other to safely jog through these twisty turns of radical thought, alternate viewpoint, and dynamic detail. Come! Let’s head down the Path of Dimensions, untextured by any earthly array.
In other words,
let’s drop out of reality for awhile.
Shall we?
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Musings on Twilight
I know I should be writing about New Year’s Resolutions today, but few of us keep them anyway, so I’ve decided to write something that struck me as significant, something that gave me Gestalt.
I’m a teacher, required to attend seminars where some professional super whiz informs us all of the newest dialogue in teaching techniques. Through several hours of brainwashing, we teachers are supposed to improve our teaching and take away something valuable. I did, this last time. I chatted with teachers during breaks and learned that half of my fellow instructors had caught Twilight fever.
Now, in case you don’t know, I’m an alien-lover. That’s what sends me. I like to think about how things could be different. How beings could be different. Of course, since I’m a romantic at heart, I envision mostly that things would improve with alien contact. Anyway, although I get a kick out of writing about vampires (mostly because they resemble aliens with superpowers of brain and sophistication – LOL,) frankly I don’t read their tales. I think the whole thing is a little silly. But those fifteen EDUCATED teachers, of assorted ages, debating the skills and imagination of Stephanie Meyer, got me very curious.
So, last week I fell. I fell hard. Twilight I consumed in a couple of hours. Moonlight I finished the next day.I ordered the next two in the sequence and consumed them with barely a pause for breaths and food. I even checked-out the Twilight movie, but I found it greatly disappointing -- for unlike everyone else I’d spoken to, its vampire with his uncombed hair, did absolutely nothing for me.
However, one thing that’s certain is that enlightenment always chooses its own path, and rarely does it tweak one’s interest in the exact direction predicted. Twilight fever has not turned me “onto” vampires. It has merely given me a great deal to ponder -- like how did a brand new author stumble so cleverly with perfect insight into the mind of the pre-adolescent female (and/or an entire population of romantic souls?)
Duh. I mean, she’s got it solid. Here’s a guy who doesn’t pressure. He doesn’t want to get the heroine into his bed. He only wants to TALK. Then the fact that he’s wise beyond his years, composes and plays music brilliantly, and saves Bella's life with his super powers . . . What could be better?
Imagine if one of us really had unlimited time to study, to learn, to philosophize about life? Think of all the time we’d have if we could give up sleeping. Imagine a world with no weight problems because we never ate. Imagine being good at everything. Who wouldn’t want a boyfriend with all those attributes?
Of course Meyer is smart enough not to deluge us with the negatives. Oh, we see how the morality issues make our beloved vampire struggle between right and wrong. That gives him depth. He’s not dealing with issues such as whether he should try out for football or basketball. He never worries if the other guys think he’s macho or not. In fact, he doesn’t act anything like ANY teenage boy I’ve ever known.
But it’s not just the super powers that really impress. It’s mainly the love scenes, where the vampire makes it known he’s interested in everything Bella wants to tell him.
Wow, no wonder the whole world is going google-eyed over vampires; maybe there’s a lesson in there for all of us! Could it be that our characters – alien or vampire -- need only have eager ears to be the object of every reader’s fantasy? Maybe the key to the whole vampire mania (or writing a book with a hero that makes everyone swoon) is found in that one basic need -- to finally find someone who drops all his own self-absorption and LISTENS.
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Gleanings from Writing.com
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This is quite different, my friends.
It comes out of a barnyard, but it isn’t.
Read it and decide for yourself if this is
science fiction, fantasy, or a brand new genre! LOL
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This combines a youthful mage-want-to be
with a mysterious fork and talisman.
It’s really quite captivating.
This will be a novel, I suspect, that one can’t put down.
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If you have days when you think
your computer is a pain in the oops,
just read this!
Nothing beats a good dragon story.
This is one of my favorites!
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And for those interested in Vampire contests and stories,
I recommend the following:
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A place I need to spend some time,
since I’ve recently been bitten, so to speak.
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Surveys are always fun!
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The following is my own folder of twenty-two vampire tales –
which just goes to show that even a sci/fi lover
like me can enjoy a romp into the dark side.
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
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Oh, how I love comments! Thank you, thank you!
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billwilcox
Great newsletter Shaara! It's funny how we are drawn toward SALES... Well, it's like they say, "One man's junk is another man's treasure." It reminds me of a story. It goes like this..."The Chinese Box"
Thanks for the compliment, and what a great story that one is, too. I’m happy to include it in today’s issue of the Fantasy Newsletter!
raidensco
I love the newsletter, great job! I just want a chance to remind everyone about my book, Magical Beasts Investigation Unit available at Http://www.publishedauthors.net/ScottCWilcox or Amazon.com
It’s a great warm touching family story about magic and wizards. Here’s a little example: The dream of being an agent for the Proud and Prestigious MBIU had always weighed heavily on Sylan's mind for as long as he could remember. However he'd never considered his skills adequate for such an honorable position. His friends and father a legendary wizard known world wide didn't agree.
With their encouragement he applies and discovers much more than he could ever possibly have dreamed. So if your adventurous, come join Sylan as he travels to new worlds unknown and unravels a mystery that has haunted him since childhood.
I hope people will give it a chance and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, readers have already said they love the characters and creatures and want more.
You’re too kind! Thanks. Congratulations on the book! I’m so jealous. Good for you!
jpc
Fascinating idea filled with comedic potential. And what if the sale item is defective in some way? A witch's broom that cuts out at inconvenient times, a genie bottle housing a mean IRS agent whose gift is only to do your tax forms, or a potion with unforseen side effects. Great NL as always, Shaara!
Laura
Thanks for the comments. It’s so nice to hear from you. Great ideas, too. That should start several people writing new stories!
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and writes:
I love receiving this newsletter. The different ways of looking and things and ideas keep me openminded when it comes to creating a world. One of my worlds are very different than the way we see things, and I'm having to stretch my imagingation to make it all flow into a natural life style and still be touching enough to keep the reader...reading! fancie
Thank you so much for your comments. I agree that writing fantasy and science fiction is all about being openminded!
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