Comments on: Retromania

By: Ciara

Ciara — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:55:38 +0000

books, music, house decor (serious retromania there) are all fine cycling in and out for me because they add something new usually. FASHION suffers from terrible retromania though. I could literally wear many of the same clothes my mother wore when she was 25 and be in fashion. How boring!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:49:48 +0000

I think that all cultural media, writing included, are subject to getting stuck into the rut of retromania – if it is a rut at all. But the whims of culture, especially pop culture, are cyclical, aren’t they? Not to get all Heidi Klum, but one minute you’re in, the next you’re out. Take, for instance, YA. Now it’s the story of the female protag that loves the hot, dangerous guy with a secret, which has everyone’s attention. The next might be historical boy stories. Who knows? The point is the cultural attention span for things that ring similar only lasts for so long. And then it dies off. Mostly, though, in a way that vampires die – always look out for the dead theme to rise again sometime in the future.

What matters most (to me, at least) is not so much the originality of the story’s narrative, but the originality of how that narrative is told. Boy saves girl. You could tell me that story a thousand times and I am capable of loving the story every time, so long as it seems fresh. Taking the glass is half full attitude here, I’m confident that, in the sea of creativity, there are authors out there coming up with new ways to wow us.

By: Eric Christopherson

Eric Christopherson — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:22:11 +0000

Right after I posted I found out a friend of mine, along with several other writers, just inked a deal with Thomas & Mercer for “The Dead Man” series, and this is how they describe it:

“We want to capture the spirit of the “men’s action adventure” paperbacks of the 70s and 80s – short, tightly-written books full of hard-boiled heroes, outrageously sexy women, wild adventure, and gleefully over-the-top plots – and reboot the genre for a new generation that maximizes the potential of the Kindle.”

Retromania!

By: Eric Christopherson

Eric Christopherson — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:13:40 +0000

Really interesting question, John.

There would’ve been no Bob Dylan without Woody Guthrie, it seems to me.

In regard to books, Michael Crichton said Jurassic Park was an update on Conan Doyle’s Lost World. And so it goes…

If a thriving self-pubbed book market emerges, as it seems to be doing, then I think that’ll spur innovation because books won’t have to have mass appeal–or appear to have mass appeal–to reach an audience.