Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! This week is a FREEBIE topic, which is good because I’ve been cheating the last few weeks anyway. Best let me get it all out of my system at once so I can go back to playing by the rules ASAP.
I’ve been a little like a kid in a candy store trying to come up with a topic, but I kept coming back to the same thought after I saw Victoria Schwab mention on Twitter that her upcoming book The Archived was inspired by this dance from one of my favorite TV shows, So You Think You Can Dance. Then Myra McEntire threw more fuel onto the fire by letting me know that several characters in the Hourglass series are based on dancers and choreographers from the show.
And I started to think, what if more authors used this show as inspiration for their books? There’s certainly enough inspiration to choose from.
And thus I bring you my Top Ten list this week, in which I let my imagination run wild. I even pitch a plot for each book and pick an author that I think has the chops to pull it off (disclaimer: that doesn’t mean that the author has ever written anything like these pitches; I just think their their voices and strengths would lend themselves well to these stories).
Authors, feel free to take me up on any of these. My world would be a happy, happy place if you did.
My Top Ten Book Pitches Inspired by So You Think You Can Dance
(additional disclaimer: I could either have picked 10 dances, or done 10 book pitches. I did the latter, because that lets me use more dances)
1. Collide/How it Ends/My First Kiss, Season 7
Premise: After having his heart broken when his high school sweetheart is stolen by his best friend, an introverted teen begins an awkward and ill-fated relationship with his teacher.
Suggested Author: Lauren Oliver
2. Are You the One? (Two Princes), Season 3
Premise: Two childhood friends grow up to find themselves the reluctant heirs of warring kingdoms.
Suggested Author: Kristin Cashore
3. Comanche, Season 6
Premise: A retelling of the classic Romeo & Juliet story, set among the organized crime families in 1930s Chicago.
Suggested Author: Myra McEntire
4. The Garden, Season 4
Premise: Renegade wood nymphs decide to leave their forest home to live among the humans, but their mischievous ways and mysterious powers make them a target for dark forces that would harness their powers for evil.
Suggested Author: Victoria Schwab
5. Heaven is a Place on Earth/Battlefield/Coming Home, Season 7/Season 5/Season 8 (yes, I know the gender of the soldier changes throughout these dances, but that’s why they’re inspiration and not a literal representation)
Premise: A young couple’s relationship struggles after one of them enlists to serve overseas, has an affair with a fellow soldier, and finally returns home to battle PTSD.
Suggested Author: John Green
6. Ramalama (Bang Bang)/Paris is Burning, Season 2 (this is actually the 100th episode version, which has the S2 dancers + choreographer Wade Robson)/Season 7
Premise: In an alternate Victorian London ruled by the undead, a small group of young aristocrats struggles to hide a dangerous secret: They’re still alive.
Suggested Author: Julie Kagawa
7. Ra, Season 7
Premise: In a post-apocalyptic future where intelligent robots have won the war against humanity, a small group of rebels fights back.
Suggested Author: Veronica Roth
8. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic/The Dance, Season 7 (sorry, I couldn’t find a higher quality video that allowed embedding, but if you want to go to YouTube, there’s a high quality version here)/Season 4
Premise: A teenaged Alice returns to Wonderland and joins forces with the Mad Hatter to raise an army and overthrow the Red Queen’s reign of terror.
Suggested Author: Marissa Meyer
9. Ordinary Day, Season 6
Premise: After being dumped by her boyfriend and shunned by her classmates following a vicious rumor, the most popular girl in school finds the only person that she can truly be herself around is her neighbor, a boy she has ignored since elementary school.
Suggested Author: Meg Cabot
10. Bleeding Love/Mad World, Season 4/Season 7 (This is the tour version of the performance, because I couldn’t find a version of the original that I could embed)
Premise: After his relationship with his wife falls apart because of his workaholic ways, a successful businessman re-examines his life when he discovers the beggar outside his office is his college roommate.
Suggested Author: Markus Zusak
If you liked this topic, I told my friend Shannon over at Stalking the Bookshelves that I was going to do this topic this week, and she asked if she could join on the SYTYCD fun. And of course, my thoughts were the more the merrier! We didn’t tell each other which dances we were picking, so head on over to her post and see if we picked any of the same ones!
