B|t|B : The True Story Of Cliffhanger Fustration

Frustration: [Definition –  one of the key causes of STRESS. It arises when one’s ability to read a book series… IS IMPEDED BY THE FABULOUS PAGE TURNING EXTRAVAGANZA… not being written yet]

Fellow Readers, Page turners and Speed Readers, this post is for you all.

We have all been there, we have all finished a work of art, a story that wined you, dined you, lead you around the twists and turns of showed the the majesty of their being.  It has all been leading up to this beautiful moment, your finally about to reach the long awaited conclusion and…… CLIFFHANGER!

Suddenly, there you are.. staring at the last page of  the novel.. alone in your frustration..

But! There’s still hope the next volume in the series! That will surely iron out this cliffhanger madness. After frantically typing away on your laptop you quickly press enter and watch as the page loads. Your eyes scan the page frantically and then the stop suddenly, you close your eyes and let out a further sigh of frustration the book hasn’t been written yet. To add more insult to injury there isn’t even a release date yet!

What is the solution!?..

Well as far as solutions go.. if you find one, please let me know!… However I can tell you what I do in order to distract be from that frustration, maybe it will help you all

1) Blog it!

… not sure I need to write anything here.. I mean.. your reading this. Blogging is a great way to vent your anger, show support, and let people know what you think is hot, as well as what is not.

2)  Read or Write Fan-Fiction / Join a Community

Fanfiction is a fan written version of a story based on characters, settings, and or ideas from pre-existing works, such as books, movies, TV shows, cartoons, etc. writers of this kind of Literature take the characters, settings, or ideas and adapt them to meet their own design.

Fanficition, based on a particularly popular pre-existing work, usually has a large fandom. Within which you can discuss, create and elaborate on certain theories, that you as fans feel have not been addressed in the original work. It has even been known for Fan created tropes and theories to be picked up by the original creator, only to be made cannon within the next instalment of original work.

3) Read Short Compilation Anthologies

Recently I have fell in love with short story compilations.  They are short, snappy, enthralling and very fulfilling. most recently I have been reading the Rogues Compilation.

There is a little bit of everything in this anthology…something for everyone. All the stories are based on rogue-like characters however there are many different flavours Ben & Jerry’s have them on speed dial: science fiction, a Western (although with zombies and a futuristic setting), crime/mystery fiction, and last of all romantic comedy.

This is the Entire Index of the compilation in full:

George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)
Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”
Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”
Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”
Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
David Ball “Provenance”
Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”
Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”
Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”
Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”
Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”
Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”
Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”
Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”
Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila” 
Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”
Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”
Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” 
Connie Willis “Now Showing”
Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree

Now you can’t tell me a line up like that, doesn’t take your mind of those cliffhanger frustrations, i hope that this blog has been useful to you, and that we eventually come up with a solution for the dreaded wait and cliffhanger frustration.

Until next time, read more books!…