Last time we questioned where the men are, so lets take a look at where they've gone. The above video continues the recent trend in the last few years of the return of adventure stories outside the mainstream. Where are the men? They're reclaiming what's been lost.
It's hard to understand if you don't know or remember what it was like back when I wrote The Last Fanatics, but at the time such things were not ever discussed. The pulps, fairy tales, penny dreadfuls, and basically anything that wasn't "approved" billion dollar corporate IP, was thought of as complete worthless trash with no value at all.
You'd have folk bragging about the "woman who wrote the original draft" of the Space Battle movie, but said people would never read a Leigh Brackett story, if they even knew what her name was. And of course Flash Gordon and the old serials are trash and valueless, because people who hate adventure stories told them they were years ago. No one ever confirmed any of this, it was just assumed to be true. The people in charge would never ever lie to you, after all. Right?
They did, though. I grew up raised on a lot of different forms of art and I never cared about age. I was as likely to watch Rocky & Bullwinkle as I was to watch the new (at the time) Spiderdude series. What mattered is if it was good. But we all know there was a push to declare "Kids wouldn't engage with old things" at the time, and it wasn't because they wouldn't. It was because those in control of said billion dollar corporate IPs didn't want competition. So they made sure they didn't have any, which ended up chasing a lot of normal people away. Though this isn't a new phenomenon.
But that kind of Big Lie doesn't last forever. As mainstream entertainment declined in the '00s before completely falling to pieces in the '10s, men still wanted to have fun and blow off steam. They wanted stories of exciting adventure and derring-do, of cool settings and strange places, and protagonists that weren't going to mop--they were going to do what needed to be done. Basically they wanted what had died when the men's adventure industry was strangled to death back in the 1990s and the Thor Power Tool Case obliterated the backlog of classic adventure stories in the 1980s. In the modern age there are really only two places to find it now.
The first is to scour used bookstores and online shops for old men's adventure books (like the above video goes into), digging for treasure that the mainstream doesn't want you to have anymore. The other is to go digging through independent and NewPub writers to find new stories in that vein that otherwise wouldn't be allowed to exist either. Regardless of which path you choose (I recommend both!) if a male wants to find an adventure tale to get his blood pumping, he is going to have to fight for it. There is simply no other choice if we wish to reclaim what was lost and build something new.
It's not going to be easy, but this is the point we have to build from in order to make a space for an audience that was more or less left behind over a quarter of a century ago. Remember that even mega-popular franchises like Goosebumps that did manage to reach males were also sabotaged and never explored by the publishers, because they just don't care. You will never find this material from any of the people in charge of OldPub. They do not want it.
And yet, it still exists. Not only as buried treasure from the past but also in the present. You only have to be willing to dig and your efforts will be rewarded. The important part is that we never give up, because only we at this point can't turn things around. No one else is going to do so, especially not in the dying industry being left behind.
So keep your chin up. The men are here, and they're staying. No matter what OldPub says or does, we're sticking around. Now to build back what was lost to show them just what they've lost out on. We can do it, because nobody else will. It's up to us.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time. Have a good weekend!
Today we're going to look into the question as to why males have been not only cast out of the book industry, but are actively ignored and looked down on as readers by those still inside. This is not a new issue. Where did all this hostility come from, and why is a growing problem?
First, I will direct you to author Kristin McTiernan's Substack and her recent interview with Louis L'Amour's son, Beau. It's quite an interesting read. If you do not know who Louis L'Amour is, well, then that is very indicative of the very problem we are facing today. Let us just say he is the top selling and most influential western writer of the 20th century (the only ones who come close are Max Brand and Zane Grey), and that he isn't as well known today is a sign of what we are talking about. There is an ambivalence, at best, to even bothering to approach half of the population as potential customers. That is not a sign of a healthy industry.
This isn't a new problem, but is one that is finally being addressed today after over a quarter of a century being blatantly ignored by the top dogs in charge of the old industry. Why don't mean read and why does an entire industry seem uninterested in learning why?
The above video attacks the most recent blow-up over the "Men's Fiction" problem and what to do about it. She isn't the first one to talk about this, not even recently, but it is a sign that more and more folks are waking up to the issue and wish to do something about it.
I recommend both the video and the interview linked above, but we all well know there is a bias against men in writing, specifically men who don't want to write for women or middle-aged urbanite women's grievance study pet projects. But this is the nature of OldPub and what it has allowed itself to become, which is a gatekeeper for letting in mediocrity at best above all else. They use their trope checklist-adled brains to check the right boxes both for the author their eyes are set upon and for the works they want to pump out to their increasingly microscopic readership.
