Looking for Love in all the Weird Places

I, like nearly every other author I've read about, started writing at a young age. I would hide away in my cousin's room as soon as got to my grandmother's house and write away. I still remember the sound of that old dot matrix printer chugging away on the pages I'd lovingly typed. I would tear off the guide edges and read over what I'd written over and over again. I wrote what I wanted to read because I grew up poor and far away from my nearest Waldenbooks. Even when I did get some money for books and even when I did find someone to take me all the way to the mall 30 miles away, I couldn't always find a book I wanted to read. I had an idea of what I wanted that just wasn't being fulfilled by the R.L. Stine books I'd usually settle on. The nostalgia is strong, y'all.

The thing is, that's still true today. That's why I started writing again. I just couldn't find the books I wanted to read. Every once in a while, I'll stumble across something I like. I want to read action-packed stories about strong men and strong women in space. It's nice if there's some romance thrown in there and great if there's sex, but I don't like "sappy" romance. I don't want to read about two people mooning over each other and waxing poetic for thirty chapters about how the smile of their beloved is like the warmth of a star burning in the depths of a cold, dark void. I get that people crush on people for a while before they make a move and when you're deep in like with someone, they're constantly on your mind, but I want to read action, not romance. It's just incredibly hard to find action stories with a touch of romance. It's either one extreme or the other.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with wanting a romance in space. I'm part of a Facebook group devoted to writers and readers of Science Fiction Romance and I have read several by the authors in the group and enjoyed them. They just aren't what I prefer. That being said, that's just me. Writing shouldn't be about pushing out the "old" tropes in favor of something new. It also isn't about pushing an agenda and completely disregarding the kinds of stories people have read and loved for years. There has been a recent movement by agents and publishers to push more literary fiction, even in the science fiction category and it's a real detriment to the craft. Granted, this doesn't stop indie authors and publishers from publishing whatever the hell they want to, but it's harder to get these books in front of the public without some seriously heavy marketing by the authors themselves.

Books are supposed to be for everyone. Some people like the "sappy" love stories. Some people don't want romance anywhere near their space battles, and some people are straight up in the middle like me. And that's okay. We should be celebrating diversity in all its forms. People are different and so are their tastes, desires, and proclivities. As long as no one is hurt by them and no one is advocating the harm of someone, it's okay. Writers need to worry less about what sells, and worry more about writing good books, but agents and publishers need to accept that everyone has a story to tell that may not fit pop culture trends. Tell good stories. Write strong characters. Whether that's a masculine woman or a swashbuckling man saving a damsel in distress, who cares? There's something for everyone, and if not, there should be.

What happened to celebrating differences among people? Have we become so "enlightened" that only that which is new is elevated and everything else is gauche? If everyone is different in the exact same way, that's not different at all and someone is getting overlooked. Books should never exclude readers or become so highbrow that they don't appeal to everyone. All writers were readers first. The same goes for agents and publishers. We were the "nerds" and the "geeks" and the socially awkward (but totally awesome) people that turned to imaginary worlds either because the real world didn't live up to our imaginations, or it was painful in some way and books provided a needed escape from it. How many people were saved because they found a book that gave them hope? How many found inspiration in a book to improve some area of their life that had been bothering them? How many writers born from those readers have gone on to help others? If we stifle writers by telling them that their story isn't good enough (and I'm not talking about the critical process which is necessary to hone the craft), we stop that process. Just because we like a certain kind of book doesn't mean we should deprive others of what they enjoy. If we do that, we're making the world a darker place.

Who needs to burn books when they're never written in the first place?

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