Is there anybody there?

This isn't a very active forum, is it? I see that a few of our previous threads have even disappeared.

Thanks for the tip on Carve. I had seen a call for submissions for their contest, but I'm not too familiar with the magazine. But if they will just automatically send me something...I'm all for no effort!

I have been trying to get through my TBR pile lately, with little luck. I started The Historian, but that book is a big commitment and I'm taking it in chunks. I also started Saturday, which I was enjoying, when the fall semester started and I had to put it to the side. I have already read one novel for class - it's an interesting older book that, for the most part, would be rightly considered absolutely terrible writing today, but I thought was unique because it originally appeared as a serial in a newspaper and is very obviously tailored to popular tastes.

Sorry. I haven't been around much the past couple weeks because I'm getting ready for the county fair (this weekend, finally).

I can't really answer with what I've been reading because I haven't been reading or writing much of anything, unless you count writing jewelry descriptions and reading bead magazines/instructions. lol.

I will be back up and running after the fair is done.

Well....

Forget what I said about the fair. The booth isn't going to happen after all, so I guess I'm back now, unless something else comes up that I don't have a clue about.

pdr said:

I hate to see this section fading away for lack of nourishment. So here's a quick question for people to answer.

What short stories have you been reading in the literary or mainstream/contemporary genre recently?

I've been enjoying a story about Menelaus written by a fellow kiwi in the latest issue of Carve magazine: http://www.carvezine.com

I'm very busy and don't have time to trawl the net but if you sign up for Carve the zine lands in your inbox every month without any effort on your part!

For those of you who like a good short story competition Carve's is now up and running.

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I hate seeing lonely threads. But I'm not even sure where the line crosses from other Genre's into "Mainstream?" It seems to me that people are confused by the term, since most things could fit into another Genre? Romance, Life Story...etc.

I do think mainstream short stories are hard to find. Short stories are usually genres (e.g. sci-fi or horror or erotica enjoys nice niche SS markets), or literary (e.g. New Yorker/Atlantic Monthly).

pdr said:

Nateskate, look at Mainstream this way. It's in-your-face, set in 2005, modern stuff that's written in a more literary style than popular fiction.

A writer writing mainstream/contemporary is trying to say something about hir life and times.

And I think that New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly publish more mainstream than literary. (But I haven't seen copies for a couple of years.)
Try reading the UK small press or literary mags. Their fiction has a good mix of mainstream and literary.

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Is a story like Briget Jones' Diary Contemporary or Chic Lit? I guess it would be easier if I could see what "sub-categories" fit.

Modern Teen Angst? Present day Chic Lit-sans romance? I haven't narrowed it to it into a category in my mind yet, and I'd like to.

I'm sorry if this is not the direction you wanted to take this. But if you are willing to explain, I'm willing to learn. What is mainstream vs not mainstream? Someone who is checking out seedy bar life or beeches in LA? The Real Life Chronicles? Is it by default something that doesn't fit any other Genre?

I don't know if its' mainstream or not - although the story is set in contemporary time - but one of the best stories I've read in awhile is/was on Scrivener's Pen's site.

It was called Witches' Sixpence and it was about a woman in a rural area involved in witchcraft. Not really horror, though, but strange and different. Kind of twilight zone style or Shirley Jackson or something.

Think Mainstream as a Hollywood drama about real people in real life situations about real issues set in modern times (give and take one or two generations). Think Cinderella Man, American Beauty, The World According to Garp.

Contemporary basically means it's a mainstream set in today's world about today's issues (sex, drugs, family, politics, wars, social issues, etc.). Think the TV show Six Feet Under.

Chick-lit or "Lad-lit" is usually about a contemporary woman (or man in Lad-lit) dealing with relationships and career choices in a light-hearted way. Think Bridget Jones' Diaries or About a Boy.

"Women's Issues" is, IMHO, an off shoot of mainstream with a strong, central plot about, well, women's issues (usually serious stuff) such as breast cancer, divorce, taking care of a dying parent, domestic abuse, or raising children on her own, etc. etc. It doesn't have to be heavy and depressing all the time, but it'll be serious. A lot of Oprah Book Club's books are women's issues.

"Coming-of-age" stories are a subset of mainstream, dealing mostly with a young person's coming in terms with his or her identity and feelings. It's about growing up. Usually it's about young adults, but sometimes it's also about children or adults well into their 30s and 40s. Think "Almost Famous" or "Clueless."

"Love stories" (as opposed to romance genre) is mainstream with a strong and central plot about love and relationship between two (sometimes more) people. Think Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook.