Hey look it’s…more vampires.

Okay, so I know I said last time that this time (oh boy) I would talk about rereading, but I changed my mind. I will eventually talk about that, but not today.

Today, we shall be talking about trends in literature.

Or rather, Things That Will Make Me Put the Book Down Immediately Unless There Is a Really Good Reason Not To. And they are:

1. Vampires/Werewolves

Unless there is something seriously interesting or different going on with them, I will not read about either. I’m tired of vampire boyfriends. I will read about bloodthirsty vampires, or British vampires (think Gail Carriger). Another example I saw recently was a woman who was the only (and I mean only) female werewolf.

2. Angels/Demons

 I have a naturally low tolerance for this subject matter. I have read very few books dealing with angels/demons that don’t annoy me immensely. Exception: I was recently very pleasantly surprised by Sarah Reese Brennan’s The Demon’s Lexicon. I read her blog and really wanted to enjoy her book, but wasn’t able to make myself pick it up because of the demons for a really long time. I regret that; it was excellent.

3. Distopian

There are just too many, and I don’t have the energy to try to sort the good from the bad. So many seem terribly derivative. I’m not sure if it’s just the jacket copy, but with so many excellent books on my to-read list, I don’t have time to waste gambling on books that may just be the latest Hunger Games rehash.

4. Mermaids

Just never been a fan. Personal preference. I’ve yet to find a mermaid book which will prove me wrong, though I kind of hope Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama, which I found over at Preturnatura, might be the one.

There are more, but I won’t bore you. I have to say, I really hate that I feel this way because it means I’m almost certainly missing out on some really great books.

The internets are uncooperative. I am not amused.

New in the sidebar: progress bars which will, theoretically, update you (who? Is anybody out there reading this nonsense?) on my progress. But apparently the coding was not correct, so I will have to mess around some more and try to figure it out. However, because it it rather late and I’m tired, I will do that tomorrow. I am not really amused by this situation.

In other news, I love my stories. I was falling out of love with Lioness but I just reread the nuggets I wrote and there are beautiful little gems in there. Now I just have to do the not-so-fun part: organize and plan so that when I resume writing I don’t get bogged down or lost. Ditto with princess, although I’m also having the worldbuilding fail problem there…

Worldbuilding, and also my dog eats salad.

So…I’ve been feeling reinvigorated re: the princess story, but the other day I tried to do some worldbuilding and it just…did not work.

I mean, I came up with some interesting ideas. Actually, some totally amazing ideas. The problem is, they don’t fit at ALL with the “seed” or “essence” of the princess story that I see in my head. I’m feeling seriously frustrated and I don’t really know what to do.

I’m actually tempted to say forget the worldbuilding, and try to hash out some kind of plot outline in the hopes that that jogs my mind. Actually, when I think about it, that plan seems much, much more appealing. I’m beginning to suspect that I will have to do a prelim outline, see how that affects the world/what ideas that sparks, and then go back and adjust the plot if necessary.

I know that skimping on worldbuilding is extremely problematic for a number of reasons. I’m not really skimping, just…postponing. I don’t know. I’m confused.