Urban Fantasy Ideas

Urban Fantasy: What’s Weird, What’s Next?
by SB Sarah • Monday, February 08, 2010 at 11:05 AM
(warning: click back to the original link and language may be offensive to some)
(Funniest ideas at the bottom of this post)

A discussion taking us beyond vampires and werewolves into predictions for upcoming critters
From the comments section:

Were-fish? No, I’m being serious, there are some Hawaiian legends relating to sharks who can assume human form and wander on land.

Golems? Doeppelgangers?...Sirens?

How about Scandinavian mythology? Odin, Thor, Giants and all sorts of cold-weather fun.
How about some urban fantasy that isn’t all dark and intense. Would it kill the authors to write something lighter? Still sexy, but more comedy and laughs than angst and fury?
Really, anything but vampires and werewolves would be peachy keen with me.

Instead of your standard werewolf etc., how about the Indian equivalent: the Naga - Cobra-wers - very beautiful but cruel and cold-blooded

We could also see more Rusalkas, Pookas, and Kitsunes - and Loki or Anansi would make a nice change from Coyote

Has anyone written about goblins?

Celtic folklore-based stories

I would especially like to see a series that involve the djinn.

Manitous

animal-shifter stories

more demons and fallen angels

Popol Vuh in the barrio

astrology-themed

I’d like to see urban nymphs. They could be associated with fountains, or fire hydrants, or streetlights. I think they could get up to a lot of trouble in a city.

Native-American or Egyptian mythology.

folklore of Africa, South America or Oceania.

Native American mythology

I like the idea of Wereravens. Or how about non-usual weres, like Werelynx, were-coyotes, werebears, Wereowls… or how about a wereswan?

creatures from Voodoo

I want to see a series with Death as a matchmaker. Who else, metaphorically speaking, knows us better?

think I’d like to see more urban symbiosis going on—creatures who evolved with or found a niche in the urban environment and thrive there.

Mermaids

I would totally read the werebunny as long as the author doesn’t go the obvious playboy route

I see ferrets becoming a big deal. FERRETS, people. It’s the perfect were-animal. You would never think a cute little ferret would turn into a big-ass dude who would then proceed to choke you!

The next hot thing is PLANTS

How about an alcoholic PI in a Memphis where Elvis didn’t die in 1977, he just crossed over to the Nightside by becoming a vampire? Where werewolves drive trollies and teach English lit. Where pixie street gangs are frequent targets of Sugar Anonymous propaganda. Where gremlins have abandoned LibertyLand for the riverboat casinos and zombies load trucks on President’s Island. Where a demonic stripclub called Hellzapoppin’ is the highlight of a trip down Beale Street, succubi hunt among the lost souls at City Mission and minotaurs must prove themselves in an all-centaur accounting department.

UNDERWEAR GNOMES! OH PLEASE, PLEASE, UNDERWEAR GNOMES. (note: this is in reference to a particularly silly episode of South Park)

How about a romance serial on the Travelocity traveling garden gnome??

More Tech Trends Predictions

2010 Horizon Report via Stephen's Lighthouse by admin on 1/15/10

• Mobile Computing (1 year or less) - Our team has our's almost ready!
• Open Content (1 year or less) - Don't know what this is
• E-Books (2 to 3 years) - already here, but expect some big changes in: the e-reader wars, using mobile phones as e-readers, new types of e-readers, and, hopefully, being able to purchase a digital copy the day the book is realeased!
• Simple Augmented Reality (2 to 3 years) - This is like using your mobile phone as a tour guide. It tells you how to get there, about things around you, and interesting opportunities at both your destination and at places around you.
• Gesture-based computing (4 to 5 years) Not sure what this is
• Visual Data Analysis (4 to 5 years) - I'm guessing more automatic charts when you do data analysis instead of having to make them on your own?

on trend via blogwithoutalibrary.net by ae-j on 1/22/10
I think we're going to see a lot more of this attitude, learn what mobile is and be prepared to answer questions when your customers arrive:

"Personally, when it comes to mobile browsing, if I visit a site on my phone that does not have a mobile version, I will spend maybe 5 seconds looking for what I want. If I don’t see it on the home page, I won’t go any further. And if I don’t find it at all, I leave (usually cursing)."

"I have a pretty awesome screen on my laptop, with plenty of real estate, where I can (and do) happily appreciate a well designed website. But, more and more I find myself seeking out mobile versions of sites even on my laptop because those sites provide just the essential functionality with none of the clutter. Goodreads mobile and Amazon mobile are two examples."


What the Web of Tomorrow Will Look Like: 4 Big Trends to Watch via iLibrarian by Ellyssa on 1/26/10

The Web Will Be Accessible Anywhere
Web Access Will Not Focus Around the Computer (mostly mobile)
The Web Will Be Media-Centric
Social Media Will Be Its Largest Component.

ReadWriteWeb's 2010 Predictions via Stephen's Lighthouse by stephen on 12/23/09
Most frequently mentioned:

• A price war will erupt in the e-book market (let's learn to download those e-books on our catalogs!)
• The iPhone still rules and grabs more mobile market share than ever before.
  Meanwhile, Android becomes the number two mobile platform by year-end.
• The netbook craze dies down. People start buying new "in-between" devices that are slightly larger and more powerful than today's netbooks, but smaller, more lightweight and cheaper than regular notebooks
• 2010 will signal the death of the login. Third-party authentications will become the norm, and user data will be entrusted to a discrete handful of online properties. Users will pitch a hissyfit if ever they're asked to create a username and password and upload an avatar. After all, doesn't the Internet know they have a Facebook?

CNN Tech Predictions via Stephen's Lighthouse by stephen on 12/22/09

• Internet TV and movies
  Convergence conundrum - laptops, netbooks, mobile, mp3 players, cameras become increasingly one device
  Social gaming
  Mobile payments (aka: mobile e-commerce)