The Burned Book has reached Stretch Goal 4! Choose from several sweet perks and get your backers-only invite to the author reading livestream! Pledge now.
A conspicuous feature of post-WWII pop culture is that every generation that came up during the postwar boom times adopted its own language based on a particular medium. The Boomers poke in terms of pop music popularized by the likes of The Beatles, The Doors, and The Rolling Stones. In contrast, the language of Generation X is the language of comic books. Just watch any pre-Ground Zero Kevin Smith movie to hear an idealized style of Gen X vernacular that’s since lost relevance to anyone else.
On the subject of movies, it was the pulp-inspired blockbusters of the 80s and TV sitcoms of the early 90s that formed the basis of Gen Y’s vocabulary. If you know someone who peppers otherwise unrelated conversations with quotes from Back to the Future and The Simpsons, chances are he was born sometime between 1979 and 1989.
That form of communication, much like the language of the Tamarians from that classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok” derives its meaning from shared cultural references.
As with Gen X comics-speak, Gen Y movie talk will be rendered unintelligible by the time Ys are suffering elder abuse in the VR rest homes of the future. In the meantime, it’s still fun to get together with fellow members of my cohort on occasion and talk about 1980s music production, the Star Wars prequels, and the Spider Clone saga. Author David Stewart and I did just that on last night’s RetroStream.
Watch the episode here:
Let the tragic tale of Jim Shooter in particular serve as a warning about the dangers of crossing the line between maverick and meddler. Both may ship books on time, but the former takes pains to make sure his people stay satisfied.
A glance at my publishing track record shows I strive to be the kind of newpub maverick that bypasses the gatekeepers while keeping readers happy.
The readers have spoken. Now, everyone who backs my Indiegogo campaign gets invited to a live reading of my upcoming dark fantasy novel’s first thrilling chapter!
Don’t miss my prelaunch live streaming of The Burned Book Chapter 1. Be the first to hear the bold new epic straight from the author’s mouth! Get your exclusive invite to the backers-only stream when you claim any of our tantalizing perks.
Which will also help us reach …
New! Stretch Goal 5
The Burned Book Interior Fantasy Map
Reading the epic quest is an unforgettable thrill ride. Seeing it is even better!
That’s where Stretch Goal 5 comes in. When we hit 600%, I will commission a gorgeous map of the perilous continent traveled by our intrepid heroes, to be included in The Burned Book.
Featuring interior art will be a first for one of my novels. Help us reach that eye-pleasing milestone at $6000 funded. Pledge now.
16-bit vidya fans: Get your action RPG fix with my review of the Enix/Quintet classic Soul Blazer. The deep dive review is for Neopatrons only, so get access to this and all future exclusive reviews, plus membership in our secret Discord.
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