Also, if you’ve never watched SYTYCD but now you want to (and you SHOULD want to), now is a great time to start! The first performance episode airs tomorrow (7/11) on FOX at 8 EST.
Sorry for the commercial.
Well you win the award for most creative ‘freebie’ topic!
Kate recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday – Australian Modern Literature
I love the topic that you chose for this week! I can totally picture Kristin Cashore and Marissa Meyer turning those book pitches into amazing novels!
Lee @ Rally The Readers recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday (9): Characters Who Should Get Their Own Spin-Off Series
I love this topic. Mind if I do it too? I love all your choices of dances and authors! Im glad sytycd is back on this week. Do you have a favorite so far?
Go right ahead! I’d just appreciate if you’d give me credit for the idea and link back here 🙂 Just beware – once you get sucked into the SYTYCD YouTube vortex, there is no escape.
And so far I think my favorite this season is Amelia, but there are SO many great dancers! I’m excited about this season!
Wow, great list, and such a unique topic…I loved reading all your ideas and watching the videos. The dancing is incredible, and there’s definitely a lot of inspiration to be found in there. Your ideas are great – Kristin Cashore would be a fantastic author for the Two Princes idea, and the thought of Markus Zusak writing the plot based off Bleeding Love and Mad World gives me chills.
I. Love. This. Post.
Everything about it. And great choices on routines and authors!!
I’m going to go write now. You’ve inspired me. 🙂
Trisha Leigh recently posted..Odds and Ends and Wobbly Bits
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
What a great choice for the TTT Freebie! I love your list, so original!
My TTT
Helene recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday Freebie!
So creative!!! I love SYTYCD!!! I love the dances you have here!! my was the hummingbird dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRWdIwCGjbE
My TTT- Books that Scared Me
Michelle @ Pink Polka Dot Book Blog recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday- Freebie
That dance ALMOST made my list, but I couldn’t come up with a good pitch for it. I love that dance though!
TheHouseworkCanWait recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday: SYTYCD Routines that Could (and Should) Inspire Books
What an amazing post! I loved watching each of the clips.
My TTT – http://obsessionwithbooks.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/top-ten-tuesday-10th-july.html
Sharon recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday (10th July)
This is so much fun. Awesome picks. 🙂
This is an excellent idea! Well done on superb creativity. You know, YOU should write these novels…
BarefootMedStudent recently posted..TTT: “Don’t You Remember?” and an OUreadathon Update
I get overwhelmed just thinking about that.
TheHouseworkCanWait recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday: SYTYCD Routines that Could (and Should) Inspire Books
I LOVE the unique topic you came up with! I wish I had such a great imagination, but I decided to stick with something less original :p I haven’t watched all the youtube videos, but I definitely could imagine some of those dances translated into books.
Mel@thedailyprophecy recently posted..Top 10 tuesday (14). Freebie.
I absolutely love this post! I’m a huge fan of the US SYTYCD and have watched every season except for the first one.
I love that you started out with some Kent Boyd – he’s of my favourite contestants and one of the ones that I always believed he was telling a story when he danced. I can definitely picture some of the novels you’d proposed. 🙂
Kate recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Just HAD To Buy… but are still sitting on my bookshelf
Kent is one of my all-time favorites, along with Robert Roldan and Billy Bell (hence why I have so much love for season 7!), Jakob Karr, Kathryn McCormick, Mark Kanemura, Brandon Bryant and Neil Haskell. Which is why you’ll see all of them up there, most of them several times 🙂
LOVE this post! WOW!! I’ve never wanted So You Think…..but now I really, really want to. I can also see that Heaven on Earth dance for John Green’s Fault in Our Stars! Just a really great post overall. I’m so stunned by these dances; they are *soo* beautiful!
I also participated in this week’s Top Ten: http://rachelwritesthings.blogspot.com/2012/07/top-ten-books-youd-like-to-see-made.html
Rachel at Rachel Writes Things recently posted..Top Ten Books You’d Like To See Made Into A Movie
It is a fabulous show! I’m not a big “reality show” person – this is the only one I watch – but the level of talent and artistry is just incredible. If you wanted to watch, now is a great time to start – the first competition episode of this season airs tomorrow night!
