What Is Fantasy?
The dictionary describes it
as: “The creative imagination; unrestrained fancy. Also
literary or dramatic fiction characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural elements.
Illusion; hallucination.”
Ah, supernatural. In other words, paranormal. That’s the sub-genre of fantasy I usually
tend to write. How each author approaches fantasy tends to be different. Take werewolves for example.
Some authors apparently feel that since
wolves run in packs, therefore their
man-wolf or woman-wolf also has a pack. That’s certainly one way to present
them. But I don’t feel that way. This being is not only a wolf but a man. Men do not need to run in packs so my
werewolves tend to be loners.
Sometimes my shifters aren’t any species of
animal, they’re simply a beast when they shift. This is true of my
MOONRUNNER TRILOGY--beasts that can
stand erect, but can also run on all fours. After all, since it’s my “creative
imagination” I can do anything I chose to do as long as I keep to my own
guidelines of what such a creature can do or not do.
When I wrote my chapter of The
Guide To Writing Paranormal
Novels, Volume 1, I mention this.
My chapter is Dropped Eyes And Unattached Tentacles, where I also go
into what bothers me as a reader--having a character, whether paranormal or not
doing something impossible--like a human dropping his eyes or a creature
flinging off a tentacle to capture prey.
While humans cannot literally drop their eyes, an imaginary creature can
certainly fling off a tentacle if necessary, but as a reader I need to be
prepared to know this, even if the prey has no idea it can do Though octopi, as
far as I know, cannot detach tentacles, imaginary creatures can do anything the
author sets them up to do.
I agree that in a story, it might be the
character does not know what an imaginary creature’s abilities are, so the
reader finds out along with the character. That’s fair enough.
I call many of my stories Paranormal
Suspense Romances, because that’s what they are. I always try to keep the
reader aware of what any shifters I write about can do. But in some cases, like
my DARKNESS OF DRAGONS TRILOGY, some of the characters don’t even know they’re
capable of shifting, so the reader has to find out when they do.
Fairy tales, whether or not they’re meant to
illustrate a point, are also fantasies. In many cases about cultures which no
longer exist. I write those, too, in my UNDERWORLD SERIES about gates between
Earth and other worlds.
My latest trilogy, DAGON HOUSE, has the
first book out now--Taken In. And this
one is about ghosts. Whether or not they
do exist, they still fall into the fantasy genre. I personally have never seen or felt a ghost,
but I know others who believe they have.
I never disbelieve what others tell me they’ve felt because I guess I
sort of like to believe they could exist.
BLURB for Taken In:
Gail Sarandon flees New York
City after seeing the murder of a man she knows--with both the hit man and
Jason Tregarth, a Special Agent following her trail. Jason finds her first, but
the hit man arrives before he can get her to safety. Gail with him, Jason
manages to elude the hit man, only to crash on a lonely mountain road, totaling
the car. He's injured, but Gail’s able to get him to the only shelter
around--Dagon House. She believes they're safe, but she's wrong...
All of my books are featured on my web page along with buy links. www.JaneToombs.com
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