Sunday, November 23, 2014

Sunday Story - anthologies

How do you feel about anthologies?

I love them. I like reading people who I haven't read before. It's a great way to find new-to-me authors.

I enjoy having a story included in an anthology because I hope someone might read it, enjoy it, and look me up, like I've done as a reader.

There seems to be a bit of a glut of anthologies/boxed sets at the moment and I've read a few that are disappointing to say the least. Although, maybe I'm just too damn fussy!

I've been on a bit of a kick to 'find out' what makes some of the 'big name' authors so popular. Anthologies are good for this because the stories are usually short and you can analyse them easier. But...I'm wondering if 'big name' authors take these things seriously. I've read a couple of anthologies now where I have skipped most of the stories from 'big names' because they've been shit. Really poor character development, dialogue that is so unrealistic I can't read it, sometimes the story sounds like a first draft. The authors in these box sets who I've enjoyed are often not the biggest name in the box.

So... does my taste in stories suck? Or have you found 'big names' aren't always good?

If I'm being totally honest, I don't often get hooked on 'big names'. I can never understand why their stories are so popular when I think there are much better writers around. So maybe it's me. Maybe my taste sucks and I'm just not in the 'in' crowd! LOL That makes sense - I'm never in the 'in' crowd!

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