Discussion: Why Dystopians will never get old

I, personally, love dystopians. I love being able to dive into a book where either government or economy has stripped us from the freedoms we have today. Whether it's horribly gut-wrenching like The Hunger Games or heart-breaking like Delirium, dystopians are never gonna get old. And here's why:

We never know what the futures gonna hold.

I think it's that fear of not knowing what's gonna happen in a few years that aways gives us that pull to keep reading dystopians. Will we be controlled? Or a better world? Or will we starve, or die out, or be forced into hiding from outside sources? Our answer is by reading. And while we're reading, we're imaging what it would be like to live in a world like that, since we can never know if such a thing could even happen to us. And most of the time, praying that it can't.

That's one reason why Historical Fiction will never get as crazy popular. Whether it's the French Revolution, or the Greek Myths, we know how those are gonna end. However great the story (and man, I love historical fiction); we know that Marie Antoinette will be beheaded, Athens will win against Troy, and Persephone will bit into the fruit that'll leave her stuck in the underworld. And while no matter how many dystopians we read and write, we'll never really know what's gonna happen. But we're human, so we keep on trying!

On a second note: I love how in dystopians, much like High Fantasy, every story is unique. Paranormal Romance kind of gets me with that,the predictability of the situations. Vamp, fey, werewolf. You know what the conflict is gonna be, and in most occasions, it's a similar story-line (of course, there are magical and fabulous exceptions).

But in dystopians? You can be forced to marry young to reproduce in time before your passing (Wither by Lauren Destefano), brainwashed by the government to do it their way (Possession by Elana Johnson), or forced to live underground (Enclave by Ann Aguirre)

Now the question for you is: Why do you love reading dystopians? And go ahead and recommend something if you think I haven't read it!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Top Six Signs you need to dump that love interest!

Haven't you ever gotten that feeling while you're reading that you just go: "NO. Why are you with this kid?" Some love interests, just don't make the cut! Here's the top ten signs that that main character? Needs to either dump their boyfriend/girlfriend or start looking at the other options!
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1. If he tries to kill you. No no, I don't care how sweet he is when he's not pointing a knife at your chest! If he has homicidal intentions, you better just walk away. Or better yet, go for that sweet normal boy who's always in the background. You'll thank me later.

2. If he never tells you he has a wife hidden up in the third floor of your awesome mansion. Sounds obvious, right? Huh, you'd be surprised. Probably best to search the house before you think he's gonna propose!

3. If he's one of those super protective types. YOU'RE the heroine, girl! You can kick anyone's ass and this guy won't let you even walk around unsupervised? Sure, being protective is kind of sweet, but if he doesn't believe you can fight? Kick his ass.

4. If he lies about where he's going every few days, even if he's trying to protect from some secret reincarnation society. I don't care how hot he is! If he's walking around going to not-so secret meetings and keeping me out of the loop like a child? Again, kick his ass.

5. If he's the ghost of your boyfriend and you have this sexy exchange student trying to mooch 'ya. I mean, that whole ghost romance thing is kind of nice and all, but really, what future do you have together? Unless you know some way to turn him human! Plus, sexy exchange student? Alive and waiting.

6. If he kisses you, then acts like a bastard. That? Is not okay. Why you wasting your time on this cocky jerk when 90% of the time, you have a super sweet, cute, and charming love interest on the other side? Book it and forget about him, girl, he'll feel like an idiot when you stop paying attention.

And there you go!
As much as those make sense, heroines? Don't follow my advice.
Your follies make good books.

Any to add? Put them in the comments!

Happy Reading!
-Harmony

Trending isn't just for Twitter.

Trends. Some people cringe, some people fist-bump when they hear this word. It's essential to the publishing biz and it also affects how a lot of us buy our books! Jackson Pearce, who's liveshow I attend (and YOU should to on Wednesday at 8EST), made the topic Trending this week and we had a pretty in-depth discussion on how exactly this works. I've made up my theory that there's always a catalyst for every trend, and here i'm about to name a few:

Harry Potter: After this? DOZENS of wizarding books and books about magic and crazy stuff like that. This went totally viral, and as a result, shifted the entire industry into everyone looking for something to be the next Harry Potter. Of course, nothing got more popular! (Off topic but, OMG 7 DAYS UNTIL HARRY POTTER)

Twilight: Yeah, I know you'll start cringing. We all have a love/hate relationship with this book, but the point of it all is, it opened the door for YA. Sure it didn't set a very good example for what YA is all about, but now, there are so many paranormal romance books out there. Whether it's vamps, witches, werewolves, faeries, or...kraken (nope, not Kraken), it mostly resulted from the Twilight explosion.

(A little smaller than the other two but HUGE nonetheless) Hunger Games: This one is the most recent but you can't tell me you haven't noticed a HUGE mass of Dystopians since this came out? Matched, Birthmarked, Delirium....the list goes beyond! We're in the middle of this trend right now, and it's gonna be going strong for a little while longer. And I surely don't mind, who doesn't love dystopian?

Sometimes, trends can be a bad thing. While I love awesome vampire books like Vampire Academy and Blue Bloods, there are SO many vampire books out there that it just makes your head spin. Paranormal is all starting to blend together, with few standing out (There some do. Examples: Firelight, Angelfire, The Replacement, Nightshade, etc.. etc..) The wonderful thing about dystopian is that it can go in so many different directions, so I think they're good for a while.

Now, my fellow readers, I want to hear from you. I want you, to tell me what you think the next trend will be. I have my bets on Contemporary as a whole genre, especially with all the awesome ones coming out. Also, High Fantasy is gonna return from after Graceling, or at least I think so.

But what do YOU think?
Happy Reading!
-Harmony