People sometimes ask me what kinds of stories I think are going to be popular in the next year or two. I wish I knew! I certainly didn't see the "50 Shades" craze coming, and if somebody had pitched me the idea of "Hunger Games" as a teen or Young Adult book, I would have guessed that no publisher would touch a book in which kids kill other kids. Given that track record, you may not want to pay any attention whatsoever to my guess, but I'll make it anyway.
It was prompted
by a quote in the LA Times by animator and writer/artist Louis Del Carmen:
"I also gravitate to the underdog, “one person against the (blank)” stories, where the individual is dwarfed by the oppression of the forces of antagonism."
I think those kinds of stories will resonate more and more because the problems we face these days--whether global warming, the rise of the police state, or the threat of terrorism--all seem so large that everybody in one way or another is an underdog.
The antagonists in the story can be metaphors for these kinds of potentially crushing forces, and I think if they also hint at the idea that maybe we will somehow triumph over them they could be very successful.
(For friendly guidance in writing your book, get a copy of "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or you other favourite bookseller.)
