Bibliophiles appreciate newest installments. I go to the bookstore and hope that my favorite authors have a new one out, and when they don't I mourn. I scope out their websites to get a hint as to when to expect those newest arrivals. Sometimes my appetite is whetted by a chapter at the end of the last one I read; sometimes those authors are generous enough to post the first chapter of their next books on their websites.
I get frustrated by authors who try to ride the coattails of other authors. I get tired of book-a-likes. There are countless revisionings of The Da Vinci Code, for example. They all have similar jackets and cover art. They all hint at conspiracies and religious heresy.
There are two authors that I'm maddeningly addicted to right now, Jim Butcher (Dresden Files) and Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse novels). And now there are authors who are trying to copycat them. The new Dresden comes out April 1, and the newest Sookie adventure hits the shelves May 1. I won't try to appease my hard-boiled wizard or telepathic vampire-lusting barmaid hungers by reading a cookie cutter version of either.
I was wandering through Barnes & Nobles the other day. I even bought a few things to tide me over until 4/1 and 5/1. But while I was wandering and looking at the smorgasbord of titles, I realized how unhappy I was with the fictional formulas. It made me want to pick up the many threads of novels I had begun but never finished.
Given time and determination, I know I could get at least one of my stories published, and perhaps inspire a host of copycat authors to ride on my coattails. Maybe I could even get on a writing and publishing streak and manage to have bibliophiles like myself hungry for my next installment.
I'd better get busy.
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