Mark had a story in the most recent issue of Cirsova and also wrote a horror novel centering on being a kid in the Gen Y generation, (For those unaware, this is the generation between Gen X and Millennials who more or less ceased existing, at least in Madison Avenue's eyes, by 1998 or so), and how different it really was. Much like my story Y Signal (more on the way!), Mark's horror stories center around Gen Y kids that very quickly find out that the world they live in isn't all they thought it was. Is that a genre now? I would definitely like to see more stories like this. It certainly brings a new wrinkle to horror by bringing it back to worse things than death.
I am very much serious in my inquiry. If you do have any more examples of this seemingly new and burgeoning subgenre, then please send them my way. I would definitely like to see more of it. This is one of those things that can only really be made from one generation in particular, and probably couldn't have been written outside of an age where technology has a stranglehold on us all. Here's hoping more of this is on the way.
Cultural Ground Zero was around a quarter of a century ago, and that world is long dead and forgotten. Keeping the flickers of that era alive and taking them forward with us is something only Gen Y is really up to the task of doing in a world that wants to subvert and destroy all that came before. A bit strange to think about, expecting Gen Y to be some sort of torch in the dark, but that appears to be the way it shook out. I believe it was author Brian Niemeier who said that Gen Y's search for their place in the modern mess of today would either be total irrelevance, an obvious cautionary tale, or they could be able to reach middle age and become the scribe generation desperately needed to preserve the past. Perhaps that is what is happening here? I certainly hope so.
Regardless, I would definitely love to see more of these sorts of stories. They are quite unique for their time and place, and who knows how long that window will be open for them.
That aside, the above show is an hour long and well worth listening to, especially if you're a member of Gen Y or enjoy horror and weird stories.
Also, Cirsova's Kickstarter for the over the top space opera Wild Stars is very close to ending! Help it reach the next stretch goal for more goodies and future surprises!
As for myself and my work, I am working on an update for you, but that might have to wait a little as things shake out. Long story short, Silver Empire, the publisher of Heroes Unleashed and Gemini Man is closing up shop. I am getting the books back to do what I want with, and I'm still mulling over my options. Stay tuned on that one. There is still much going on behind the scenes.
Anyway, thank you for reading and listening! I've got more on the way.
It's a bit ironic, perhaps, that a generation that's fixated on the past to the point of inebriation might have something to contribute just by remembering the all the things that others have tried to push down the memory hole. Either that, it's the good sort of poetic justice.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to sort out what I remember that the ruling elite want us desperately to forgot. Once upon a not too distant past, in a land not so far away, whites and blacks had begun to see each other as equals and partners. Then someone redefined racism as being white, and vice versa. Everything went downhill from there.
Frankly, I think one could write a whole lot of horror, or mythic adventure, just by looking at recent events and adding an overtone of spiritual warfare to it. Doing that might bring the product a lot closer to creative non-fiction than to outright fiction.
Personally, I think a mix of all the above are possible. Sort of like a far less in-depth, all-encompassing, and monumental, version of the epic poems that have stuck with us so long over the centuries.
DeleteGen Y being one that constantly lives in the border between the past and the present, as well as the imagination tainted by "reality" have a chance to do the sort of thing no one else can.
It's just a matter of time to see if they're up to it. I do think this sort of "analog" storytelling or Gen Y tales of terror are a good place to start, however.