This is who runs the industry now:
And they'll take their dying husk of an industry with them to the grave. There is no returning from this level of tone-deaf behavior. OldPub is dead and not coming back.
You might lament that it ended up this way, but that's how it was always going to be when the industry didn't select for intent, ambition, or sociability, only on those who faked it until they made it. Once said people got in, the mask dropped, the gates swung shut, and now you've been subverted. The only thing that happens now is terminal decline.
Should have kept vigilant! But they didn't, and now they are paying for it, swirling down the drain to irrelevance. It cannot be stopped now because there is no one in charge with the desire to change course. Like all cultists, the need to go down with the ship far outweighs the desire to turn before barreling into the rocks. This result is what they want.
Of course, this is all only if you're still focused on the old industry. OldPub is dead because old things die. It was always going to happen, we just didn't know how or when, and while lamenting about how it happened is natural, eventually we're going to have to accept it's gone, never to return. And at that point we will have to move onto something new and built on sturdier ground. Most of us already have: it's called NewPub.
So what is a good way forward out of this? Perhaps this response from McTiernan's interview with L'Amour's son should help clear it up:
And this is exactly the sort of thing that is going to carry NewPub forward into the future. There is no other way, if we want to both connect to the past and find a new road to travel down, then to use the last ideas that gave any sort of success as to how to reach abandoned audiences.
We have our path forward, and nothing is going to stop us. Especially, not anyone who still clings to a dead industry while pretending it is still vital.
At the end of the day, this destruction isn't anything new. We all know who is doing it and why, and they have no problem telling you themselves. Now that we know it, we can work to building something much better than what we're leaving behind.
It's that time of year again: the new issue of Cirsova is out! Not only is it out, I'm in this issue myself, and it's for quite a doozy of a story.
Before we get into it, lets get the issue summary out front so you can see all the talented writers and their cool stories in greater detail. for those curious, the beautiful cover is also drawn by Wistmoor. It's quite a packed issue.
Now, lets get to the stories:
Flight From Reckoning (Part 1) By MICHAEL TIERNEY The Wild Stars hope to find some sign of their distant cousins beyond the Milky Way, humanoid races descended from other extragalactics! Rather than friends or allies, however, an ancient enemy lies in wait at the scene of a long-ago bloodbath!
The American Dream By RODICA BRETIN Kayla Blackmoon’s life is about to be turned upside down when Russell Morgan, a mysterious huckster politician, appears in her town of Dartmouth ready to promise the stars…
Salt Roses By JIM BREYFOGLE After her family is killed by merfolk, Aelia, a young diver, seeks out a legendary sunken treasure that is said to have the power to restore both emperor and empire!
Waegnwyrhta By WILLIAM SUBOSKI Ill-thought out regulatory changes catch up with the new Principal Administrator Waegnwyrhta when she finds herself stranded and at the mercy of her rescue crew!
The Siege of Verisa By RICHARD RUBIN The evil cult of Dewi has kidnapped Burke Fletcher’s wife Llana, forcing her to aid them against Baron Amalrik… whose Alchemist Stone Llana and Burke stole!
Void Railway By JD COWAN Things may not be all they seem on a routine escort gig when a mysterious woman approaches Galactic Enforcer Stone with a glowing gem and an offer of a side job!
The Demacron By GARY K. SHEPHERD A Peacekeeper on the Demacron, a hollowed-out planetoid that is home to a dwindling population of myriad species, must find a repairman who has gone missing!
Machine Dreams for Wired People By JAIME FAYE TORKELSON A family infiltration team is hired to break into a cybernetic AI factory to rescure the itinerant daughter of a wealthy benefactor before her mind can be liquified!
Cracking the Cyber Ziggurat By KEVAN LARSON A band of cyber pirates has been given the job of a lifetime: breaking into the central databanks of Abraham Kursk, one of the wealthiest men on or off the Web!
Paying the Doctor’s Due By WILLIAM DRELL Mickey Vance is due for a tune-up on his illegal military-grade wetware, but his doctor is dead! Can he and his doctor’s assistant evade a bounty hunter on his trail?
In the Last Days By JAMES HUTCHINGS
A lot of great stuff, as usual.
For my story, you might have been able to tell, but it is another Galactic Enforcer story. This time, however, you might have noticed the main character's name is a little different. This is because this story introduces a few new characters into the mix that will be important going forward. Well, if they survive, that is.
