My Top Five Favorite Tropes

Tropes, in the sense that I'm using it in here, means a device, motif, or cliche within a work of literature.  There are some common ones out there, quite a few of them, actually.  And some of them are bad... like, rolling your eyes so hard you pass out bad.  That being said, there are several that, when done right, I can't help but love.  So, here are my top five favorite tropes.

1. Enemies to Lovers

I freaking love this trope.  This is, without a doubt, my all time favorite one.  I'm always quite taken with the villains of the story, so when they turn and see the light because they've fallen in love with the main character... *sigh*  It makes me so happy.

Example:

2. Tyrannical Government

I'll be honest, in my total list of books I've read, dystopian doesn't cover many.  And this is a trope that is most often found in that genre.  But... I love it.  The whole rebel against the tyrannical government just really gets me invested every time.

Example: 

3. Forbidden Love

I don't read a lot of romance, but two of these so far are far more likely to end up in romance novels.  Huh.  Anyhow, I love the forbidden love trope in the same way I love the Enemies to Lovers trope.  The whole "will they defy the odds" or "will they push those feelings way down"... I mean, come on... most of the ones I read have them defying the odds... but that's why I love it!  I was really into vampires in my youth (still love them, I've just branched out) and this is a common trope in those books.  It was ingrained early. 

Example:

4. The Chosen One




Okay, yeah, everyone knows this one, right?  The person is chosen for a grand destiny of some sort.  Most often, they don't want it.  There are a lot, a lot, of books that play this wrong.  I mean, really wrong.  But there are several, also, that do it right.  And those are the ones I love.  Yeah, maybe they aren't happy with their destiny, but they do it anyhow, with minimal complaint.  I actually love it when they step up to the bar with the attitude of "might as well."  Those are the best ones, in my opinion. 






Example:

5. The Unlikely Hero of Humble Origins

I also like to think of this one as "the one you least suspect."  I read up on this trope, and Harry Potter was listed under this one.  If they are talking about certain characters from the series, then yes, absolutely.  But if they mean the title character?  No.  I would say Harry falls under The Chosen One trope.  He meets the requirements of a prophecy and was literally thrust into this heroic role.  I would argue that Neville Longbottom better exemplifies this trope.  And it is for characters like Neville that I love it.  They're the little guy.  No one expects anything great from them.  And then, boom... you grow up and chop off a snake's head after telling off a dark lord.  Or something like that.  So, for Neville...

Example:

And that's it.  Those are my top five favorite tropes.  Honestly, there's several more I love.  And these books that I've listed as examples are just the tip of the iceberg.  Get out there and explore the tropes. 

Free Story: New, Not Better

I thought it might be fun if, once in a while, I showcase some of my writing here in the form of a free story.  So, here's one I wrote for... some deadline that didn't get accepted.  Hope you enjoy it.  

            Tiffany’s polished red thumbnail found the equally red button on the dash and pushed.  Again, nothing happened… not even a revving noise.  Her husband—his thinning, mousy hair caught in a light breeze as he bent over the holo-reader—sighed.  His finger jabbed at the screen, presumably scrolling through the owner’s manual to the hovercraft the couple were currently sitting in.  She sighed, leaning back in her seat.  With another huff of aggravation, her husband began to shake his head at the screen in his hands, as if it were arguing with him.

            “Do you have the key turned?” he asked without looking at his wife.

            She closed her eyes.  Tiffany was not good with heights.  The fact that she could successfully drive a hovercraft of any sort between point A and point B was nothing short of a miracle… so the idea of being in a brand-spanking new model of craft that flew a good three hundred feet above last year’s models was making her feel sick.

            “Yes, Herbert.  I have the key turned,” she said in a monotonous tone.

            Herbert huffed again, jabbing some more at the screen.  With a couple of deep breaths, she finally managed a peek over the side of the craft, looking straight down.  Gasping, she immediately realized that that was a mistake.  Other hovercrafts zoomed by so far below the two that they were totally unaware of their presence, stuck hovering several hundred feet above the nearest parking port.  She slammed her back against her driver’s seat, trying to calm her increasingly erratic breathing.  Herbert did not even glance at her way.

            “Well,” Tiffany said with a hollow laugh, “at least we’re not plummeting to our deaths.”

            “Yeah,” Herbert responded without a hint of amusement.  “That’s the new thrusters on the bottom of the craft.  Exclusive to this year’s model.  Guaranteed to still run, even if the craft won’t.”

            “Why would someone just want to hover in midair?” his wife muttered.

            Now Herbert looked at her, one brow raised.  “It’s a safety precaution, Tiff.”

            She rolled her eyes.  “I’m aware of that.  I’m just saying.  They must have very little confidence in their new and better model if they have to install something like that.”

            “It’s not that, Tiffany.  This car has the highest safety rating—”

            And that’s when Tiffany stopped listening.  Instead, she glared straight ahead at the steering wheel.  She missed their other hovercraft, the one they had traded not hours ago for this hunk of junk.  The couple was just seven clicks away from the dealership, and now they were stuck and broken down.

            “Damn it!” Herbert yelled, throwing the holo-reader into the floorboard, causing Tiffany to jump.  “There’s not a damn thing in that manual to help.”

