Unusual Novel

Thekherham · May 22, 2005

Let's see if I can ask a question without giving away too much.
I'm working on this novel, but it is a rather unusual novel. The main character is a rather unusual character, and the novel is what I would call a fantasy set in the real world. So in other words, it's not really a full-blown fantasy, but neither is it a "regular-type" novel.
The main character is, for the most part, an ordinary teenager who goes to school, has friends, has "adventures", lives on a horsefarm etc. etc. There are somewhat graphic sexual situations in this novel (I did mention a horsefarm, didn't I?)...
Anyway... I've been looking here and there (Writer's Market. for example), for publishers that are looking for something innovative, soemthing unsual, other than the run-of-the-mill stuff, but I'm having a little trouble with that. Anybody got any ideas? Thanks.

Vomaxx · May 22, 2005

I am not sure what to say about your rather unusual novel with the rather unusual character and the somewhat graphic situations that is what you would call a fantasy but is not really a full-blown fantasy about someone who is for the most part an ordinary teenager... except that if this is a sample of how you usually write you will discover, after you edit your rather unusual novel, that you have a rather unusual pamphlet.....

But you certainly did not give away too much.

Birol · May 22, 2005

Based on the information you have provided, could it fall under the subgenre urban fantasy?

Thekherham · May 22, 2005

Vomaxx: There is much more to this novel than what I have indicated above. I think it will amount to more than just a a "pamphlet."

Birol: Since the main action takes place on a horse farm, maybe it should be called a "rural" fantasy.

James D. Macdonald · May 22, 2005

Go to your local bookstore. Find unusual novels. See who published them.

That's where you're going to submit your work.

pianoman5 · May 22, 2005

If you're looking for a category to describe your piece, you might find that 'Magic (or Magical) Realism' works for you.

Some of its exponents include: G.G. Marquez, Salman Rushdie, John Fowles, Franz Kafka, Angela Carter, Hermann Hesse, Peter Carey, and Ursula Le Guin.

So you're in good company. If your work is of a comparable standard, you'll have agents and publishers fawning all over you.

mdmkay · May 22, 2005

There are somewhat graphic sexual situations in this novel (I did mention a horsefarm, didn't I?)...

I may never get the horrible images that this particular sentence evokes. I grew up in a rural area with waaaaaaaaaay to many farm animal jokes. (Ugh...shivers)
Sorry that was probably way out of line but its getting late and I get weird towards bedtime. I think it is definetly time to say night folks...."night folks"

pepperlandgirl · May 23, 2005

mdmkay said:
I may never get the horrible images that this particular sentence evokes. I grew up in a rural area with waaaaaaaaaay to many farm animal jokes. (Ugh...shivers)
Sorry that was probably way out of line but its getting late and I get weird towards bedtime. I think it is definetly time to say night folks...."night folks"

I don't think you were out of line...or we were both out of line. Because, to me, that sentence doesn't leave room for any other images!

reph · May 23, 2005

To avoid those images, I'm telling myself that the graphic sex scenes probably depict horses mating with each other. That happens on horse farms, doesn't it?

Incidentally, wouldn't it be called a horse ranch?

mdmkay · May 23, 2005

mmmmmmmm if I remember my sex education right I think that's how little horseys come to be (don't get me to telling you about the romantacism of artificial insemination on breeding ranches)....laughing. Geez am I the only red neck on this board???????? :guns:

aadams73 · May 23, 2005

<shrug> I'm not offended by the idea of horses bonking. If your book is good, horse bonking or not, I'd still buy it.

Aconite · May 23, 2005

reph said:
Incidentally, wouldn't it be called a horse ranch?

My ranch-dwelling friend gave me this distinction: "Farms have fences. Ranches don't." But I have also heard it as, "Farms have plowed fields, and ranches don't." Whichever it may be, note that in all instances I'm aware of, people with ranches don't like having them called farms. FWIW.

On topic:
Thekherham, it's likely that your novel is not as unusual as you think. You may just not have seen much in the appropriate subgenre. Nothing you've mentioned so far sounds all that odd.

Andrew Jameson · May 23, 2005

Yeah, but my working definition of "graphic sexual situations" doesn't include animals mating. I've seen animals mating on PBS, for heaven's sake, without a "graphic sexual situation" warning ahead of time.

What I'm saying is, "graphic sexual situations" and "horsefarm" makes me think, to put it delicately, of Catherine the Great.

