I'm 40 yrs old. Like the venerable JAG, I don't always agree with what
Andrew Stafford writes. However, I think he makes a very salient point
when he implies that there is no "cool" birding character in popular
fiction/media. No offence to Bill Oddy, but his time has passed (and
his character on The Goodies wasn't associated with birding anyway). In
the English-speaking world, I have found only 2 authors who are
producing birdwatching-based fiction. They are both in the USA. The
main character in one set of novels is a sixty-something lady who ably
fits the stereotype of a pushy old biddy. The main character in the
other novel is a lady Andrew Stafford's age. However, she's not really
a birder and is surrounded by (you guessed it) older birdwatchers.
I myself am an aspiring writer and have written a birdwatching based
novel. I deliberately made the main character a keen early-twenties
male birder. The manuscript has been assessed by a very successful
Young Adult author who describes my main character as "just so cool".
However, Australian publishers aren't interested because - although the
writing technique is sound - they just don't think it will sell.
Therein lies the dilemma. Birding won't become "cool" until popular
culture allows it to. And popular culture won't create a "cool" birding
character because the people who make the decisions are infected with
the old stereotype of boring old fart birdwatchers.
As for myself, I'm considering taking the self-publishing route next
year. The question is - will I do my money???
Andrew Thelander
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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