            With a groan and her face turned skywards, Tiffany reached out and held the button on the dash down.  Again, not a sound. 

            “That’s not gonna work, Tiff.  You can stop trying.”

            “I don’t appreciate you snapping at me.  I don’t see you trying anything.”

            He scoffed, turning his head away from her. 

            “Hey, I’m not the one who wanted this stupid hovercraft in the first place.  I liked our old one!”

            He whirled back towards her, nostrils flaring.  “It was out of date.”

            “No, it wasn’t!  It had everything that this one has… oh, wait… I’m wrong there.  Our old one ran!  You’ve always done this!  Gotta have the latest technology.  What is it with you?”

            Ignoring her—as he always did when he knew his wife was on the verge of winning an argument—he bent forward and picked up the holo-reader.  Tiffany resisted a strong urge to scream as she crossed her arms and turned, very deliberately, away from him.  A few moments of silence passed as he simply sat there, scrolling through the manual yet again. 

            “Aha!” he cried finally, causing her to jump again.

            “What?” she asked.

            Without bothering to answer, he reached down to a small lever that was located between the two seats.  He jerked it to the left and then pushed it up.  Smiling triumphantly, he motioned towards the ignition button.  Tiffany pressed it, and the hovercraft roared to life.

            “We had it in the wrong gear.  That’s all,” he said, as if he had known all along. 

            With her hands tightening around the steering wheel so much that her knuckles turned white, she made a sharp turn in the direction they had come from. 

            “W-what are doing, Tiff?”

            “I’m taking this stupid, overly sophisticated piece of crap back to the dealer and getting our old craft back!  Wrong gear… of all the stupid things!”

            “But, Tiff…”

            Tiffany shot him a look so full of fire that he only smiled weakly.

            “Um… if you hurry, honey, you can beat their closing time.”    

I wrote this one back in 2015, inspired by a story my aunt had told my mom once about how her brand-new model car kept breaking down.  She kept having to take it back to the dealer so they could "work out the bugs."  (It was leased.)  If you liked this, let me know.  

 

Quotes to Inspire

I'm sure you've all seen those inspirational quotes on posters.  The ones that give pseudo definitions to words like "teamwork" or "willpower."  And I know you've all probably seen those pseudo proverb-like messages.  Crap like "He said, 'You cannot withstand the storm.' And she whispered back, 'I am the storm.'"  Only usually there's a huge grammar mistake in there somewhere.  Those are all well and good, but my God, do I really hate seeing them.  I mean, no offense to those who truly take inspiration from reading or hearing them, but I just don't.  I feel like they're over-played.  I feel like they are fake as hell.  I do have quotes that I think about quite often, though.  Quotes that do inspire me.  So, I'd like to share them all with you. 

1.

If you talk to me in real life for longer than a few minutes, and the subject of Harry Potter comes up--and it inevitably will--I will make no bones about admiring this woman.  She's an inspiration to me.  And, of all the quotes that come from her--and not the books--that I think of most often, it's this one.  She's speaking about how she was a single mother, on welfare, in government issued housing, when she began writing the first Potter book.  Most people would give up.  Most people would make excuses.  "I can't write a book; I've got to get my life together."  She made writing a book part of getting her life together.  So, if you feel like you've hit rock bottom... build a house.

2.

I won't lie.  I first heard this quote in the context of an episode of Criminal Minds.  But it stuck.  I had never thought of it this way.  You tell a kid something magical and mythical like a dragon is real, and they might mutter "wow" but ultimately they just accept it.  So, if you don't have to provide proof, why do we need fairy tales?  This quote reminds me to look at things from more than one angle.  As a lover and writer of fantastical things, it also helps to remind me that there's more than just putting fantastic things in my works to make it a good story.

3.

Okay, so, yes, this quote comes from a Let's Player while in the middle of playing a glitching Sonic game.  And also, yes, it's immediately followed by him screaming "Not fu*king this!"  But this is just good life advice.  I have been in situations where the people around me are just so wound tight and freaking out about things that are, usually, out of their control.  Sometimes, you just have to reassess, and I think of these words a lot when I'm doing just that.

4.

This quote is found inside the second book of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, called The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.  When I read this section, I had to pause and read it again.  No truer words have ever been written.  A friendly reminder to side-eye anyone who is just so gung-ho wanting to be the leader.  People, indeed, are a problem.

5.  

My favorite Seuss quote from The Lorax.  I think a lot of people are forgetting this.  Do you have to care about every little thing?  No, you're only human with a limited capacity.  But we should all care about something.  Find a passion and stick with it.  And then make sure that that passion is a little better when you leave it than when you found it.

6.

I saved my favorite quote for last.  This quote was paraphrased to me by my best friend when we were both talking about taking risks and putting our writing out into the world--beginning the trying to get published part of our careers.  You see, I'm an anxious person.  I have many fears.  Many, many, many fears.  One of the biggest ones I have is failure.  I always had to succeed, growing up.  After all, if you fail, you're a loser, right?  Wrong!  All that failure proves is that you tried.  And trying is paramount.  It's the only way to succeed.  I think about this quote just about every day.  I'm not joking.  Every single day.  Every time I sit down to edit my novel.  When I submitted it to the open door call last year.  When I eventually send it to an agent.  Every time I have to put it out into the world I whisper the words "permission to fail."  It's become my mantra.  Because it's okay.  As long as I keep trying, I have that permission. 

