It’s 2019!! Hooray – I think.
Originally, I was going to bore everyone with a list of things that will (probably) happening publishing wise for me. But I suspect most people’s eyes would glaze over. Moreover, it wouldn’t be very shiny. And I like being shiny.
Then I thought about discussing all the crap that happened in 2018. Recap – got sick, docs thought it might be a tumor in my lung, turned out to be pneumonia, and I’m all better. (See that wasn’t worth a blog post was it?)
Instead, let’s talk fantasy. No, not that kind of stuff. Geez, I’m married for crying out loud. I wouldn’t talk about that – in a public forum. I mean the stuff of Tolkien and Martin, Rowling and Lackey. Stan Lee and … whomever at D.C. Comics. Star Wars and Superman. Werewolves and wizards. Vampires and the Vision.
What is your definition of fantasy? Is it narrow – Tolkien – or does it encompass Harry Potter and the X-Men? Are werewolves a form of fantasy or do you relegate that to paranormal and give it its own shelf?
For me, magic, mutants, wizards, vampires and mermaids/mermen are all part of fantasy. Unless they’re on a starship or the like – then they’re Science Fiction. Yeah, I get it, I have a broad, yet narrow view. The speculative fiction tent is big, but it only has two sides.
Now I know a lot of people disagree. For them, paranormal gets its own table. Fair enough. So does urban fantasy. You’re losing me a bit. Superheroes? That’s fantasy, right? I mean, c’mon, Thor is a myth. Just because Chris Hemsworth is hot doesn’t mean Thor is suddenly paranormal.
Vampires and werewolves were the stuff of fantasy novels. Just because some of them sparkle now or have tv shows with hot actors doesn’t change that.
Dystopian or future worlds after the apocalypse – that’s gotta be fantasy. I know for a fact, books like Robert Addams Horseclans novels, the Pelbar Cycle and Moorecock’s Hawkmoon – all set in an unspecified future earth –were sold as fantasy. I know because I bought them all in the fantasy section of the bookstore.
Pulling my tongue out of my cheek, I really have no idea anymore what label to put on most things. I’m not sure it matters, but I am curious about what other think.
I think it’s safe to say Champion of the Gods falls smack in fantasy. Purpose? I’m not so sure. But going forward, I want to write stuff with angels and superhumans/mutants/meta humans. Where do readers think those belong? Because if I write them, I need to know where I’ll find readers.
So, with that, tell me what you think. All opinions welcome. Silly faces are especially welcome, because we could all use a good laugh. (As opposed to the bad joke that is Donald Trump. Yep, I went there and I’m not apologizing.)
Until next month.
Enjoy the journey!
Andrew Q. Gordon wrote his first story back when yellow legal pads, ball point pens were common and a Smith Corona correctable typewriter was considered high tech. Adapting with technology, he now takes his MacBook somewhere quiet when he wants to write.
Since devouring The Lord of the Rings as a preteen, he has been a fan of all things fantastical. His imagination has helped him create works of high fantasy, paranormal thrills and touch of the futuristic. He also writes the occasional contemporary story.
He currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his husband of twenty-three years. Together they are raising their daughter and three dogs. Andrew tries to squeeze writing time in around his most important jobs, being husband and ‘Papa.’ Along with teaching how to kick a soccer ball or ride a scooter, he has become fluent in cartoon characters and children’s books. To find out more about Andrew, his writing and his family, follow him on his website or on Facebook.
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Books:
The Last Grand Master: (Champion of the Gods–Book 1)
The Eye and the Arm: (Champion of the Gods–Book 2)
Kings of Lore and Legend: (Champion of the Gods–Book 3)
Child of Night and Day (Champion of the Gods—Book: 4)
Coming Soon: When Heroes Fall (Champion of the Gods—Book 5)
Self published:
I’ll add my 2 cents (after writing something a bit longer, let’s make it a dime). I wouldn’t necessarily go by my categorization, but I do generally follow what I see others do.
Basically, I think of fantasy as anything that contains something that is not real world, and set in present, past or some nondescript time.
Future? SF (a sub category being apocolyptic/dystopian).
I have several subs of Fantasy – one is the kind you wrote in Gods (lol, I was going to say straight fantasy, but let’s call it pure, traditional or high fantasy, with quests, magic, elves and stuff). Speaking of elves, and that’s why I think of it as an offshoot of elves, for me two other sub-fants are paranormal and supernatural. I have my own line between the two (which is somewhat common?), but para for me is mainly were (and any other shifters), vamp, psychics, etc., that are of this earth. Supernat would be not of this earth – angels, demons & spirit types (which is where I put “Purpose”). A kind of para is superpowers, but depending on what kind of powers and how it’s all set up in the story, that gets split with para and the superhero types, and since I like those, that’s another sub-fant.
Now I also put fantasy as a backup to the main genre of a story – like SF, but with fantasy elements. Same with mysteries, historicals or even westerns; their storyline and/or setting is mainly mystery, historical, or western, but also has a non-real-world element, such as psychics or vamp. And I do see those categorized as fantasies because of that, but for me that may not be the core story.
The toughest is steampunk. It could be historical – It’s often set in a historical period, actually alt history so fantastical in way, so fantasy? But for me it ends up a sub of SF because it’s a form of science in the past, vs. future, so like I put some “present day” as SF (good example is “They Both Die at the End”), it’s my exception to the rule where the past can be SF (like Jules Vern’s “From Earth to the Moon”?). And I see it more commonly that way, but do see it often put in fantasy, too.
Whew, not sure that helped, but there you have it.