"White hot heat" and other NYT Bestselling hackneyed Feehanisms

[Le Jacquelope]

Who here has read any of Christine Feehan's "Dark" Series?

It's amazing. She uses the same formula, over and over again, with a lot of her books approaching the level of cut and paste from previous books in the series. It's the same plot over and over again, the Carpathian semi-vampire dude coerces a woman into being his life-mate, and when she gets away from him another evil insane Carpathian attacks and she has to rely on the original Carpathian to save her. Rinse. Repeat in the next book. On and on and on.

And of course there is her overuse of phrases such as "white hot heat", which gets my eyes rolling faster than the wheels of the 1000hp Bugatti Veyron I had a chance to drive last year.

How does stuff like this win all the awards she has won?

 

[3113]

A Literary thread, Jaq? From you?

Code Blue here! I think I'm going into cardiac arrest

 

[Le Jacquelope]

A Literary thread, Jaq? From you?

Code Blue here! I think I'm going into cardiac arrest

Only because this woman far exceeds Scouries by far as the writer most unworthy of all the attention she gets. In this case, she goes so far as to get rewards and bestseller status for her crap.

How many good writers out there don't get what she gets and they don't make 1/10th of the glaring mistakes she does? WTF. I'm stunned. I had to vent.

 

[3113]

Only because this woman far exceeds Scouries by far as the writer most unworthy of all the attention she gets. In this case, she goes so far as to get rewards and bestseller status for her crap.

How many good writers out there don't get what she gets and they don't make 1/10th of the glaring mistakes she does? WTF. I'm stunned. I had to vent.

Well, 'dems the breaks for most writers, I'm afraid. I don't know what awards she's gotten, but bestseller status is not an indication of a writer having any real talent. There are brilliant writers who get on the bestsellers list, but most writers who get there and stay there are not Tolstoy.

Keep in mind, as well, that books are as much part of fads and the zeitgeist as anything else. Who, for example, still reads Jonathan Livingstone Seagull? And yet it was all the rage for a short while. And quality of writing is rarely the reason why these books become the "must read" book of this or that year or decade. What is in vogue among readers, or why it's in vogue among readers is hard to say, but there does seem to be that tipping point where if enough people are saying, "You've gotta read this--" then suddenly everyone is reading it, and that author shoots to be a best selling author no matter how good or bad the writing is, how brilliant or stupid the story.

Sometimes horror is in and everyone is reading Rosemary's Baby or The Exorcist. Sometimes thrillers are in and everyone is reading Silence of the Lambs. Sometimes romance is in and everyone's reading Love Story. Sometimes fantasy is in and everyone is reading Harry Potter.

Right now, "Bro-mances" (comedies where guys bond) are popular at the box office mainly with males, and anything remotely vampire-romance (women adored, worshiped and saved by emo-goth guys) is popular in books and television.

Here, watch this episode of South Park. It'll make you feel better.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

Well, 'dems the breaks for most writers, I'm afraid. I don't know what awards she's gotten, but bestseller status is not an indication of a writer having any real talent. There are brilliant writers who get on the bestsellers list, but most writers who get there and stay there are not Tolstoy.

Keep in mind, as well, that books are as much part of fads and the zeitgeist as anything else. Who, for example, still reads Jonathan Livingstone Seagull? And yet it was all the rage for a short while. And quality of writing is rarely the reason why these books become the "must read" book of this or that year or decade. What is in vogue among readers, or why it's in vogue among readers is hard to say, but there does seem to be that tipping point where if enough people are saying, "You've gotta read this--" then suddenly everyone is reading it, and that author shoots to be a best selling author no matter how good or bad the writing is, how brilliant or stupid the story.

Sometimes horror is in and everyone is reading Rosemary's Baby or The Exorcist. Sometimes thrillers are in and everyone is reading Silence of the Lambs. Sometimes romance is in and everyone's reading Love Story. Sometimes fantasy is in and everyone is reading Harry Potter.

Right now, "Bro-mances" (comedies where guys bond) are popular at the box office mainly with males, and anything remotely vampire-romance (women adored, worshiped and saved by emo-goth guys) is popular in books and television.

Here, watch this episode of South Park. It'll make you feel better.

I totally understand everything you're saying here. Quality and popularity are not directly related. Never has been.

But... damn. Feehan's stuff shouldn't have made it past the editor. At least other bestsellers I've seen (granted, I haven't seen them all) are actually readable. Even Twilight is better than this.

Scott X could throw down with this woman...

 

[Liar]

It's amazing. She uses the same formula, over and over again, with a lot of her books approaching the level of cut and paste from previous books in the series.

The Dan Brown of vampire pulp?
Stephanie Meyer for grown-ups?
Danielle Steel with fangs?

It's not like it hasn't happened before. Lots of people want light, predictable reading, and a little bit of sex for good measure. And some authors know exactly how to capitaize on that.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

The Dan Brown of vampire pulp?
Stephanie Meyer for grown-ups?
Danielle Steel with fangs?

It's not like it hasn't happened before. Lots of people want light, predictable reading, and a little bit of sex for good measure. And some authors know exactly how to capitaize on that.

True, I just expected it to be done with something better than "white hot heat".

And before anyone says it, and ya know ya wanna... hey, I'm not even trying for the NYT bestseller's list. If I wanted to play in her league my stuff would get an epic clean-up job.

 

[DeeZire]

How does stuff like this win all the awards she has won?

Lowest common denominator? I stay away from the LIT toplists for that very reason. You can see a similar phenomenon in the music business. Who likes the crap on the radio? And yet, there it is, making assholes rich while the true artists starve.

Another factor is emotional response. A work of fiction can be poorly written and still evoke an emotional response from the reader. Likewise, a work of fiction can be written perfectly, while leaving the reader cold.

Plus, there's the shmooze factor. Perhaps this woman has great people skills and is a hit on the critic's cocktail party circuit. Or perhaps she gives great head... yeah, that's the answer I'm going with.

 

[wife2hotblk]

I happen to be a HUGE fan of Christine Feehan and the Dark Series. In fact, I began writing again on one of her fan fic sites.

It is typical of romance genre...erotica for women. If you don't like it then don't read it. But she richly deserves everything she has gotten.

You overlook the fablous fight scenes...not badly written for a middle-aged woman. Or how about the complex intergenerational issues such as...why Carpathians no longer produce girl children and have difficulty keeping their children alive during their first year.

In my opinion (and that of millions of other women), her Gregory character is the epitome of a male hero.

She also happens to be a very nice person, who helped a friend of mine get published in the fantasy romance genre. Not the type of author to write nasty stuff about others, more successful and talented than herself.

And my goal as a writer is to be half the story teller she is.