Those are the quotes that inspire me the most.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a novel--or two and a novella--to edit and an agent to find. 

Books I Read in 2018

Much like the Books I Read in 2017 post, I'll be listing the books I finished reading in 2018, and then answering a few fun questions about them, to better analyze my reading habits in the past year.  Without further ado, here are the books I read in 2018.

Books Read in 2018

Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf       Wires and Nerve Vol. 1 by Marissa Meyer
Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen                                       Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins                  Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood                             Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl      Tempest and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
The Magicians by Lev Grossman                             Soundless by Richelle Mead
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas       A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin                       A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas     The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Heartless by Marissa Meyer                                     After Alice by Gregory Maguire
And I Darken by Kiersten White                             Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher                                  Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher
Princep's Fury by Jim Butcher                                 First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher
Caravel by Stephanie Garber                                   Blood Communion by Anne Rice
Dracula by Bram Stoker                                          Half-Bad by Sally Green
Half-Wild by Sally Green                                        Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Total Books Read: 32

Favorite Book(s)?  Well, sticking strictly to standalones here... Wow... also seeing that I didn't read a lot of standalones... I was really taken in by Dracula. Also, I was pleasantly surprised by Alias Hook.  It had some false starts, but once it got going, I couldn't put it down.  Loved it.

Least Favorite Book(s)?  Oh, I'm ready for this one.  First off, freaking The Girl on the Train.  Hated that book.  I blame the hype, honestly.  It was so hyped as the next Gone Girl.  It is not.  Not even close.  I wasn't even a hundred pages in and I knew who did it and why.  And the protagonist got on my ever-lovin' last nerve.  And, while I love the Vampire Chronicles--and have even loved the two additions previous to the New Chronicles... I didn't particularly care for Blood Communion... (I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest... I finally said it).  There is always a lot of talking in Rice's books, which I'm totally cool with, but this one threw in a whole oh-no-can-it-be section... that wasn't.  I just... meh.

Favorite Series? Um, I think the Codex Alera series (all those books up there by Jim Butcher) and A Court of Thorns and Roses series (all the books up there by Sarah J. Maas) really took me this year.  

Least Favorite Series? That Half series by Sally Green.  I only read the second one because I had purchased both of them at reduced prices.  But I won't be seeking out the third.  Really just disliked the style and couldn't give a crap about any of the characters.

Any reoccurring themes in choice of reading? Well, I read a lot of series stuff... or stuff that has sequels either out or coming out this year (2019).  But, I read two books with the word "alias" in the title that were also two word titles (Alias Hook and Alias Grace).  I read a lot about fairies this year, and not consciously.   Six of them included fairies (Alias Hook, A Court of Thorns and Roses series--hereafter abbreviated to ACoTaR, and The Darkest Part of the Forest).  I read two classic novels this year (Sense and Sensibility and Dracula).  I always read a lot of books that deal with magic or mysticism in some way, so I'll skip that.  But I read either entirely or all currently published books in a series a lot this year... I think total series I read was 10... wow... two of those were all that is currently available to read, and only 1 series that I won't return to.  I read two books that dealt with the world of Alice in Wonderland (which spawned my first post, those books being Heartless and After Alice).  

Any of them have sequels you want to look out for next year/future?  A lot of them, actually.  Maas has promised a continuation of the ACoTaR series in a second trilogy.  I will definitely be looking out for that.  And I Darken I want to continue, and Bannerless currently has a sequel out I am interested in.  I definitely have to get the sequel to Furyborn (called Kingsbane) ASAP after it releases this year. 

Any authors new to you this year that you want to seek out more of? Claire Legrand is one I will definitely look more into, as well as Kiersten White.  There's a new book White is writing that's due out... two days from when I publish this that's set within the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe that I desperately want.  I have Throne of Glass by Maas in my possession that I need to read.  I think those all the new authors that I want to continue reading from this year (new to me, that is).  

Pleasantly surprised by any of them? Alias Hook for starters.  This was a Dollar Tree find by my BFF that she literally bought, brought to work, and then immediately loaned to me to get my opinion on.  And it was great.  Dollar well spent.  Furyborn surprised me too... but I'm not sure why.  I think I just had a total misconception about Legrand and this novel.  I really loved it.  And I was surprised by how taken in I was by the Codex Alera and the ACoTaR series.  

Any books left on your TBR (To Be Read) list that you're excited to get to next year? I am excited to get to another Jim Butcher book I have on my TBR called The Aeronaut's Windglass.  Also, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, and Dracula in Love by Karen Essex.

And that's it for me.  I have read 32 books for 2018, and I'm so proud of that, considering the writing I do and that I mostly read on my breaks at work.  So, what did you all read last year?  Leave me a comment below!  Also, covers for favorite books and least favorite books following!

Favorite Books

Least Favorite Books