The protagonist of "Void Railway" is Detective Brandon Stone, a giant lummox of a man who does not seem to take his job as seriously as our usual protagonist, Detective Renfield, and in fact has rumors going on about him. This is what causes him to be approached by the mysterious woman at the story's start and his personality clash against hired merc Shiro. But when the chips are down and the safety of the Railway and the passengers becomes in doubt, can he rise to the challenge, or is that Renfield guy really just full of hot air about things like this? You'll have to read it to find out!
The stories I've written in the Galactic Enforcer series so far have been more or less standalone adventures that have little relation to each other, though there is some carryover. The ones written since Star Wanderers, however, are more tightly connected, even though they can still be read standalone. Void Railway's events actually does have direct repercussions for later stories, though it might not be in obvious ways. At least, not at first.
I also wanted to expand the world around Detective Renfield more while still keeping the encroaching darkness that exists around the corner due to the nature of his job. You might have remembered the introduction of Dana from Star Wanderers working to lighten up his life when he's outside the fray, well, there are others now dealing with what he has run into out in the abyss away from the safe roads of home, and it might be more than any of them can handle.
In other words, if you enjoyed Star Wanderers, you really should check out "Void Railway" in the new issue. It is the next step forward for the series. There will still be standalone adventures, as there always are with this series, I'm hoping to drastically expand the scope with the next batch of stories going forward. You might have seen hints of that before, but now we're really going into it going forward. It's a wild galaxy out there: how can you possibly tame what can't be tamed?
The goal of the Galactic Enforcer series has always been the quest to explore the idea of enforcing law against the Unknown, and we're about to see just how that can be done so far from home. How do we hold our ground with no firm base to stand on? The Green Hills of Earth are far away from here, after all . . .
You can read all about it, as well as many other exciting tales of adventure and wonder, in the new issue of Cirsova! Check it out today!
It should also be mentioned that this is the tenth(!) anniversary of Cirsova. They've been in operation as a publisher for a decade now, and with no signs of stopping. I could highlight the many releases other than my own they've put out, but I would be here for ages. Suffice to say, head to their website and check them all out for yourself after picking up the new issue. There is no shortage of great stuff to dig into.
That's it for today! Thank you for checking out the blog and supporting my work. It makes all of this a lot more fun than it would be otherwise. And I've got a few more surprises up ahead! I can't wait to show you what's coming . . . but it'll have to wait for now. They aren't all just my secret to divulge, after all.
Once again, you can find the new issue of Cirsova here. I'll see you next time!
We've gone over before the idea that certain segments of the arts and entertainment don't look as good as they used to, but we've never taken a deeper look into how specifically things might have changed since. Why can't we seen to remember how to make things look their best? The above video on the decay of film might help with that.
While watching The French Connection for Cannon Cruisers (Yes, there's a spoiler of an upcoming episode for you), one of the questions that came up was why exactly films just plain don't look this good anymore. William Friedkin and his crew didn't have even a fraction of the technology available to us today and yet the movie looks, sounds, and feels, far more different than if a similar movie was made today. In fact, its quality is light years beyond what we can do with current digital technology. But why exactly is that?
Of course the easy answer is "we're losing the talent and means to make good art" but then the elephant in the room, the one that is never answered, becomes how it is being lost this fast? In our technology obsessed culture, why are we glorifying inferior technology that doesn't make art better? From cell animation to arcade design to the short story, we are losing valuable parts and origins of the arts we were raised on, and we do not seen to care even as we complain about how the modern material is not only not holding up but is also beginning to turn younger generations away from art altogether. This is a serious issue that is just plain being ignored.
I don't really have the answers for dealing with the decline except to first acknowledge it is happening in the first place and then to encourage those in said industries to preserve said techniques before they are pointlessly lost forever. Art is meant to build on the past, not to reject it for the ideologically hollow and terminally sneering mess of an industry we have today.
At the very least, unlike, say, a decade ago, everyone is very keenly aware of these problems now. I've met plenty of zoomers who love these old methods of creation and even attempt to revive it themselves. It's admirable, but they can't do it alone. The change rests in all of us working together to strive for a better field, and the younger generation can't do that alone. Gen Ys, in particular, finally need to put our selfish pride away and go in for more than nostalgia bait IPs that should have been left to rest ages ago, and expend more effort building something new.
