What should be the next big thing in fiction?

[wheelsEsq]

I'm obviously thinking about disability in fiction as I'm debating putting pen to paper about a character as serverely disabled as myself (write what you know about and all). So was just wondering what fans/non-fans of such fiction would like to see that hasn't been done before? I'm thinking about more of a coming-of-age style genre but I don't want it to be to soppy or inspirational and the main character isn't going to die!

[blueskye101]

Not sure but not sappy would definetely be a good start. More than most of what's out there already in mainstream. Good strong characterization and humor always appreciated. Write what you know sounds like what most of us looking for.

[jalapeno]

Zombie PWD's! and Vampire Dev's! someone write it ASAP! or else I will and keep all the $$$$ for myself! muahahaha.

[wheelsEsq]

Oct 10, 2016 9:47:46 GMT -5 jalapeno said:

Zombie PWD's! and Vampire Dev's! someone write it ASAP! or else I will and keep all the $$$$ for myself! muahahaha.

Nice idea immediately I'm taken by the vampire devs and the possinle haemophilla/blood disorder angle

[wheelsEsq]

Oct 11, 2016 15:50:05 GMT -5 annabelle said:

I love coming of age stories!

Thanks annabelle, great hearing from an author extrodinaire as yourself like your work.

[wheelsEsq]

Oct 12, 2016 8:51:05 GMT -5 Betty said:

I don't know the specifics of your disability, but perhaps a coming of age story where he discovers/is discovered by, the girl next door. You know, she has been admiring him from a distance for awhile and then one day...

... she accidently stands in his way and is about to be mowed down by an irate fast cyclist (using a pavement... for fuck sake!), he manouveres his wheelchair to save her causing a crash between cyclist and wheelchair ending in up in a nearby lake

• Resulting in a Colin Firth wet shirt like scene from PridePred
  
• Possible SCI for cyclist
  
• Love triangle ensues

 

[wheelsEsq]

I personally don't want to write chick-lit esq genre straight up, romance/sex as a side-plot [essential to the plot obv - well maybe one element of needless abandon as page filler if needed ] yes. I just want to write something that's a realistic disabled character that caters for a disabled aud primarily as well as non-devs/devs without those turn ons. So devs that are secretly into CP will be able to keep it hidden

[Ximena]

My question for you would be would do YOU like to read. Answer that question first. So if you're in love with paranormal stories or you devour thrillers or whatever, go with that. There are a lot of coming-of-age and romance stories featuring PWDs (relatively speaking of course), so it's always nice to see someone take a fresh approach. Like the thrillers where the SCI character actually plays an important role in the story (not just as the brains, either).

(I'm not saying write a thriller, just giving that as an example.)

I think it would be great if you took a fresh approach and the coming of age was part of the story rather than THE story. I'm personally not a big fan of coming of age stories unless they're worked into a bigger story, if that makes sense?

I feel like I'm rambling here. Sorry if I wasn't any help, lol!

[wheelsEsq]

Nov 2, 2016 12:24:05 GMT -5 Ximena said:

My question for you would be would do YOU like to read. Answer that question first. So if you're in love with paranormal stories or you devour thrillers or whatever, go with that. There are a lot of coming-of-age and romance stories featuring PWDs (relatively speaking of course), so it's always nice to see someone take a fresh approach. Like the thrillers where the SCI character actually plays an important role in the story (not just as the brains, either).

(I'm not saying write a thriller, just giving that as an example.)

I think it would be great if you took a fresh approach and the coming of age was part of the story rather than THE story. I'm personally not a big fan of coming of age stories unless they're worked into a bigger story, if that makes sense?

I feel like I'm rambling here. Sorry if I wasn't any help, lol!

Thanks for the feedback it would be a combination of thriller(detective/espionage)/sci-fi/fantasy/comedic/alt History - I have a number of ideas in my head and at the moment am writing scenes at random without any thought of overall plot.

I suppose I want to focus it on the behind-closed doors nature of disability (e.g  waiting for carers to turn up whilst "..lying naked on the floor.." [Nat Imbruglia Torn quote for you there (Aus/Uk users can fill you in if you have no idea who that is) but that has happened to me]  etc.)

[Ximena]

Yes I know the reference, and I think that would be great. Too often books that do have a disabled character either get the info wrong or gloss over the parts we don't want to see/read because it makes people uncomfortable. But I think that only dehumanizes the characters, and that's not even talking as a dev who of course likes to read/see that stuff!

I also think that doing a thriller/sci-fi whatever you ultimately decide would be fantastic. There's so few books/films/shows that have a PWD in those genres, so that would give it a new, fresh spin.

There's nothing wrong with writing scenes at random, IMO. Sometimes that's the best way to figure out what you want and who your characters are and you can always stitch them together later.

(I also do know the reference.)

[frankj]

Why not do a sciencefiction book, in which the possibility excists for disabled people to have their bodies modified (think: cyborg) so that they are no longer disabled. And have the main character choose not to be modified for fear of being seen as less human.

[wheelsEsq]

Nov 8, 2016 5:50:24 GMT -5 frankj said:

Why not do a sciencefiction book, in which the possibility excists for disabled people to have their bodies modified (think: cyborg) so that they are no longer disabled. And have the main character choose not to be modified for fear of being seen as less human.

Like this a lot.

[hedgehog]

Oct 12, 2016 9:10:11 GMT -5 wheelsEsq said:

... she accidently stands in his way and is about to be mowed down by an irate fast cyclist (using a pavement... for fuck sake!), he manouveres his wheelchair to save her causing a crash between cyclist and wheelchair ending in up in a nearby lake

• Resulting in a Colin Firth wet shirt like scene from PridePred
  
• Possible SCI for cyclist
  
• Love triangle ensues

 

Holy cow! This would be awesome. High five on the Darcy-esque wet shirt. Is this written yet?? Haha.

[hedgehog]

I also dig the vampire dev idea. I enjoy a lot of variety in the vampire genre that's out there due, in part, to the complicated existence vamps always have (much like why I identify as a dev). The best authors took the idea of a vampire and gave it a new set of rules and world for them to exist in. That kind of creativity lets you go whatever direction you want as long as the framework for the "rules" is consistent throughout and not overly cheesy.

I can see a disabled vampire hunter crossing paths with an elusive female vampire dev (or male, whatever the plan may be). She's drawn to him for whatever deliciously complicated reason you choose. Perhaps he was injured by a vampire and now seeks revenge or in the case of a congenital condition, seeks to advance his sister that was turned, killed, kidnapped and used in a blood bar, etc. Maybe he's a pissed off badass mechanic by day and using Batman-meets-Blade technology by night. Maybe he's more of a Clark Kent character that's sweet and bumbling until he senses a threat around someone he cares about. All the while, you have a syndicate of players on either side vying for control of the city while the two of them have a deadly game of cat and mouse going, including plenty of lovely nods to the devs back home.

I can see a very cool book coming out of a cross between the likes of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, Vicki Pettersson's Zodiac series and all the devvy stuff found here. If only I had the time to make that happen!