29 September 2022
CW: a brief discussion of teenage suicide thoughts
I attended a writers’ conference last weekend and one of the interesting takeaways I had was a new awareness of the trends that agents who represent fiction authors are seeing.
Because I do not write fiction, my eyes glazed over at first. But then I snapped awake.
On trend? Fiction that is hot right now? Apparently aliens are big. Alien romances. Alien military romances. Secret alien love affairs. I was not expecting a crossover between science fiction and romance. And when the next trend was mentioned, stepbrother romances, I raised a curious eyebrow. Anyone who peruses online pornography will have already noticed the stepbrother trend, but I was surprised to hear that it had entered the realm of mainstream fiction, too.
Hiro came to the conference, too. Any chance to lounge at a hotel and he is there (and the hotel, in Renton’s Southport neighborhood, is particularly loungeworthy). After each day’s sessions, I was able to decompress with him (which is awesome) and when I mentioned the fiction trends, he immediately asked if I knew what was trending in Japanese fiction.
The trend is for something called 異世界転生 (isekai tensei, literally otherworld reincarnation (and forgive the regressive parentheticals but the fact that the characters for reincarnation literally mean a turned life delights me)).
He talked me through the basic scenario: as the protagonist goes about their life, they suddenly and unexpectedly pass away, only to awake either in a different part of planet Earth or, a different world altogether. Their memories are intact, but they are, understandably, disoriented, and the remainder of the book details how the protagonist either adapts or otherwise reacts against this situation.
I immediately understood the appeal.
With an increasing frequency, we experience the unprecedented. The news cycle thrives on shocking and depressing us, yes, but even if we turn off the media the weather alone is enough to inform us of the odd changes happening all around us. Who among us might not be tempted to turn to a new and different life in a new and different place in an instant?
When I was a teenager, I fantasized about an end to my life and hoped for a change. Part of the trauma of the closet is a fear of rejection and this conviction (which was definitely easier to maintain in the days before the Internet) that I was the only gay person on the planet. I never made specific plans to end my life, nor did I dwell on suicide for long periods of time, but I wanted to be away, to be out. That wish only started to come true in 1987, when I was 21, and of course, never ends. There is always one more person or institution who, for example, asks to speak with the lady of the house—you’re speaking to her, bud—or addresses a card to Mr and Mrs Watson. I’ve always believed that I am gay in satellite photos, but strangers do occasionally mistake me for an ordinary heterosexual. Insulting though that is. (Hit the laugh track. My sarcasm is hard to decode when writing.)
On a completely different topic… Japan officially reopens its borders to tourism on October 11th of this year for most international travelers. I am in the planning phases of a guide for first-time visitors to Japan, something that I will happily share with my subscribers. But I know you have questions. Do me a favor and hit the button below and share with me, in email, what you want to know about Japan. It can be anything from in-country travel to must-see destinations, from culinary information and hotel recommendations to kid-friendly attractions. Hit me up!
NOTE: If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or send a text to 988, or visit https://988lifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/.
