Author Appleton

Writing. Fantasy. Sci-fi. Mystery

Archives for October 2014

How your content impacts the globe

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It surprised me the other day, when conversing with an Egyptian friend of mine, to find out that back when Wonder Woman and The Hulk shows were playing on TV they were running internationally. Just like American kids, she was fascinated by those superheroes. I guess I had still thought of Egypt as an out-of-the-way corner of the world where media only recently became so impactful. It was a fun and enlightening conversation. It got me thinking on how our creative content influences people on an international level.

Content that promotes gratuitous violence, sexual promiscuity, lying, and foul language will breed those shortcomings in the societies they impact. Conversely, content that encourages self-control, godly behavior, and faithfulness will encourage those qualities in the cultures they reach.

A couple years ago I received an email from the first fan of The Sword of the Dragon series in South Africa. As it turned out, a bookstore down there had started carrying my novels and people were loving them. It amazed me to realize that the fictional characters I’d created were quite literally my ambassadors to corners of the globe that I have never visited.

In the same manner, creatives around the world have been sending their own ambassadors. It has been thrown into hyperdrive by the advent of the digital age. And those ambassadors can either impact the world for good or for evil. Artists, parents, authors, producers, and bloggers… in this digital age, what kind of a world do you want to make?

Question: How do you see content creators impacting the world?

Why I want to put Wholesome back in Fantasy Stories

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When I was growing up I devoured tales of true heroism that demonstrated the growth of western society from Judeo-Christian values. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Pilgrim’s Progress, even mysteries like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. What has happened since then?

On my book touring travels I cannot tell you how often school teachers and parents were looking for wholesome fiction for their kids. Twilight was the big craze when I was on the road and some people were horrified by some of the content included in those books because they targeted Young Adult readers. I will not speak to Twilight in this post, but I do believe that authors have a responsibility to society to produce fun, wholesome fiction.

“You are what you eat,” is such a common saying. But it’s also accurate to say that “You are what you read.” If our youth are filling their minds with stories of gratuitous violence, casual sex, promiscuity, and vulgarity… what sorts of individuals would you expect them to become?

Books used to be filled with stories of chivalry, self-sacrifice, and self-discipline. Even through fiction young people can learn to be better people with stronger morals. And, very importantly, they can learn how to follow what is right instead of following the crowd. Tales of old were filled with stories of heroes and heroines who stepped back when confronted with temptation and evil. Those heroes and heroines said, “No,” and the readers said, “Wow! I vow to be like that so that I can live in good conscience with my fellow man.”

Thankfully there is a surge of this kind of fiction that is now coming. It will start with the Young Adult category and, I hope, grow into the Middle Grade and Adult fiction.

Question: What fiction books have encouraged you and made you a better person?

Changing the story formula with Godzilla

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Godzilla stories had an interesting angle: nature was too big for humanity to ever conquer. I remember when I was a kid riding my bicycle five miles to my grandparents’ house. My grandmother would usually offer hot chocolate and/or instant mac and cheese. My grandfather would offer snacks (often cookies) and a movie. He introduced me to the original Godzilla movies and I was hooked!

Godzilla (2014)

Mild spoilers if you didn’t see the movie: Recently I had the opportunity to watch the latest incarnation of Godzilla. It was a well-conceived story, where, just like in the old classics, nature is beyond humanity’s control. The monsters that awakened to ravage the Earth swiftly moved from Japan to Hawaii, then on to the US pacific coast. Military might and technological ingenuity proved as ineffective as flies in the monsters’ path. Godzilla figured as the balancing power, an entity whose sole purpose seemed to be destroying the indestructible.

I think there is something modern storytellers can learn from this. We have developed formulas. Big problem equals bigger or more clever response from mankind to solve it. But why not show more scenarios where world-changing events are insurmountable. The monster will ravage and cannot be stopped. The villain is so far technologically superior that no one can overthrow them. In exploring these possibilities the stories must necessarily put forth solutions other than mankind. Solutions of the supernatural.

Question: What do you think of stories that need that other-than-human solution? Have you enjoyed incarnations of Godzilla?

Backstage Pass! In Search of Dragons: coming Fall 2015

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Yep, here is another cover reveal! This time for the cover of In Search of Dragons, the fourth installment in The Sword of the Dragon series.

After the events in Key of Living Fire, Ilfedo is prepared to lead an expedition back into the heart of the Resgerian desert. He must hold to his promise to return for the people of the underground city of Dresdyn, and to lead his people on a pilgrimage out of the Hemmed Land to find their new home. But his ambitions in that regard put him at odds once again with the mayor of Gwensin City, Vortain. Tensions mount as Vortain gathers the opposition, and Ilfedo must struggle with his own uncertainty to follow the prophecy long ago given to him.

Question: Which characters are you most looking forward to seeing again in In Search of Dragons?