Again, it's not about abandoning the past, but building on it. Those old IPs were built and things that came before. We need to do the same now in order to finally move forward. We cannot continue to peddle dead IPs whose time has already come and gone. We need new blood and we can't get any if we keep deliberately elbowing the new generation out so they have no space at the table. Otherwise we are headed for a dead end, just like the mainstream industry.
You can't put new wine in old wineskins, and yet that is what we insist on doing with nostalgia culture. We need fresh takes and new angles on classical archetypes and frameworks. We can't can't do that if we refuse to move on from dead IPs.
The 20th century is over, remember, so too, must we put behind the childish ways from then that led us in the gutter today.
What kind of industry is this supposed to build, exactly?
We also refuse to move on from considering the audience, our fellow man, as anything less than walking wallets to be pried into at our convenience. As if they are little more than plebeians to be lectured to, that they must Shut Up And Listen, to anything we have to say.
No, I won't go into another tirade on Fanatics, I've done that enough, but to emphasize this isn't a problem with one industry. It's all of them. The aging theater kid mentality that was chased out normal people, reviles male audiences, and obsesses over "updating" old IP for modern sensibilities at the expense of creating anything new, has reached its end. Everyone sees this now. It's unavoidable, and it is being recognized, but there is still no plan in action to correct it.
I realize I've made a lot of enemies over the years for being blunt about the way things are. The thing some of these people get is that I never went in with the intention of wanting to blow anything up. I went in with a mentality of wanting to understand the growing disdain for normal people, the anti-social celebration of destruction that is modern art, and the obsession with Kool Kid Revenge of the Nerds mentality. Essentially what I learned is what we all already know. Nothing can be created through destruction, blind hatred, and arrogance, never mind all together in a wrecking ball mislabeled as "art" that has unable to make anything sustainable.
The first step to doing all of this is to stop with childish clique-ism and shrinking the field to feed our egos. It's to find ways to build new ideas based on classical ideas in a culture trained to hate it all. We should be working together, not managing decline.
Until we do that, we're destined to keep bashing our heads against the same brick wall for at least another decade as our industries swirls further down the drain. If we don't finally act, we risk losing much important. At that point, we might not have any solid foundation left to build on, and then what can we build?
Hope you've had a good week. I've been knee-deep in multiple projects, one of which I can't even hint at yet. That aside, lets talk about the current entertainment landscape, and how it's been changing recently. We are finally seeing the last embers of the 20th century extinguished and what we are being left with has yet to be seen.
Let us explain why that is.
We've gone over a bit about the slipping quality of corpo entertainment and its various reasons for it current terrible state before. In fact, it's been a constant theme. The Cultural Ground Zero effect is real. Of course, we have the usual reasons/excuses for noticing this trend: the "nostalgia" argument, the "changing tastes" argument, and the "catering to the market" argument" are all the most common. And yes, some of those might apply, but are not enough to paint the bigger picture. None of the give the full view of what's going on.
For instance, no Zoomers or younger gens care about mainstream entertainment anymore, just as much as no one except aging "Geek Culture" Cultists desperately holding onto their youth even look twice at it anymore. Some passively consume the slop, but none pay it any real mind anymore. It's like how a Baby Boomer goes to the television to think. It's just expected and passively consumed. No one actually cares about this stuff anymore, and they haven't for a long time now.
You won't find any shortages for the reasons behind this, but I think the video from David V. Stewart above highlights all the potential arguments and explanations as to why things have changed. This is before he gets into the main crux of the issue. I'd suggest watching it for good reason. He has a very good way of getting things across.
That aside, I do see a hard turn coming in the future due to both how fragmented our culture is and how those in charge both dumb down and belittle real creativity at the expense of ambition. It's going to lead to a generation that is just plain going to ignore "fiction" entirely. They will see it as a waste of time, much like we basically already do now.
What will happen is because of how vapid, predictable, and repetitive, mainstream entertainment is, as well as the cratering emphasis on "imagination" (We're a long way from the silly "Reading Is Magic!" punchline of the 1990s), on top of the lack of interest in 20th century IP among younger gens, will all lead to a fracturing in the overall.
You're going to see the mainstream focus more on "reality" entertainment (A growing trend since the end of the '90s) with things like streamers, reality programming, and video essays, taking the air out of the room. At the same time, anything "fiction" related will struggle unless it a flavor of the month supported by one or more of the above things.
