Lost in a Sea of TRENDY

I admit, this is a bitch for sure. I ask myself “WHAT is going on here?” I can’t quite figure it out and it’s got me rather baffled, annoyed and obviously irritated.

So here I am, walking into a local bookstore. I love stores like this as I adore books in general. I love to read. I love the smell of books, the feel, the creative gems they can offer.

In my head are two books I want to see if I can find. Just two.

So into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy area I wander, and then stand there in total disbelief. What I found did shock and surprise me, to the point I turned and stared at one of the clerks of this big chain bookstore. “Shouldn’t a good bit of these . . . novels be in Horror?” I ask in a somewhat weak tone.

What I got was a blank stare as if I had sprouted a second head. ::sigh::

The two books I was seeking, I wasn’t able to find in the dirge of TRENDY Formula pulp trash. At least 70% of that literary section was overwhelmed with it. So, I wander again, this time drifting into the General section, only to find the same overload of crap.

Well, feeling rather daunted by the sheer VOLUME of this subject matter, I decide I would rather read a fluffy, cotton candy romance then this drek, having attempted to thumb through a few and finding, ::Gasps in sarcasm.:: The same damn plot, story, garbage in nearly all of them.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a time I enjoyed finding such books. Those were gems amidst the fools gold. However, this time that isn’t the case.

Anyway, into the romance section I wander. There are a few writers of that genre I do occasionally enjoy reading. Those like Kinley MacGregor, Shana Abe, Anne Stuart and more. Only, I didn’t find anything new from them. All I found was more of that Trendy trash.

Feeling a bit ill by this point I headed over to the gaming area where my friend was browsing. As I coasted along I was looking at all the various displays and half way down the isle, I realized they were all laden with the same crap. Rack after rack, shelf after shelf. Um.. Halloween is still a few months away, right? I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by this point. Reeling under the impact of so much overkill I suspect.

Anyway, I didn’t buy anything. It was one of the few times that I can recall I left a bookstore empty handed. Such a thing is more then a little rare as generally I can find something. This time, I just couldn’t wade through the top-heavy percentage of VAMPIRE Crap.

I used to love such tales. I read Dracula for the first time at the tender age of 10. At 12 my sister handed me “Interview with a Vampire.” I have read numerous novels based on such sexy, dangerous and mythical creatures. One of my top 20 novels ever is one called “Carrion Comfort”  by Dan Simmons and it was a Bram Stoker award winnner. However, these days, it’s like they have become. . . . Domesticated! Defanged! Declawed! And some even ::wants to hurl here:: Sparkle like a . . . Fairy!

I blame a rather stupid vapid creature named Stephanie Meyer for this trendy explosion. A woman that couldn’t be “bothered” to research the subject, no, she watched a movie and created her “Sparkling” kittenized, teen angst riddled version of vampire and werewolf. Due to our being a very media driven culture, young people who have never even picked up, let alone even bothered to looked at the classic book “Dracula” are gobbling this up like candy; A very sickeningly sweet variety of it at that.

As to my claims the woman didn’t research? It’s posted online. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1834663,00.html

Recently, I was speaking to a lady that owned a bookstore. We spoke about this very matter and I was told, “It’s what the publishers want because it’s selling.” This made me sick again. What ever happened to a well written telling of stories and ideas? What about those folks that really don’t LIKE any kind of horror? What about those of us that like a well written adventure that doesn’t include the sucking of blood formulas so rampant today?

Can one say “NITWIT”? She is one of the first ever writer (I use “writer” loosely here) that if I met her, I would be hard pressed NOT to punch her in the nose. Sorry, those that want to compare this hack to J.K. Rowling, needs to have their heads examined. She might be clever, she might be a good storyteller, I don’t really know and right now, I don’t really care. I am sure she is happily raking in the bucks for her flash of commercial genius, but I am fairly sure that while “Harry Potter” Will in time be considered a classic much like the characters in Tolkin’s tales, or even the Narnia books, Dickens, HG Wells, and so many more, Ms Meyer’s angst driven teen drones won’t. I can only hope that “sparkling” vampires will also become lost to the age of time, as I would be rather offended if that bit of stupidity became part of the “Vampire Cannon”.

Until then though, I shall have to swim through the bookstores and just pray I find a well written adventure sans the watered down, tame vampires that are so common. I did find out that Ms. Meyer’s latest books, geared towards adult readers. ::snorts:: Are not getting the same reception. Sales are rather poor apparently. Thank the Maker for that!

Image Credits: Sodahead.com