Week 6: Building Base Knowledge (Genres)

Assignment 1

Well, I chose the Romantic Times and it has proved to be an interesting RA site.  I specifically am looking at Sci Fi Romances (I didn't even know that was a sub-genre of Romance) and was amazed at how many men are writing in this field.  I just assumed that women were the majority of readers and writers of Romance, but I've learned that quite a few men enjoy this genre, too.  As yet, I haven't had a chance to read any of the titles that look interesting, but I hope to soon.  I also like the author interviews and was surprised to see that they have an annual RT convention for fans and writers.  This past April it was in Kansas City, but next May it's in New Orleans!  Even though I'm not a fan of the genre, it does make me want to go since New Orleans is such a romantic city.  Oh, well.

Assignment 2

Okay, my first reaction to this Prezi on genres and sub-genres was WOW!  Alex did a fantastic job of encapsulating a lot of information in a concise manner with examples.  Plus, I learned some new things.  For instance,  I didn't even realize that there are so many sub-genres of Urban Fiction.  I liked the arrows connecting related topics across genres and the "customer questions" that lead to each main genre.  I think this is a great RA tool, and makes me want to learn Prezi better so I can create one, too!

Assignment 3

The three sub-genres I chose are: Hip Hop (Urban Fiction), Cyberpunk (Science Fiction), Hard Boiled (Mystery).  All of the sites listed below I found through searching Google and also Goodreads.

Hip Hop:  Here the fan site I found Forums » Dante's Inferno » African American/Black Urban Fiction/ Ghetto Literature/ Hip-Hop Fiction/ Gangster Fiction
It's more of a Forum (as the name suggests) than a site, but I found the current conversation interesting.  It seems to be centered around the use of slang in Hip Hop fiction and do people really talk that way regularly.   Some posters felt that the slang was too much and they didn't really know anyone who talked like the characters in the books/stories do.  Also, there was a debate about why is proper English considered 'white English' or is that not a positive way of looking at it.  A couple people chimed in that it is better to see more black/African American characters in 'mainstream books' and not just Urban Fiction.

Cyberpunk:  This fan site http://www.reddit.com/r/Cyberpunk has a forum where people talk about a variety of subjects, although I'm not sure they are all related to cyberpunk, per se.  Some of the topics include German graffiti drones (about German police using drones to catch graffitists), what makes a 'punk' genre a punk genre (where they discuss what is at the core of any kind of punk labelled writings or movements), and Google blimps will carry wireless across Africa (which is pretty self-explanatory).  I think this subgenre tends to attract techies and hackers by what I can glean from the sites and postings I read.  I did see a tendency to get lost in discussing technology and not so much plots and stories.

Hard Boiled: Now this is an interesting site http://www.thrillingdetective.com/  It has a slick landing page and plenty of information for fans of Hard Boiled detective fiction.  It seems that Hard Boiled and Noir fiction are closely related by the topics found on this site.  This site has essays, articles, and reviews all related to Hard Boiled mysteries.  There is also a blog and TD Newsletter via Yahoo web group that you have to subscribe to, which I didn't since I'm just reviewing the site.  I think the best part is the "Word on the Street" section that features recent releases and upcoming titles that appeal to fans of this subgenre.

Hip Hop:  Three authors associated with this subgenre are Nikki Turner, who is called the Queen of Hip-Hop fiction after the release of her first novel A Hustler's Wife and many more titles relating to the woman's point of view,  K'Wan, whose gritty novels include Blow which he penned with rapper 50 Cent, and  Erica Kennedy, whose novel Bling is a kind of Cinderella story set in the world of Hip Hop.

Cyberpunk:  Three very popular authors in this subgenre are William Gibson, Tad Williams, and Richard K. Morgan.  Gibson's body of work includes the classic Neuromancer.  Williams' output in the subgenre includes the series Shadowmarch.  Morgan's titles include the Takeshi Kovacs novels and his work is sometimes described as a genre crossover with elements of the gritty noir genre.

Hard Boiled:  Obviously, the authors that come to mind are the classics such as Dashiell Hammett (Thin Man) and James M. Cain (Double Indemnity).  However, there are some contemporary authors at work in the genre who are worth noting including Philip Kerr (especially the Bernie Gunther series), Walter Moseley (Easy Rawlins), and James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux).  They all have tough as nails detectives who don't take any guff from anyone.  Especially dames!  (Okay, it does lean a lot towards the sexist side).

I chose A Gift from Home: An Irish Western Novel by C. H. Admirand which is actually the fourth book in the Irish Western series.  I think it's an interesting example of a crossover or mash-up of the Western and Historical Romance genres which may appeal to readers of either of these two genres.    My other choice is Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The enchanted chocolate pot: being the correspondence of two young ladies of quality regarding various magical scandals in London and the country which crosses so many genres, it's difficult to nail it down.  I would say that is has elements of Mystery, Regency Romance,  and Fantasy/Alternative Realities with a definite Teen appeal factor.  It's written by two authors, Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, who began the story of Cecilia and Kate for fun and it developed into a series that begins with this book.