The reason for this is the mainstreaming of "tropes" since the Geek Culture '00s have made Following The Formula Right the only thing a corpo needs for you to hand over their wallet. What the formula is depends on how you were trained to consume your entertainment. What you then have are Gen X to Millennials begging for scraps, whether they be rehashed tired formulas, endless subversions of the same handful of ideas, or More Of The Same.
None of these groups desire stories, they desire their youth resold to them forever, like Baby Boomers buying endless Beatles merch and products well into retirement age. The old IP is all they want, quality has nothing to do with it. This is because the "quality" to them is merely in repeated names, aesthetics, and actors/voices saying what they want to hear. The core story, the morals and the deeper meaning, don't matter as much as the surface level. If it did they would engage in other things outside the IP. But like Baby Boomers, it doesn't matter how good something is, because it isn't John, Paul, George, and Ringo. At the end of the day that's all they care about seeing.
Evergreen meme for a reason
How did this come about? For many reasons. We all know it's real, but it's hard to put a finger on what exactly is to blame for it. This is because the explanation is multifold.
Those among these older generations, present company included, are to blame for the current state of things. We cheered for vacuous slop, meaningless pop cult references, and selling our youth back to us forever. We made fun of the Big Bang Theory for being "geek blackface", but Scott Pilgrim was no different in pointlessly catering to "Geek Culture" vapidity. Just because one is better made doesn't make them both slop. Slop is about intent. There is no meaning to either except ego stroking and pandering to a generation that deserves neither.
What we have here is not only the End of Pop Culture, but the end of the 20th century influence on culture as a whole. Those days are gone and they're not coming back.
The elephant in the room is also that Western Culture has been built off negativity, subversion, and bitterness for over half a century now. It has lead to a low trust society, fracturing political and religious outlooks, and mainstreamed misery into common discourse. Politics didn't cause this: it lead to the current sociopolitical situation everyone hates.
I don't tend to address politics here directly, because it's really a dead end discussion point. The second someone sees a buzzword, their brain clicks on to a certain track and you become Friend or Enemy. At that point, you might as well be speaking backwards. But this isn't about Friend or Enemy, it's about understanding where we're headed.
And this is all due to where we've already come from.
I'll be blunt. The Right sees the arts as useless and a dead end. They refuse to support anyone even remotely on their side, ceding the ground to people who hate them. They would much rather support grifters who put out low quality versions of "based" calendars, political talk shows, or vapid entertainment stuck 20 years ago. No one is investing in any real countercultural efforts (and if they are, they are very much the exception to the rule). There is nothing even remotely approaching art here.
The Left is no better. They see the arts as an opportunity to promote whatever new thing they were told to support by their favorite TV/online personalities, and morphing their own works to comply with these updated slogans. They are convinced that something like naming a villain Tonald Drump is high art to be applauded and high brow commentary on par with the best Russian Literature. They also happily subvert their own IP for updated messaging at every opportunity. There is nothing approaching art here.
Surely, that's everything? After all, we've addressed both "sides" of the discussion, right? No, we're not done.
Centrists pretend to be above it all, saying they want no morals, lessons, or politics, and just want Entertainment. This is impossible. There is no piece or art without meaning, without something to say, and in fact any art worth engaging will have these elements in them deep inside on some level. The actual problem should be that there is little focus on what is being said, how to say it, and how to connect with the audience. Instead, the focus is on returning to the *Insert Decade Here* standard where everyone was Sane and Not Weird, even though they were and we just didn't notice because we were kids back then. There is nothing approaching art here.
This leaves you with the three modern views of how art is seen: to be taken for granted, to weaponize against your neighbor, and to consume mindlessly between sugar binges. That's it. There isn't anything else. What you are left with is an upcoming younger generation whos see all of this and has no reason to engage. Art is clearly meaningless because that's how we see and treat it. Therefore, the younger generations will turn away from it.
It will also lead to the more common usage of AI generators for entertainment, because it gives the bare minimum. This will be good enough for them, and we've given no valid argument against them doing this. What else is consuming art for anyway? We don't have a good answer for this that isn't a cliché from the 20th century since proven incorrect by how things have decayed.
The ignorance of the Right lead to the belittling of art, the arrogance of the Left lead to the pamphletization of art, and the mindless consumption of Centrists lead to seeing art as novelty, trope checklists to follow or subvert. Don't get me wrong, none of these positions are exclusive to any of these groups, but those are the main three views of entertainment that has lead to the irrelevance of art on modern day living. The younger generations have internalized this and are ready to apply it to their own position.
And, again, what reason have we given them to think of anything else when all we focus on are things we should have let go of long ago?
