4/12/12

Missing Fantasy


The first book I ever completed was contemporary.
The second was fantasy.
The third, my 2010 NaNo novel, was fantasy.
The fourth, Stratagem, was fantasy.
The fifth, my 2011 NaNo novel, was fantasy.
The sixth, Those Who Trespass, was contemporary.

 I've always loved fantasy. Who doesn't? I spent my childhood in Narnia, my teenagerhood in Middle-Earth. Megan Whalen Turner and Robin McKinley and Shannon Hale continue to be my idols when it comes to gorgeous gowns, subtle romance, and worlds made of magic.

And yet I feel so far removed from the genre of my heart. Where are the princesses? {Where are the princes?} Where are the arranged marriages, the struggle between loyalty and love, the passion to do what's right at the cost of everything one holds dear?

You can say things in fantasy that you cannot say in contemporary.

I think I stopped writing fantasy because of world-building. Rather, I read books with superb world-building {Elizabeth Bunce, Patrick Ness, Megan Whalen Turner} and thought, "I'll never be able to do that."

Did I give up? I'm beginning to wonder.
Or did I just find my call in contemporary fiction? That's possible, too.

I really don't know. I just know that today, I'm missing fantasy.

2 comments:

Shelley Sly said...

Aw, I know the feeling. In a similar way, I miss writing for adults sometimes. I miss being able to write about things that are too complex for MG novels.

For what it's worth, I think you have a fabulous contemporary voice, but you're excellent at fantasy world-building, too. :)

Traci Kenworth said...

Maybe your path will wind back that way when your ready. It just hasn't happened yet. Hugs.