Jambo! (means hello)

Was yesterday as fabulous for you as it was for me? Yes? No? I got to walk in the rain and jump in puddles.

A group of fantasy writers came together to talk about the cliches commonly found in RPGs and novels. Apparently, there is a common theme dealing with giant rats in RPGs…  Giant rats?!

There were other familiar themes that  seem no longer desirable like:-

• The conquering hero also known as the chosen one, who just needs a bit of training in order to save the World.
• Anything that looks like it was copied from JRR Tolkien, Stephen Lawhead, JK Rowling and George RR Martin. (Elves, warring brothers, fighting houses, magical swords, orcs/Zombies, Wizards with long beards… you get the drift)
• Zombies
• Killer chicken

The challenge many writers face is pleasing their audience because a happy audience buys more of your books. Sometimes the reason for writing is because you saw Lord of the Rings and thought it was absolute garbage and wanted to write your own story. However, hobbits, elves, wizards and orcs keep popping up with a floppy disk of power that will down the alien zombie ships using a specially written virus.

I’m exaggerating, of course, but the sentiment remains. How do you write an incredible Zombie story without upsetting those who don’t want to read about Zombies?

Many solutions abound. Mine? I write what I want to read.

Osibegye! (Stay well!)