20th Century IP has no meaning to those born outside of it. No, not even if you "update" the morals, and not even if you Go Back To the old morals. It has no relevance for the 21st century man living in uncertain times caused by the previous century, and the more we cling to it the more younger generations will turn away and move on without us. The 20th century is not the center of the universe, and we're quickly learning how irrelevant it's most likely going to be in the long run. We should be preserving what worked now before it all gets disposed of.
We've treated existence and reality as a novelty for so long it has turned our outlook cynical and barren, matching our entertainment. The only way to move forward is to take what we learned and apply it to the present. This requires letting things go, but also looking forward to the generations before us who need a guiding light. We have to be there for them, not ourselves. We're not kids anymore. We need to start acting like it.
Thanks for reading. That's it for this week!
See you next time, and please be sure to support smaller and independent artists trying to make a difference. It's the only way we'll see any change.
There's been much discussion recently of reclaiming smaller things we've forgotten over the years, perhaps even subtle things we hadn't even considered before. One of the recent discussions has centered around "slop" and what we've allowed our entertainment and art to fall into. We've essentially given up trying or aiming for anything higher, our priorities on other things.
Another related and yet less talked about topic, is the loss of the Third Place. One might argue the loss is at the crux of everything we've been going through since Cultural Ground Zero put a wrecking ball to everything so long ago.
If you've been interested in the decay we've been going through for any amount of time by now then you've almost certainly heard of Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone, a book that came out a quarter of a century ago which saw all the patterns that had already formed and the cracks that led to pale artificial replacements like "Geek Culture" to consume an entire cohort of youth into a New Religion and way of life. The problem became centered on the "Normie" and the solution was to relate to those who consumed the same product you did instead. There was nothing else to it. You were a Victim and everyone was out to get you.
And, obviously, that mentality didn't work out too well.
One of the expressions no one had really brought up over this quarter century was the idea of the "Third Place" in life, something Bowling Alone described as its main thesis, and something which has faded away into irrelevance in the war on everything that is modern life. All this despite the fact that we clearly desire connection while fighting hard against finding it at the same time. It's a giant mess, but we're used to it by now. We don't want to accept it's not normal or healthy, for whatever reason. And we're paying for it.
The video above gives a good description of the topic. The Third Place is, as described, the third important place in life. The first being Home and the second being Work. Home is where we can relax and recharge on our own and with those closest to us. Work is where we show another side of ourselves, using effort to achieve something separate from Home and our relationships there. You know how you always felt awkward as a kid when your parents talked to your teachers? There's a reason for that. Instinctively, you knew those two places should be separate. Mashing those together hasn't been all too great a change either, but that's not the topic today.
The Third Place is a neutral public space between the other two where we can connect with other people away from the others. In fact, part of the three places that makes them important is that it disconnects us from the other two and gives us a break and a way to discover new sides of ourselves. All three are important.
The third can be as simple as a restaurant, a bar, or a club, a place where you are detached somewhat from the other two places, throwing in some unpredictability and odd comfort into your day to day routine. And it no longer exists in the modern world.
The issue is that all three places have been heavily damaged in recent years. Home has turned into a bunker from the world, a place where Work is not only brought into but made the place where it is frequently done the most. Work has no stability and therefore contains no trust or growth of basic work relationships beyond tentative trust for as long as your inevitably short employment exists for. The Third Place, however, is completely gone and destroyed from modern life, taken out back and shot. And we're feeling its effects today.
There is no public neutral place to go, and they are rapidly dying out. In the process, we are losing community connections and turning into a block of strangers who sometimes see each other when we dare go out to... well, to do what? Going out is now seen as an annoyance, taking you away from your bunker. It's a nuisance, not a break. Eventually, the way things are going. we won't even need to go out to get groceries anymore. Then what happens?
All of this is killing community worse than Putnam ever imagined it would. Remember, his book was written before social media, lockdown world, and door dash. We've fought hard to kill off connection since Bowling Alone first released, and we're not quite turning it around yet. Local life is dying everywhere as we anticipate plugging into the cloud instead.
I know where I am the streets are fairly deserted and even the weekend makes no difference anymore. It is a ghost town of door dash drivers and empty buildings and sidewalks. There are no clubs, no hobby groups, not even church gatherings, anymore. It's just a large concentrated block of people who do everything they can to avoid each other. That's all it is and all it has become.
What is being built up by this attitude? What is the purpose of burrowing away into ourselves at the expense of both our own health and everyone else around us? We all know the answer to that, and we're well aware of where we're going is not anywhere good.
