Inspiration From Guilty Pleasure

Born from succumbing to my current guilty-pleasure, an interesting notion began to take shape.

Long ago, the accomplice to all my future crimes, (my best friend from preschool, who truly knows too much to be on the outside) Linnea, introduced me to arguably the best piece of cinematography ever filmed: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Linnea knew of my ... slight obsession ... with Broadway sensation/infallible actor, Neil Patrick Harris, and sat me down for a viewing that would prove to be life-changing.



After watching this unequivocally entertaining musical tragicomedy ... eh, 17? times ... I realized, "ya know, NPH isn't the only brilliant actor here. Captain Hammer's actor is truly impressive." Therefore, I went on a search for the man the credits called "Nathan Fillion". Turns out, this gifted man stars on ABC's hit Crime Drama "Castle" about a writer -Richard Castle - who's friendship with the mayor grants him the privilege of tagging along with the local cops for inspiration.

And inspiration he finds.

Generally, I despise Ghostwriters - authors paid to secretly write on another's behalf under the latter's name and credence - but I find writers publishing books on behalf of fictional characters oddly charming. Currently, the general public can pick up a copy written by "Richard Castle" of either Heat Wave or Naked Heat, novels the namesake character writes throughout the series "Castle".

Now onto my "great notion born of guilty pleasure": I read "teaser chapters" posted in intervals on ABC's page for the show. I fully realize this book's aim is to hook avid fans for a profit, but I will happily buy into it. Anyway, amidst my reading, I noticed an add for "Shakespeare: The Manga Edition" created by the ever-popular book-summation website, Cliffnotes.

Mr. Opportunity began his knocking.



It is somewhat common knowledge that I aspire to become a novelist. To those who did not know this, I doubt it comes as much surprise. Amidst straining my mind for the ideal market (one cannot expect just to write and receive lump sums for their work, obviously) I thought about the authors who exploited their readers, enticing them for the sale of a copy, and I resigned that it was not my nature to ever use my gift of writing in such a way. One can always find a lucrative career in writing a self-help book incorporating rewordings of common phrases, beautifully scripted text, serene background images of autumn leaves on a winding pathway and white-sanded beaches, and phrases geared around gooey "self-love" and Biblical passages charged with motivation and self-analysis. People clamor for this genre like it's the gourmet of the book-rack. I, of course, would never stoop to exploitation to avoid my horrifying future in public education.

However, could there be a market niche that does not exploit the readers, but still fills a unknown need? For instance, this book reworking Shakespeare for students who do not aim to quote Hamlet's desperation verbatim. (To be, or not to be. That is the question! Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, than to -- okay. So I'm not the audience I'm addressing. Point made.) They still receive the meat of Shakespeare's brilliance without slaving page-by-page over his novel Sparknotes. Same with the books created from television shows, such as the two aforementioned novels, The Bro-Code for How I Met Your Mother and the multitudes of X-File novels that turn old shows from the series, and even the two movies, into paperbacks. These do not exploit, even though the readers never realized how desperately they wanted to read through Barney Stinsons' manual of how to be a player until they saw his innocent little face with the "eye contact" fingers on the cover at Target. (I flipped through, but I didn't buy it.)

Perhaps there is a place for me within this niche, with the proper legalities and moral standards in check. It's something to look into.

However, until some more neon signs angle their arrows toward this field, I am content with my fiction, even if my only fan remains my mother.