Author's Note:
And here we end my first attempt at a spoof and working with other authors.
Since you are still here, I shall assume you managed to stick around this long. It was fun, short, and sweet – and it has also cured me of ever wanting to write about a teenage main character, high school romances, mermaids/mermen, and space journeys revolving around chasing glowing green rocks.
Arveliot and SabrinaBlackburry – thank you for joining me with this. It was fun. Although I think our version of fun possibly drove Nick to insanity.
For those trying to keep track of the Cliches, here are overall themes (some were larger, others mentioned in passing):
Merfolk cliches:
Merfolk transform when coming into contact with water
All mermaids should be good at singing
All mermaids have long flowing hair that never knots
Clamshell bikini
Fish tail and human torso
Favored weapon is a trident
Obsession with clamshells and pearls
Some mermaid stories have magic elemental powers
Standard cliches:
Once upon a time beginning & Happily ever after ending
Lots of clothes and nothing matches
Rebellious teenagers/not listening to parents.
Highschool cheerleader/football jock
Guy and girl in a janitor's closet
Mistake sister for girlfriend
Legendary quest
Teenage heroes
Teens not listening to parents
Men and looking at maps or asking for directions
Possible unknown princess
Love triangle
Writing blunders:
Plot convenience
Failure to describe the scene
Then vs than
Grammar and commas
Information dump
Purple prose (extremely flowery/wordy speech)
Making a character fall in love with an extremely successful person
I'm sure I missed a lot of smaller ones.
Once again, a huge thank you to my editors! You make my work so much easier. Please give a round of applause to: @FireAlwaysReturns, @bellasweetie15, and @Misain.
Some statistics on the story:
This was my eleventh book.
Writing time: 1.5 months (completely written before I began posting)
First chapter was posted on August 5, 2019.
Three updates a week (there were two bonus chapters posted). Small edits were made as it was posted.
Completed: September 16, 2019
~26,000 words (Roughly 52 pages in a word document – single-spaced)
YOU ARE READING
Merfolk on Mars
RandomMerfolk? Check. Axes? Check. Funky glowing green rock? Check. Moon around Mars? Check. What have I gotten myself into? Forewarned: This is a parody. A huge thank-you to @rentachi for this beautiful cover!