On the plus side, this topic is being brought up again more and more in discourse, because now there is no one who doesn't know, and doesn't pretend, that any of this is leading to a healthier society. We know it's not. We just have yet to figure out a solution beyond fancy words and promises. We need more than that. The answer involves bringing back the Third Place, and until we do, we'll be trapped circling the drain.
That's all for this week! Have yourself a good rest and get ready for March! We're almost there and out of the endless winter.
Things have been more than a bit crazy over here, and I'm hoping they settle down a bit soon. Until then, I'll try to get back into. Today, let us talk about some trends.
One of the recent subjects that's come up a lot recently has been the subject of "slop" and how it has gotten so prevalent in modern culture. The above video talks a bit about it, but the whole idea has been one of wondered about for some time.
At what point is it that we desired the bare minimum in regards to everything, where we wanted just the base experience with nothing but irrelevant additions like an IP name or trope lists? When was it acceptable to just want to consume product and move onto next product?
I have long held a theory that post-9/11 "Geek Culture" was the first movement to turn creativity into slop, a formula made of tropes, IPs, and Politically Correct attitudes and ideas. Before it was used in the 2010s to shape "geek" tastes and beliefs it existed in the 2000s as an identity (one that never existed before) where what you consumed made you what you were. As long as you consumed the slop and repeated back the right code words, you were good to go. It evolved from there to the current state 20 years later where slop is not only expected, it's seen as inevitable.
But it wasn't always this way, and I don't believe it will be this way in the future.
For now, however? We are stuck with slop culture and have to adjust accordingly. That doesn't mean that we have to enjoy or even participate in it. We simply have to be aware of the trap it sets and to avoid falling into it.
Things have changed a lot since the 20th century ended, and though we still try to cling to those old attitudes and trends that have long worn out relevance, we have only started recently discovering things aren't what they used to be. Those days are gone, and what is coming ahead is an entirely new world--one where "slop" has no place.
What that will be remains to be seen. We'll just have to keep pushing ahead and see for ourselves. Either way, it's time to aim higher once again.
And that's all for this week. I've got some projects to get back to. Until then, check out the big book sale for this Valentine's Day weekend. There are some bangers in here. Not much slop, as NewPub itself thrives on aiming a bit higher.
Welcome back! It's been a little bit, but I've finally got something new for you. It's the time of year when NewPub creatives finally start rolling, so lets dig into it.
Now is the start of the year when crowdfunds finally begin in earnest, so here are a few campaigns to get you started!
The first is the above Catch the Lightning: The Art and Craft of Writing Romance campaign! Want to know how to write romance, or just want to know more about it? Then check out this campaign today. You're guaranteed a lot of great advice.
Learn more about it below:
"Our previous course, The Art and Craft of Writing, taught authors how to bring their writing to the next level by understanding the nuts and bolts (Craft) of writing to bring out the grace and beauty (Art) of it. Now, The Art and Craft of Writing Romance will do the same, focusing on the core of romance stories: the emotional arc bringing your hero and heroine together.
"In simple and clear language, this course explains what makes a romance work (Craft) and how to bring this work to life (Art) on the page of your manuscript. Discover how to catch the lightning of desire so as to electrify readers; weave obstacles so daunting as to wring readers’ hearts. Learn how the more your hero and heroine resist their longing for each other, the more the reader yearns to see them through to their happily ever after. Learn to pull your readers in and help them feel the rollercoaster of your hero and heroine's emotional ride!
"About the Instructor: L. Jagi Lamplighter is a published author, a professional editor, and a writing teacher with decades of experience analyzing stories and figuring out what makes them work. She has written everything from hints of sweet romance at a magical school to the complicated loves and lives of Shakespeare's fae in the modern day, and edited everything from far-future science fiction with a sweet romance subplot to contemporary romances set in Texas."
For those who don't know, Jagi has been my main editor for around a decade now. You can be certain she is very knowledgeable in what she's talking about when it comes to anything to do with writing and creativity. Therefore, this project is guaranteed to be a great one.
That's right, it's the return of Mongoose & Meerkat! This time it's a complete series deluxe release for anyone who might have missed it. This is the ultimate release of the NewPub sword and sorcery series and meant to be an easy place to collect it all.
Cirsova and Jim Breyfogle have been a double team of great storytelling for years now. A good reason why I approached Cirsova for Star Wanderers was because of how well the two of them worked together on their projects. Therefore, if you missed out, I can promise you that this is the perfect place to jump on.