Torin · May 23, 2005

Andrew Jameson said:
What I'm saying is, "graphic sexual situations" and "horsefarm" makes me think, to put it delicately, of Catherine the Great.

That's very much like what went through my mind, only I had the genders reversed, having been unfortunate enough to hear from certain male university students about the differences between various female farm stock as partners.

Torin

Aconite · May 23, 2005

Torin said:
That's very much like what went through my mind, only I had the genders reversed, having been unfortunate enough to hear from certain male university students about the differences between various female farm stock as partners.

I think you can safely assume it was bluster. Larger farm animals wouldn't even notice a human's genitalia compared to that of their own species, and animals of all sizes kick, bite, butt, and otherwise express disinclination towards forced mating (watch a female in heat who isn't quite ready react to a male of her own species). Not that bestiality isn't possible, just that talk is cheap.

James D. Macdonald · May 23, 2005

Aconite said:
Not that bestiality isn't possible, just that talk is cheap.

"Most of us use the camel to ride into town...."

Aconite · May 23, 2005

James D. Macdonald said:
"Most of us use the camel to ride into town...."

Dagnabbit, Uncle Jim, cranberry juice in the sinuses hurts.

aadams73 · May 23, 2005

Aconite said:
Dagnabbit, Uncle Jim, cranberry juice in the sinuses hurts.

<sigh> So does diet vanilla Coke.

mdmkay · May 24, 2005

Poor Therkerham....never say unusual, adventures, then mention graphic sex around writers.....its like waving a red flag in front of a bull........makes em crazy.... :ROFL:

Aconite · May 24, 2005

mdmkay said:
Poor Therkerham....never say unusual, adventures, then mention graphic sex around writers.....its like waving a red flag in front of a bull........makes em crazy....

Yeah. Hey, Therkerham, after some of the suggestions here, are you still feeling like this is a very unusual novel? *grin*

victoriastrauss · May 24, 2005

Thekherham said:
Let's see if I can ask a question without giving away too much.

Why are you concerned about giving away too much?

- Victoria

BlueTexas · May 25, 2005

I live in the cutting horse capitol of the world...horses here usually mate artifically with goo that comes out of a temperature-controlled vacuum-sealed aluminum container that comes through the mail.

Amazing the things you learn.

In Texas, if it's crops, it's a farm. If there are animals, it's a ranch. They all have fences.

mdmkay · May 25, 2005

yes, unfortunatly free ranging went out with the cowboy movies some time back. Do you know that here in Nebraska if some farmer doesn't have the brains to keep his fences tended and one of his cows/horses get on the road and hit....its the driver that hit the cow who has to pay for the animal????? Having lived around rural areas all my life I understand how hard it can be sometimes to keep your animals where you want them but having hit my share of deer, cows, and other assorted animals on dark (and even not so dark) roads and highways this law doesn't quite seem fair (unless the farmer can show he has a good history of controlling his animals). For those who don't think that would be a big thing you would be shocked how valuble an animal a cow or esp a horse can be. Is it just me or has this thread gotten a bit side-tracked?????

Tileus · May 25, 2005

I would have to agree with other posters that "graphic sexual situations" and then your re-emphasis of the horse farm setting...evoked some rather....unique...imagery. I am now going to shove a Q-Tip into my brain and stir vigorously, after which I will return with a more advice tinted response.

TLHines · May 25, 2005

What to call it?

As some have suggested, you might call it urban fantasy (which tends to be more gritty) or magical realism (which tends to be more literary). You might also consider calling it slipstream, fabulist, or plain old contemporary fantasy. It doesn't really matter what you call it, as long as you write a compelling story. In addition to the authors mentioned previously, check out James Blaylock, Tim Powers, Jonathan Carroll, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, and F. Paul Wilson. Or, do a google search on terms such as "slipstream" and "fabulist" to get a longer list of authors.

Unusual Novel

Thekherham

The Alien Writer

Vomaxx

Birol

Around and About

Thekherham

The Alien Writer

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

pianoman5

Means well

mdmkay

pepperlandgirl

American Aquarium Drinker

reph

Fig of authority

mdmkay

aadams73

A Work in Progress

Aconite

Andrew Jameson

(not his real name)

Torin

Wandering vaguely

Aconite

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Aconite

aadams73

A Work in Progress

mdmkay

Aconite

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess

BlueTexas

Back from self-exile land.

mdmkay

Tileus

TLHines