Magical Realities, Perspectives, and the Human Condition: What Does Fantasy Do?

As a person and writer, I've never been able to look at a rock and see just a rock. The rock might grow a pair of legs and walk about the world, wondering why he's been given such a hard exterior in a land full of soft things, or that same rock might sprout a pair of wings and desire a home in the nest of an eagle. Perhaps I'm prone to disregarding the rules and laws of our world because I never quite meshed with my Organic Chemistry and Physics textbooks; or, perhaps, I gravitate toward this magical way of thinking because it is how I come to interact with and wrap my head around the confusing experiences of life.

For me, it's important to embrace this idea of other within literature because it encourages us to stand on our heads and view the world from a different perspective: a fantastical way for us to understand the human condition and experience.

I tell fantastical stories because I don't believe in saying to a character, You have to stop now--you can't go any farther because reality tells you no. I tell fantastical stories because I live for that moment when a character stumbles over that word no and does something special with it. There are many heavy things in this world, and it is my greatest pleasure as a writer to see how a character will interact with that weight: How might he lift it? How might she movie it? How will their directions change once that weight rests in their hands? [These questions might easily be applied to all genres of literature, including realistic--how might they take on different meanings?]

I tell fantastical stories because what if always has and always will intrigue me.

For me, a successful piece of fantastical literature conveys the notion that we don't always have to participate in the traditionally accepted versions of reality in order to understand ourselves and the inherent qualities that make us human. In my eyes, the goal of fantastical literature is to break apart the world we've come to know and, using all those pieces, a combination of recognizable things and never-before-seen things, slowly and carefully snap the universe back together again.

Rain, Rain, Is Here to Stay!

The Pacific Northwest rains are finally here to stay, and some days I feel like scuba gear is required to successfully traverse the wet streets. Lots of people hate the rain, but I have to admit there's nothing I enjoy more than a nice, large, juicy rain cloud.

The soggy clothes. The chilly weather. The big warm jackets. The mandatory cups of hot chocolate (or, as I've recently discovered, mochas from Starbucks). The heaters. The blankets. The lack of sunshine/lack of sunburns. I love it all.

Rain: Is there really a better excuse to stay in the house and write, write, write or read, read, read?

Music for Writers: Action Scenes!

Sometimes it just takes some good music to get pumped up for a scene--especially an action scene! Action scenes are difficult to write, so I am constantly looking for inspiration. When I'm writing, I tend to classify action scenes in one of two ways.

1. Fights/Tussles/Epic Battles. Punches thrown, heroes/heroines knocked down, enemies overcome, maybe some blood. The ones that contain the physical, physical, physical!

2. The Intense. There might not be any fighting in the scene necessarily, but there might be an incredible sense/feeling of needing--needing to get somewhere, needing to succeed, needing to overcome an obstacle. Maybe a character is running down the street, in a thunderstorm, where the only enemies on the course are his own inner demons. Sometimes the greatest antagonists in a novel are those found within the character--those enemies they battle throughout the entire story and, sometimes, feel as if they'll never be able to thwart.

Regardless of what type of action scene you're writing, your characters need something to lift them up after they've fallen and, most of all, inspire them to be victorious. Every once in a while, we all need something that makes us want to run out and take on the world, right?

The following is my playlist that helps me find inspiration for some good ol' action and intensity! What songs get you pumped up for action?

Character Therapy

I just realized that my characters do the following things a lot:

1. "Grab a shoulder" (I think this is in an effort to console the other individual; however, now that I think about it . . . it might just be a bit creepy. How often does someone grab your shoulder *and squeeze it* when trying to comfort you? Stop it, characters, stop getting so cheeky. I'm not a romance writer--I wouldn't know what to do with you once you got past the shoulder groping stage!)

2. "Sigh" (Quite possibly the lamest character action ever. #BasketCase #GetOverIt)

3. "Roll their eyes" (Stop giving me and your peers attitude, you mean-angsty-McNasty!)

4. "Tense up" (Chillax, dudes!)

5. "Crack a grin" and, on the opposite side of the spectrum, "Crack a frown" (There's a whole bunch of "cracking" going on--y'all's faces are goin' to be in some pieces soon . . . then what are we going to do?)

Basically, I'm going to start requiring all of my potential protagonists/antagonists/super-random-agonists to enroll in Character Therapy before they even consider hopping into my head. I work for a celebrity gossip/entertainment news site and deal with Hollywood's crazy drama all day. So, my lovely and sweet and manic characters, give me a break, would ya? I understand that some of you simply must roll your eyes every so often, but please don't do it every third paragraph. It STRESSES me out.

What are some of the things your characters do too often?

My Short Story "Stolen, Jarred, and Tossed" in Black Fox Literary Magazine

A few months ago one of my short stories entitled "Stolen, Jarred, and Tossed" was published in Black Fox Literary Magazine. The magazine (which you can get online or in print) publishes each month and works to feature all types of writing -- everything from flash to short stories to poetry. The mag is run by some really wonderful ladies, and I encourage you to check it out. 

Here's an excerpt from my story:

On October 31st, Lily Florence stole the name of the boy who’d refused to kiss her on the lips. She stored it in a jam jar; she screwed the lid shut tight. It was such a fancy name--one she thought might sparkle and glow, perhaps even sing--but as she stared into the glass jar, the blandness of the thing inside left her eyeballs uninterested and her curious mind desiring. Lily Florence was simply unimpressed with the entire situation. Where is the boy? Why isn’t he coming for his name? She observed it, that shapeless thing pretending to be better than air, for a moment longer. And quicker than a bee decides to sting, Lily shoved the jar into her pink Cinderella lunch box, smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt, and stormed home. The birds took great care not to fly too close to her path. Squirrels stopped munching on their acorns. Even the ants ceased their work, in fear that they might, somehow, interfere.

If you want to read the full story plus check out all the other stories, you can use the ISSUU below.

Also, don't forget to check out the latest issue of Black Fox Literary Magazine! 

We Have Dreams; Dreams Have Us

It's so hard to wait. Waiting for things is no fun whatsoever--especially for a writer who, more than anything else, wants to see his words out in the world (and, even before that, loved by an agent and, sometime after that, loved by an editor).

I'm querying one of my projects right now and, at times, it can be discouraging. Am I good enough? Will they like the story well enough to take a chance with me? All these questions rumble through a writer's head . . . .

However, I'm reminded of something a professor at my university recently said to me:

"We all have dreams but dreams also have us."

As long as we have our dreams, there to guide us, lift us, push us, always there to make sure we see the possibilities and the magic in the world, then they will one day--one can only hope--embrace us just as we have embraced them.

Image: "The Dream" by Franz Marc

My Short Story Mentioned In An Article By SMALL PRESS REVIEWS!

One of my short stories, "Nogoodfornothing," which was published in the first issue of The Conium Review, was mentioned in a review done by Small Press Reviews!

CLICK HERE to read the full article, written by Marc Schuster. If you're out there somewhere, Marc, thanks for reviewing The Conium Review!

"Admittedly, some of the works are  odd, albeit in an endearing way. In one piece of flash fiction, for example, a young man dreams of eating glass despite the protestations of his girlfriend. In another, a sterile woman stirs up a baby in a pot of leftovers. In both cases, a distinct sense of loneliness permeates the narratives. Yes, we’re bearing witness to the bizarre, but it’s not just bizarre for the sake of bizarre. It’s a brand of bizarre that offers insight into the human condition."

Remember, everyone: Appreciate the bizarre and always look for the magic in life.