How much fanboy is too much fanboy?

The more I write "Fateplay" the more I realized it is hopelessly fanboyish. I'm not sure about the propriety of using so many licensed references--which, ironically, is the subject of the book in some ways.

It's probably also a little fanboyish as an older guy--I mean, I'm pretty hip to pop culture for someone my age. But I certainly don't have the reference landscape that, say, Sabrina, my mid-twenties manager, has. I can try to research that, but so much of it is inherent in one's history. Fortunately, in this day and age things don't really disappear, but just become added upon. Star Wars is still out there. LOTR's, ect. big as ever, but what I'd like to do is find some just barely recognizable pop culture references from the last few years.

The trick is to have enough cool references to let people feel like they're hip to know them, but not so obscure that it is all meaningless jargon.

Cthulhu is probably a good reference point. Far too big in nerd culture to ignore, and yet the mainstream population still seems to be mostly ignorant of what it is. So I think things like Cthulhu are probably on the borderline, which is where I want to be.

But I'm pretty sure I mustn't pander. That it all has to be genuine.

Whatever happens, I'm enjoying the hell out of writing it.


The other thing about this book is that is proves once again that there is no routine way to write a book, even for me.

This started off with a few paragraphs in my mind as I woke up. (I'm not sure what this phenomenon is--it really doesn't come from dreams, it's just as if my unconscious mind has been at work and offers it up.)

It exploded into a ten hour day of writing, or 9500 words. The next day was almost as strong, about 8500 words. The third day was another 6500 words, and the fourth was 4000 words before I hit a wall. The second half of the day I couldn't think of a thing.

Worked the next day, and the following day I still had nothing. So after that fast start I had two unfruitful days.

I had a vague notion yesterday and struggled to write a chapter, coming in at 2500 words.

Then woke up this morning with a bunch of ideas for the next few chapters.

So who knows how this works? About the only thing I can do is be diligent. Leave myself open to when it happens.