What Makes It a Fantasy? Further Thoughts

© 2015 by Devorah Fox (Published with permission)

  Last year as I prepared for the launch of The King’s Redress, Book Three in The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam epic fantasy series, I ruminated on what makes a story a fantasy as opposed to general fiction. 

Fiction is about made-up stuff. That’s why it’s fiction and not nonfiction. I asked myself, is a work considered Fantasy simply by virtue of the degree to which the fiction is imaginative? This year, my short story Turning the Tide was accepted for publication in Masters of Time. 

It’s a Sci-Fi and Fantasy anthology and I found myself pondering the difference between the two genres. I’ve seen the proposition that Science Fiction explores the possible, albeit improbable, while Fantasy explores the impossible, but I wouldn’t agree. I don’t see a clear distinction between imagining a world that includes aliens versus one that includes werewolves. Ray Bradbury, whose work falls into both genres, suggested that science fiction is a logical projection of the future.


READ MORE...

 Devorah Fox has already shared with the world an Amazon bestselling Medieval fantasy about a king losing his kingdom and fighting to regain it. Now, for the Masters of Time anthology, she's tackling something else many of us wouldn't hesitate to regain: lost loved ones.

"I think 'Turning the Tide' will resonate with anyone who has lost loved ones and wishes there were a way to bring them back."

Time travel is tempting. We can't discuss it without discussing what we would do to either fix a past injustice or to save someone we care about. In "Turning the Tide," Devorah promises an intriguing glimpse of what this would look like, if it were to be carried out. So what else did she have to share with us? Find out below!

Thanks for joining us today, Devorah. How close do you think we are to actually achieving time travel (if at all)?
 
Not to get too metaphysical, but "time" isn't real, it's a concept that can be manipulated. I know enough about other cultures to know that there are many ways to measure and experience time. Time travel would be an extension of thinking about time differently.

Where did you look for inspiration while writing your time travel short story?
 
It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone to learn that I used my own feelings of bereavement as a point of departure. The story began as a journal entry some years ago. I'm grateful to be a writer and to have that outlet to imagine my way out of bewilderment, indecision and heartbreak.
 
If you stumbled upon the secret to time travel, would you share it with others (why or why not)?
 
If I stumbled on the secret to time travel I would definitely share it. I'm no megalomaniac and have no interest in ruling the world. Also a technology as awesome as time travel would need to be managed by people with a high degree of intelligence, sensitivity and insight.

What was the best part about writing a time travel tale? The most challenging?
 
I convinced myself that it was possible to reach back in time and change it. In writing the story and dredging up memories, for a moment I got to spend time again with loved ones that I had lost. That's the healing power of writing. The biggest challenge was finding a succinct way to describe the approach taken to manipulate time.
 
Where can we find out more about you?


Keep up with me, at least in the dimension of cyberspace, at
http://devorahfox.com and sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/LrZGX

Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Google+  |  YouTube