More and more reluctanter
by antonstrout on Feb.16, 2010, under Anton Strout and Amber Benson
Following up on what it means to be a reluctant adult, Carolyn Crane asked: Where exactly did the name of Reluctant Adults come from? Was it meant from the start as a counterpoint to serious literature?
My livejournal was where I had first used the name the League of Reluctant Adults, an obvious play on one of my fave graphic novels the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (not so fave movie, tho). When a group of us urban fantasy and paranormal romance writers invited me to join their group blog, I threw it out there as a title and voila! It stuck. There’s a sense of fun to the phrase… it’s inclusive, covering a growing expanse of us who think that toys and films about fighting robots and Neo Tokyo and ghosts and goblins aren’t just for kids. Is there a need to grow beyond those things? Not anymore. Reluctant adults embrace them. We don’t take things so seriously.
Speaking of taking thing seriously and going back to part of the theme of my last post, I remember Guy Gavriel Kay’s speech from the 2007 World Fantasy Awards, where he adressed the disparity between the two worlds. Luckily I found it in whole thanks to the Interwebs. He said:
There has always been a tension between writers who aspire to high art, enduring work, and those who pursue popular success, defining themselves as entertainers. The literati disdain the commercial while envying their bank accounts, and the bestsellers often regard the artistic as elitist and unreadable and the twain don’t do a lot of beer-drinking together.
It inspired a nervous laugh throughout the room, but it was true. I think that in any community there’s a wish to stratify oneself, a desire to define. Everyone tries to figure out if they are the cream of the crop or the cream of the crap.
Related posts:
- Wrapping up another round Amber and Anton, thank you for contributing to our discussion on Babel Clash. Please take this opportunity with your last couple of posts to share any information with us that you’d like regarding Cat’s Claw and Dead Matter. Also, please feel welcome to share any news regarding other upcoming projects....
- Are you a reluctant adult? We’re off and running with a brand new topic. Does reading science fiction and fantasy make you a “reluctant adult”? What about the authors working in these genres? Should these “reluctant adults” tackle “serious literature” instead? How’s that for a loaded question? ...
- Our next guests… Thanks again to F. Paul Wilson. I’m pleased to welcome two new guests to Babel Clash: Anton Strout and Amber Benson. Anton writes the Simon Canderous novels. The latest volume, Dead Matter, goes on-sale next week. He is also an active blogger, writing for his own blog and group urban...
- Anton Strout- Proudly a Reluctant Adult Welcome to the Amber and Anton hour, err two week, at Babel Clash. *slips Babel Fish in ear* First and foremost, I’d like to thank Borders and Morgan for inviting us. Amber promised this would be as good a place as any to harass me, but she’s such a sweetie,...
- Thieves’ World Do you remember the Thieves’ World series from back in the late ’70s and early ’80s? Robert Asprin created the city of Sanctuary and then invited all of these other authors (Poul Anderson, C. J. Cherryh, Marion Zimmer Bradley, etc.) to write stories set there. They wrote both anthologies and...
February 16th, 2010 on 9:44 pm
I think that it is that desire to define that often ends up creating problems. In my mind, it limits the writer, squaring them away in a neat little box. The true measure of a book should be that it tells a good story, a story that starts as a seed in the writers imagination, and is allowed to grow and develop on its own into the novel it will become. It’s good to see that there are writers out there like you guys, who won’t take everything too seriously, who will allow a good story to be a good story, and who bring us awesome worlds we can easily slip into
February 17th, 2010 on 1:28 pm
I don’t know about that term, geek or nerd are perfectly legit and honorable. Reluctant Adult would have to include anybody with a hobby. My 80 year mother likes gardening my 3 year old granddaughter loves playing in the dirt. In warm weather they work (play) in the backyard.
I love being an adult, I buy beer and have money left over to buy all the 247.99 AVP painted resin figurines I want. My 12 year old grandson is jealous and can’t wait to grow up.