Harry Potter. Game of
Thrones. Mad Men. Twilight.
Breaking Bad. And many, many more
cultural storms that have swept the public’s interest, I got around to much
later than everyone else. Some things I
loved. The Harry Potter books and Game
of Thrones television series have turned into subjects of near adulation. I hope to start reading the Fire and Ice book
series soon (on which Game of Thrones is based). I’m re-reading the Potter books for the
second time in six months. I’m
completely gone over these two things.
Breaking Bad was big for me as well.
Hubby and I Netflixed the series about three years after it started and
lost our minds over it. We tuned in
breathlessly for the final episode like so many others. We came late, but we got to dance at the
actual party.
Mad Men ... meh. We watched the
first two seasons on our pal Netflix. In
the end, I felt it was a waste of my time.
It’s not that it’s a bad show. It’s
incredibly well-written and the actors are phenomenal. I just didn’t connect with it. So I quit watching. Showed up late, left early.
Twilight – no thanks to both the books and the movies. A friend loaned me the first two books, which
was all she could get through. I soon
found out why. I’d never been bored by
vampires before, but Twilight certainly accomplished that for me. Ditto on the movie. Those two books were ideal when I needed
something to send me to sleep.
Seriously, what was the attraction for so many people? The idea that a 200-year-old vampire could
fall in love with an adolescent girl kind of upped the ick factor too. Pedophilia and necrophilia, all in one shot. Eek.
Being an erotica author, I of course was well aware of the Fifty Shades
phenomenon. However, contemporary
settings don’t tend to do much for me, so I couldn’t be bothered for a long
time. (My own naughty books are set in
paranormal and science fiction universes.)
Besides, have you seen what the publisher is charging for the
e-book? Hell, I bitch about spending
that kind of money on Stephen King, and he’s one of my writing heroes.
But I figured I needed to see what the hoopla was all about,
considering Alt-Tam writes the naughty too.
Before I could handle plunking down my credit card though, I read the
sample chapters available on Amazon.
Boy, am I ever glad I did. If
Twilight bored me out of my pants, the little bit I read of Fifty Shades bored
them right back on. I caught myself
skipping entire passages because I simply couldn’t take the mundane feel of the
book. I wanted a pot of coffee afterward
just to wake up. I guess you could say I
peeked into the window of that party, turned around, and went back home. Definitely not for me.
Sometimes I see that going along with the crowd can be a good
thing. Sometimes I’m right on the crowd’s
wavelength. But about half the time, I
find I’m better off ignoring what everyone else is going on about. It looks like I’ll continue to be late to the
party, but I’ll probably show up eventually.
Just call me fashionably late.
Someone pushed me to read the 50 Shades trilogy when it was still only an Indie available on Smashwords. I read them, thought 'Eh, ok" and didn't think about them again until 6 months later when the "OMG 50 Shades!" hooplah began. I never have figured out why people went so gaga for them considering there is much better stuff out there. *shrug*
ReplyDeleteI did consider that EL James sold her soul for her success, but I guess we'll never know for sure. LOL
LOL...who knows why certain things grab people? It just goes to show that there is something for everyone out there. EL James is certainly not the first success that left me scratching my head...though I don't begrudge her enjoying it! If she made people happy, more power to her.
DeleteHey, I say good for her, but I can't help but get the image of a demon out of my mind pushing the contract her way with a wink. lol. Apparently I read too much fantasy. :)
DeleteHahahahaha! "Just sign here, Ms. James."
Delete