Monday, October 8, 2012

Guest Post: Why Fantasy Is Fun, by Marni Troop

 Hey Fantasy Floozies!

Author, Marni Troop is here discussing how the fantasy genre is more fun to write than other genres.

Before you read her post, here's a cool fyi on her ongoing tour giveaway:

Marni will be giving away a copy of Brian Froud's and John Matthew's How to See Faeries. Marni said, "Brian Froud's artwork is one of my inspirations, so it's very appropriate. Plus, it's a cool book!"

Make sure you follow the tour and comment. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning.
The tour dates can be found HERE 





The fantasy genre has a leg up on all of the other genres. All writers begin their stories by asking, “What if…?” Only in Fantasy can that question be asked without conditions.

In Fantasy, the very laws of physics can be bent to our will. If the writer can make the universe believable, anything can happen. The same can’t be said for any other genre. Why? Because Fantasy is… fantasy.

But let’s not be that grandiose. Let’s step back a little and look at Fantasy in a much simpler way. Fantasy is what goes on in our heads. It’s our daydreams. Sure, in our daydreams we’re having a moment of afternoon delight with our favorite movie star or punching our boss in the gut or winning the lottery. Surely those are not real Fantasy, right? Well, wrong. That’s the awesome thing about Fantasy. As outrageous as we might choose to make our universes, what makes Fantasy so rich is that, quite literally, anything is possible. In what other genre can you say that?

In my series, “The Heart of Ireland,” I have blended the history of Ireland with the mythology of the Irish Faeries, which include their gods and goddesses. Because of the wonder that is Fantasy, I was able in “Journal One” to describe how the ancient Celts invaded Ireland and met the Faerie race.

I wrote about the violent wars between the two peoples, the blossoming romance of a human and a faerie, and the miraculous creation of Tir Na n’Og, the Land of the Ever Young. So why isn’t this considered Science Fiction? You can use multiple dimensions as a reason for the existence of Tir Na n’Og even though it is entered through the ground.

You could think of the Fairies as aliens. Aliens? No way! That’s the problem. The Faeries come from human mythology. To turn them into aliens takes away their nature. But if they come from Earth, then the fact that they would have inter-dimensional access would make them far more advanced than any other human race.

See? With Fantasy, the genre that allows anything to be possible, the Faeries remain mythological creatures that happen, in my universe, to have existed in human history. Neat, huh? Thanks for reading, everyone! Now, I’m going to sit back and practice some fantasy with my favorite movie actor.



 About the Author:

Marni grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., where she worked at and attended many sci-fi/fantasy conventions and bought several Tarot decks before going off to college. After college, she moved to Los Angeles to work as a story analyst, editor, ghostwriter and just about any film or television job she could find.

After earning a Master of Professional Writing in Cinema/TV-Drama from the University of Southern California, Marni started teaching others how to write.

Marni currently lives in Glendale, Arizona, with her spouse, two brilliant children and six crazy pets (11 if you count the fish).

2 comments:

  1. Interesting take on the fae!

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

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    Replies
    1. If you think THAT'S interesting, wait until the second book! :-)

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