And as for dances that fit Fault in Our Stars, there’s two that really fit that book: This one and This one.
That IS super creative. I love this idea. And might never look at SYTYCD routines the same way again.
Claudia @ Lit. Hitchhiker recently posted..Ten Literary Places We’d Love to Visit
I am so glad we decided to do this for our freebie Top Ten Tuesday. I spent way to much time yesterday watching SYTYCD routines trying to narrow down my favs.
You picked so many good ones! I’m really happy to see we only share 2 in common. How hard was it coming up with authors? I know you were worried about it but you did a great job.
My favorite storyline is for The Garden cuz you know I’d read anything Victoria wrote. Plus that routine is amazing. Courteny & Mark kick its ass! 😀
Shannon P. recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday (6) – SYTYCD Routines that Could (And Should) Inspire a Book
It actually wasn’t that hard once I stopped feeling the need to peg authors into a specific genre and just decided to ask myself who could write the characters, even if it’s totally different from what they’ve previously done. Which is why I’ve got Lauren Oliver and Myra McEntire so far outside the box.
And yes, doesn’t The Garden just scream “There’s more to this story!”?
OhMyGosh, you are my hero. This list is amazing. I also just watched every single one of those dances, because I may also be a SYTYCD addict. And now I am falling in love with Robert and Kent all over again…
Samantha @ Reading-AndCoffee recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday: Fictional Guys
I think this is absolutely brilliant! I love SYTYCD and as a writer, I am always amazed at the stories that can come out of these shows.
Brilliant, brilliant!
Ashley Prince recently posted..Top Ten Book Lover Swag and Products
I LOVE this idea for TTT!!! SYTYCD is one of my favorites!! 🙂 Great choice!!!!!!
Brittany @ The Book Addict’s Guide recently posted..Fever (Chemical Garden #2) – Lauren DeStefano
This is the absolute best idea ever! I love SYTYCD, and I didn’t know that Victoria actually got the idea from a dance (and a beautiful dance by my favourite choreographer on the show). Thanks for this post, it’s amazing!
Andrea recently posted..Review: So Close to You by Rachel Carter
Okay, not even having seen this show, I want to read ALL OF THESE BOOKS. How can we convince the chosen authors to write them? It needs to happen.
Sarah @ Breaking the BInding recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Favorite Television Characters
My confidence has been bolstered by the fact that Julie and Victoria both RT’ed this post. I’m taking that as confirmation that they are both HARD AT WORK on their “assignments.”
You and Shannon made me squeal with delight with these posts. I love your creativity and I am now thinking how I would love to read stories based on many of the dances! I love your Alice in Wonderland and dystopian ideas most!
Smash Attack recently posted..Smash reviews Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep
Incredible list – I really like the first suggestion! 🙂
Milka@ReadReadRead recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday (3)
I LOVE So You Think You Can Dance and you picked some of my top favorite dances. Totally original topic for this week’s freebie! Congrats on a job well done!
Check out my TTT.
Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know
Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know recently posted..Top 10 Tuesday – Hilarious Book Titles
Such a great list!! You came up with some great plot lines! Have you ever read The Looking Glass Wars? It’s pretty much identical to your #8. Thanks again for this fun list! I enjoyed it 🙂
Lauren @ Story Bound recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday (#6)
No, but that one was the one I thought, “Hm, I wonder if someone’s already written something like this.” But based on my vast research of books-I’ve-already-read, I couldn’t come up with one. Just goes to show how easy it is to “copy” an idea you’ve never heard of 🙂
I love this list! SYTYCD is one of my all-time favorite shows and I’ve always loved the stories the choreographers come up with. I would read all of these especially the Bleeding Love/Mad World one and Are You the One. I may “borrow” this idea and try to do it for the next TTT freebie. Wonderful job!
Jennifer recently posted..TOP TEN TUESDAY (28): Fictional Crushes
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What a unique topic idea! I’d love to use it for a future Top Ten Tuesday if you don’t mind. Could also make for a fun writing challenge. Comanche was such a fantastic routine…
armchairauthor recently posted..Top Ten Tuesdays: You Don’t Know My Life
Great Post.
Adina recently posted..Top Ten Tuesday
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