The description:
He's a brash young bravo, eager to prove his worth with a blade. She's a mysterious rogue with a head for history and razor cunning. Together, they are the Mongoose and Meerkat!
Whether they're looting haunted dungeons, fighting demons and necromancers, or just settling labor disputes, this swashbuckling duo is ready for anything! Mangos would love nothing more than to earn a name for himself and keep himself comfortably in coin. Kat, however, has more far-reaching plans for her wealth.
The City State of Alness has fallen to a band of mercenaries and brigands who have ravaged the north lands. Amidst the rumors that an Alnessi royal may have survived, the Mongoose and Meerkat must navigate all manner of intrigue and betrayal to win the fame and fortune necessary to restore the once-mighty city.
Originally serialized in 18 installments from 2017 through 2023 in Cirsova Magazine, Jim Breyfogle's Mongoose and Meerkat became one of the iconic Sword & Sorcery teams of the Pulp Revolution. Now, you can have all of their adventures in a single gorgeous volume!
Plus, this collection includes an all-new side-story, Chasing the Cat Sword, featuring the mercenary sisters Daini and Kairi and has world-shaking implications for the Mongoose and Meerkat lore!
For those who remember the scandalous Sword & Scandal campaign, comes the follow-up: Jungle Scandals! The previous hit campaign was based on the idea of Sword & Sorcery tales that get a little too close for comfort. This one aims for the lesser-known these days jungle tales. Stories of the deep dark that get a little deeper and darker than might be comfortable.
I've always had a mixed relationship with NSFW stories because of how one-note they tend to be, but J. Manfred Weichsel always manages to make them interesting in a way that has me considering a new angle on a topic. So while such things are not usually easy to recommend, I would always do so here for those who want to try something a little bit off the beaten trail.
The description:
"This time around, we're touring the jungles of the world, taking stops in Africa, Indonesia, and the Amazon, and we'll be taking our inspiration from the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, and H. Rider Haggard.
"But, while those writers all had more or less Victorian sensibilities, we'll be filling the pages of our book with more gratuitous nudity, sex, and gore than you can possibly imagine! Some today find the old writers problematic. We think they're not nearly problematic enough!
"These stories will retain the sense of fun and wonder from the jungle adventures of old. But they will be absolutely insane with all the sex! If you read our last book, then you know we don't hold anything back.
"Just like Sword & Scandal did, Jungle Scandals will have an open call for submissions. The submission guidelines will be posted in various places around the web where authors go looking for open calls. This process makes selecting the stories democratic, and ensures the anthology gets the best writing it possibly can.
"Last time, we received 47 submissions, out of which we selected 11 stories totaling 60,000 words, plus the 5,600-word story author and editor J. Manfred Weichsel wrote with the backer who selected the design-your-own-story tier. Including the editorial material, the book totaled almost 70,000 words.
"Because we are a little more established this time around and have a bit of buzz, we expect Jungle Scandals to receive even more submissions than Sword & Scandal did.
"Unlike other publishers who tend to play it safe with their selections, we will be looking for the wild, strange, and outrageous. We want to publish off-beat and off-the-wall fiction that would never otherwise get to see the light of day.
"Humor is also a big part of what we do. We will actively look for stories that incorporate a similar sense of humor as ours: dry, sardonic, and satirical. We enjoy humor that is character-driven, dark, and surreal. But we also like farce."
Lets end it off with something a little different. This is the coming On My Ghost by Ghostmaya. This is comic romance series currently running on Webtoons, and this it the most recent crowdfunding campaign for it.
To explain all the intricacies of the story would take some time, so I'll just cut to the chase with the overall gist of it.
The description:
Oh My Ghost is a wholesome Action Comedy Romance Supernatural Horror Mystery webtoon series that is currently 7 seasons with 1000+ episodes ~
The narrative is about a human guy, (Loi), a poor guy who is desperate to find a place to stay. So, Loi decided to live in a very cheap haunted house where he will meet Maya, the ghost, who is scared Of ghosts and other scary stuffs. and who likes to eat. Yes, you READ IT RIGHT~! This ghost can eat because logic is useless here in this series~
And that's all for this time. The year's just starting but already you can find a little bit of everything just waiting for you. February has just started but I can promise you many more surprises ahead, including from myself.
Until then, just dig in for yourself and enjoy the wild world of NewPub. There's plenty to go around, and it's not stopping anytime soon.
