Review: "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler

Title: The Parable of the Sower
Author: Octavia Butler
Genre: Science Fiction
Page Count: 295
Publisher: Warner Books


( Review: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler )

Writing is like wrestling, sometimes

Right now I should be continuing on with Bound For Canaan, because I've come to realize it's a tale worth telling. And I like it. And I think the premise is good. And it's probably marketable.

However, I'm not. I'm wrestling with how to fix the Urban Fantasy novel I was halfway through writing before Nano rolled around. It's harder because I haven't shown any of it to anyone and I'm not sure how much of this is me just not being able to be objective about my own work.

I know that I'm struggling to shape the premise into something that isn't just Yet Another Urban Fantasy novel, because I feel like I'm treading on oft-explored ground here. Some of my characters might not be conventional, but I don't think that's enough to carry it off.

One of my frustrations with the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance genre as it stands is that there is so much promise, but so many authors keep repeating the same old, same old over and over again. I don't want to do that, but I'm not sure how to find a premise that isn't one big collection of cliches.

I keep trying to find the unexplored corners, the "oh, never thought about that" places - 'cause I know they're there but it feels like I can't quite get there mentally. And then I try to think of what hasn't been done at all, or rarely done - but that, too, seems to elude me.

I feel like I'm digging in a freshly fertilized field. There's a thick layer of crap in between me and the seeds of something that might bear fruit.

I think I'm going to go read for a bit, eat some lunch, get other work done and see if this resolves itself. If not, I'll get back to working on the story that I do know what to do with. s