Top Ten Tuesday: Things I Want to See More In Fiction

For That Artsy Reader Girl’s Top Ten Tuesday:

July 23: Settings I’d Like to See More Of (Or At All)

I expanded it from settings to settings/characters/plots.

1. 

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   Africa- It’s an entire continent with very little mainstream representation. Yes there are a number of notable African writers (Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nadine Gordimer, Ben Okri) but that’s fairly recent. Prior to 50 or 60 years ago, most people would be hard pressed to name more than one notable African writer.  But Africa has a varied, rich history worth exploring in fiction. Historical fiction tends to go for a lot of European history, some eras of American history, and a bit of Asian history but very little in the way of African history

2. 

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   South America- Again most of the notable South American writers that I can think of are 20th Century authors (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende,  Jorge Luis Borges) but again, it’s an entire continent that’s been around just as long as any of the other continents out there that get more representation. It’s history is just as rich.

3. 

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   Asia- I can actually  think of more Asian writers and books than I can African and South American. But again those are all mid 20th century and later.  But we have so much historical fiction  set in Europe. Let’s think a little bit broader!

4. 

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   Theater- This is probably my inner theater geek talking but I love a good theatrical setting. I love onstage drama. I love backstage drama. Plus it works for almost any genre.

5. 

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   Characters with disabilities, chronic illnesses and health conditions that are not the focus on the story. I want to see characters dealing with this these and trying to solve mysteries, find true love, break a curse, and accomplish all kinds of other fictional tasks. How do they balance their condition with what needs to be done? It seems like most books about people with disabilities are about their disabilities. That’s fine but I’d like to see more about characters who are involved with other things in spite of having health related issues.

6. 

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   New adult expanding in terms of genre. Yes it’s nice that there’s a lot of New Adult Contemporary Romance. But why not expand that? Have new adult characters casting spells or solving mysteries or whatever? YA is sooo broad these days. We often see YA characters behaving like NA, so why not just broaden the genre?

7. 

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   Small town settings. It’s weird that I’m such a city girl in real life, but I love a good small town setting in fiction. I love it when a town comes to feel like a character in itself and I’d love some more great small town fiction.

8. 

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   Adult characters who aren’t in their late 20’s- Early 30’s. This ties into new adult but also older adults. Why are so many books about characters who are about 29 years old. Yes some can be, but interesting things happen in people’s lives at various ages. Why not write about some 40 or 50 somethings?