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It's Been Awhile
Dec. 7th, 2018 05:02 pmWith all the changes over at The Blue Hell, I'm thinking about - finally - making something of this blog. Anybody still around here?
The Places Between
Feb. 1st, 2016 01:20 pmI don't really care for genre labels. I find them unhelpful at best and, at worst, misleading. I think all stories cross genres in some respect. You can have a historical novel with fantasy or horror elements which may or may not be classifiable as a Gothic novel or perhaps a historical mystery. You can have a fantasy story set in the modern era with elements drawn from weird fiction which also fits all the requirements for a police procedural. How can anyone really place stories into one strictly defined genre?
This is all to say that I have no idea what genre I write in. Fantasy, I suppose, though not the "high fantasy" of dragons and invented lands. My stories tend to be set in this world, in recognizable places (even when not specifically named), either in the present or the past. Occasionally I write strictly historical fiction, but for the most part I have a deep need to explore stories that deal with elements which might be called fantastical.
Since childhood I have been fascinated by the paranormal, the supernatural, the unexplained. One of the great philosophical questions that I have always found intriguing is the idea that reality is subjective: that there is no one real reality or, if there is, it is unknowable. That what we all perceive as reality, the state of the world around us, is an illusion shaped by our culture, our upbringing, and what we have been taught to believe. If true, what happens when a person encounters something outside of their concept of what is - or should be - real? How might a person be affected by an experience that does not accord with anything they know or believe? These are the kinds of issues I want to deal with in my writing.
I would like to use this blog as a playground. A place for me to exercise my writing skills through prompts. I was always skeptical when I heard people say that the mere act of writing can fire up your creativity, but I have recently found that this is indeed true. Forcing yourself to sit down and write, no matter what kind of mood you might be in, does get the creative juices flowing. I hope this blog can assist me in that.
This is all to say that I have no idea what genre I write in. Fantasy, I suppose, though not the "high fantasy" of dragons and invented lands. My stories tend to be set in this world, in recognizable places (even when not specifically named), either in the present or the past. Occasionally I write strictly historical fiction, but for the most part I have a deep need to explore stories that deal with elements which might be called fantastical.
Since childhood I have been fascinated by the paranormal, the supernatural, the unexplained. One of the great philosophical questions that I have always found intriguing is the idea that reality is subjective: that there is no one real reality or, if there is, it is unknowable. That what we all perceive as reality, the state of the world around us, is an illusion shaped by our culture, our upbringing, and what we have been taught to believe. If true, what happens when a person encounters something outside of their concept of what is - or should be - real? How might a person be affected by an experience that does not accord with anything they know or believe? These are the kinds of issues I want to deal with in my writing.
I would like to use this blog as a playground. A place for me to exercise my writing skills through prompts. I was always skeptical when I heard people say that the mere act of writing can fire up your creativity, but I have recently found that this is indeed true. Forcing yourself to sit down and write, no matter what kind of mood you might be in, does get the creative juices flowing. I hope this blog can assist me in that.
