How Weird Are My Ideas?

A thought popped into my head (dangerous, I know) because I've been thinking about where great ideas come from. Many TED-type people will tell you different things, but it all comes down to chaos coalescing into something that actually makes sense in the end.

Are my ideas for novels bad, great or just plain bizarre? I wanted to blog about some ideas I haven't even touched yet, so none of these have anything to do with my current novel. That idea is, actually, rather mundane in my opinion. But, even a great idea is worthless if executed poorly, and some bland ideas are done so well in content, they become best sellers. So, I'm not worried about that.

Here are a few ideas for novels I've been batting around in my head, as of late: 


1. Teen girl saves a man's life and turns him into a cyborg so he can destroy all the evil robots causing the apocalypse. 

Is this odd, or what? I like this idea, so don't get me wrong. I like all these ideas, but this is pretty funny in that either it is terrible or awesome. This is a story with the characters salvaged from a YA urban fantasy I was writing last year, but abandoned. I love the characters too much to just leave them in my head.

The robots are the element iron in living form. They are anything that was man-made metal turned into living metal creatures that destroy everything because they are not able to sustain an animate state without going mad. The protagonist has her personal reasons for wanting to get rid of all the robots and the man-turned-cyborg is the only hope she and humanity have that they can be destroyed because he's at least half "bad guy." But, controllable, unlike the bad guy robots.

I also love this play on Frankenstein and a potential blend with Pygmalion, which is kind of the opposite of Frankenstein. Not to mention the mental state of this cyborg guy and his brain fusing with living metal inclined towards madness. The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde trope could factor in, as well. This is what makes writing fun!  




2. Cinderella + Hamlet.  

Yep, you read that right. The world's most recognized "happily-ever-after" story coupled with the world's most notorious "everyone-dies-at-the-end" tragedy. How in the world is this story going to end, right? I honestly don't know at this point and I'm kind of excited to find out. 

I realize that in order to make this work, you have to have the Cinderella/Opheila character as the protagonist, otherwise the Hamlet character will take over the story to the point it won't be a blend of Cinderella and Hamlet. With her at the helm, it could work. It's like Cinderella is in love with a mad prince who has to revenge-kill his evil uncle for assassinating his late father, the former king. Is the Prince more interesting now, or what? And all the deaths that occur? How will she live happily ever after? Will she live at all? 

I wanted to use a character I created in an Adult sci-fi novel I was writing last year and have him be the Hamlet character, because, again I like him too much to let him rot in my head. He's kind of insane, so he could play this role, only he'd be younger and look different. I was a Shakespeare student in college, so I could actually do this.... probably. Maybe. (Pray for me!)

 
3. The most beautiful female in the world is cursed with instantly killing every man who lays eyes on her.

This is an idea for an original fairy tale that I'm not so sure about writing anymore, but I've had the premise in mind for well over a decade. Maybe it's just so dramatic and tragic. What a lonely girl. I also like the theme that beauty can be a curse and not always a blessing. In this case, a curse when in excess. I don't have a plot worked out, or at least not a viable one, so I have no idea what I would do with this character and what she would need to accomplish, story goal-wise. But, maybe this one has some potential if I were to put my mind to it. 


Are my ideas weird? What story ideas do you have that seem far-fetched? Anything insane or just totally amazing?

        

Top Ten Tuesday (#1): My Spring 2013 TBR Pile

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly (super fun) book blog meme hosted by the awesome folks at The Broke and the Bookish.

This post is a book list I made based on the "Top Ten Tuesday" bookish meme created by the book bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish. I used to do this meme on my book blog back when I was blogging over there and it was always my favorite one. I figure, why not do it again? It was fun and it's not like my writing blog isn't about books. Obviously, I'm an avid reader or I wouldn't be a writer. So, here we go with this week's topic:

TOP TEN BOOKS AT THE TOP OF MY SPRING 2013 TBR PILE

  
 

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I just started reading this and I'm really liking it so far. It's such a high quality story, which I appreciate. I've been reading books that just aren't quite wowing me, lately. They've been good but not great. I hope this one is great for me. Since I love me some cyborgs and robots and Cinderella, it really stands a good chance.

2. Wake by Amanda Hocking

I bought this recently on my Kindle for a few dollars, so I want to get into this to see if it lives up to my love of Amanda's Trylle Trilogy. Also, the second book comes out in paperback in April, so it's a chance to get that book cheap, too, if I like this one.

3. Ascend by Amanda Hocking

This is the third book in the Trylle Trilogy, which I haven't read yet, but I love the first two, Switched and Torn. Call me crazy, but these books are good! I love the characters, even if the writing isn't dazzling. Amanda is more of a storyteller than a writer. Writing is how she tells her stories, so I don't hold that against her.
  

4. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

This YA trilogy is my absolute favorite! I completely adore everything about these books, especially the characters. Jem Carstairs is my favorite and this books should bring the entire debacle created in Book 2 to a conclusion, hopefully a happy one for him. (I'm so worried. Please don't let me down, Cassie!)

5. The Kensei by Jon F. Merz

I've had this book for two years now and still haven't read it. How is that possible when it has samurai and vampires in it? And Japan in it? I can't even... I don't know why I've neglected this book for so long, but I won't this spring. I'm all about swords and katana and samurai and vampires. How many animes have I seen with all these elements combined and loved them? (Hint: a lot.)

6. The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

This is the first book in the new Iron Fey spin-off series, which I adore. Read those Iron Fey books, people, if you love YA fantasy and faeries. They are THE YA faerie books to be reading. This book series is about the first book series' protagonist, Meghan's, little brother, Ethan as a teenager dealing with menacing faeries like how Meghan did when she was a teenager. I should have read this by now, too, but it's only been out since last October, so I'm not being that bad, am I?

7. The Warded Man by Peter Brett

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway, so I better read it soon. I considered buying it because another favorite author of mine, Kevin Hearne of Iron Druid Chronicles fame, loves these books. Well, now I can read my copy before I'm considered delinquent to the First Reads people, although I probably already am. It sounds like a good read.

8. Hourglass by Myra McEntire

I bought this book really cheap last year on my Kindle and need to get around to reading it soon. It seems to be about time travel, which is a favorite subject of mine. Hopefully, it'll be a book series to replace the three trilogies I follow that are ending this year.

9. Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

This is another one of my favorite YA book series and this one is the last in the trilogy. This one and a few others, like The Infernal Devices series, are ending this year, which is great, but sad, too. The first two books in Across the Universe are so amazing! Everybody's said awesome things about this one, so I hope I can get to it soon. 

10. Sanctum by Sarah Fine

I found this book when it was really high on the Amazon best-seller list and it looks like something I'd totally love to read. I'm a huge Bleach manga and anime fan and the plot sounds a lot like how it goes, so.... Here's hoping I will like it, but appreciate it for what it is. I don't expect it to be like Bleach or anything else. Just hoping it's as good as the reviews claim it is.

      


Hey, it was fun to do this meme again! Maybe I'll keep it up from now on over here at this blog. What are you guys planning on reading this spring? 

      

Insecure Writer's Support Group (#5)

"Insecure Writer's Support Group" is a monthly meme host by Alex J. Cavanaugh for writers held on the first Wednesday of every month.

I haven't done an IWSG post in quite a while! It's time I got back on board with this meme, as it is a very cool one. 

I think my writing insecurities are all centered around the not knowing ahead of time whether your book will ever sell to actual readers before you publish it (or, get it published). When it comes down to it, reader support for your novel is the most important thing, otherwise there's not much reason for anyone to publish a book for the whole world to read. 

Whether or not you want to be "successful" in that you'll sell a lot of copies, you want to be READ. You want readers to notice your book and like it and send you emails and tweets about how much they liked it. This is the validation you want, sometimes more than money earned from selling a large number of copies. 

Sure, I want my books to sell well, I'll admit that. Why would I want them to sell poorly? But, more than anything, I want readers to fall in love with my stories and characters and tell me how much they can't wait for the next installment of the saga. That would make my life.... 

So, my problem is that I don't know if what I'm writing at this time is a story that will find an eager audience at all. I'm not saying I have no confidence in my story, but that I don't like being blind to its real potential. It may be fated to fall like a brick and I'd never know it at this point. That bothers me sooo much! 

This is when I can say I envy the video game industry because every developer can put out trailers and information about the game they are currently developing to see how it goes over with real gamers. If they've messed up something, they'll be told by the gamers and they can fix things accordingly YEARS before the product is finished. That's amazing to me. If only something like that were possible in the book industry. 

I suppose it is, but only for those with existing large platforms. Someone like J.K. Rowling could get on her blog (does she even have a blog?) and conduct a poll on which of her latest book ideas seems the most appealing to her existing fanbase and they could all weigh in. She could write a book accordingly and it would probably kill it in sales and fan appreciation. 

But, that's not possible for me and for most of us writers to get that size volume of feedback from potential readers. I certainly can't conduct any polls when I don't have a readership at all at this point. We have no choice but to shoot in the dark and hope we hit our target. If we don't, we have to keep on shooting in the dark until we do. Seems a frustrating strategy to me. If only there were a better way....


Anyway, that's my insecurity for this month. Does this problem ever affect any of you writers, too?