Virgo:: Sometimes, Virgo, you're too damn smart for your own good. You may describe a problem so brilliantly, for instance, that you think you've solved it merely by talking about it, and never get around to actually fixing it. On other occasions your fine mind runs amuck in an orgy of razor-sharp analysis, cutting things apart in order to understand them but not putting them back together again. I beg you not to indulge in these excesses during the coming week. Your intelligence will be soaring beyond even its usual exceptional levels, and it would be a shame for you not to capitalize on it momentously.

My writing of the Tam Lin YA novel is on hold.

( I'm now writing horror.Collapse )
Bellydance was hard last night. Intermediate is going to be a challenge for me-- I really have to work to make my hands and my body rolls more graceful. I definitely left yesterday feeling like I got a hell of a workout. I need to be more bendy.

Tonight, I'm going to see a co-worker's band play at the 8x10. After that, I'm going to drink a bottle of pinot in the bath. Because it's been that type of month.
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I leave you with this for discussion-- What is Fantasy?

I was discussing fantasy writing with a friend yesterday, and he said that he doesn't consider writing that takes place in our physical world to be true Fantasy writing. Essentially, that true Fantasy writing takes place on another world. For instance, he said, he would not consider most of Neil Gaiman's writing to be Fantasy. And then I just boggled, because dude. Neil has received some of the world's top Fantasy awards. He's been featured in some of the world's best Fantasy anthologies. I started to go down a list of Neil's writing to explain exactly how Neil is a flagship Fantasy writer, but at that point, he wanted to "agree to disagree." (Of course, I then said that I would drop the subject, but I wouldn't agree to disagree because I was right, goddamnit. Sometimes, I'm stubborn like that.)

Anyway, I was arguing that that's not so-- even sci-fi today can take place in our physical world-- Earth. Neil Gaiman might be shelved in the fiction section of bookstores, but he'd also be in the Fantasy section. (And indeed, Gaiman's American Gods, the book we were initially discussing, is shelved as Fantasy at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and is listed as Fantasy at Amazon.Com.) Why? Because according to Wikipedia:

Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. The genre is generally distinguished from science fiction and horror by overall look, feel, and theme of the individual work, though there is a great deal of overlap between the three (collectively known as speculative fiction). In its broadest sense, fantasy covers works by many writers, artists, and musicians, from ancient myths and legends, to many recent works embraced by a wide audience today.

Therefore, even if a story takes place physically on Earth, the use of magic and mythology qualifies it as Fantasy. The fact that Neil's work contains Gods and monsters and trolls and humans-turned-into-goats and ghosts and... well, it all makes him a Fantasy writer. Well, technically, it makes him a speculative fiction writer, but that's still a sub-genre of Fantasy. Which isn't to say that he only writes Fantasy, but that has been the bulk of his oevre. Fantasy is not just Ursula LeGuin, and dragons, and building the newest version of a neo-medieval world. It's diverse and complex and prone to crossing over into other genres.

It appears that my friend was basing his assertation of the Fantasy genre solely on one of its subgenres-- High Fantasy. You know, Tolkein, Narnia, D&D. While all of those things do qualify as Fantasy, they don't hold a lock on what Fantasy is. Essentially, everything from Gaiman to Stephen King to Highlander to Buffy to steampunk to Sword & Sorcery to War for the Oaks and Tithe to Jacqueline Carey's alternate histories all fall under Fantasy, even though they may fall into differing Fantasy subgenres. They also may cross over to other genres as well, but they still qualify as Fantasy. Anyway, so here is a great big list of Fantasy subgenres.

So yeah. All you writers and illustrators and librarians and publishers out there... what makes something Fantasy to you, and to the publishing industry at large? I want discussion, yo.

ETA: Lol. Coincidentally, today is Neil Gaiman's birthday.

1.) My parents get into the stupidest little debates, and they always call me to referee. About ten minutes ago, I got a call from my mother, who asked me to spell "foliage" to settle a score between them. I spelled it, and then I heard my mom cackle, "See? See? I told you you were wrong!" I get these calls a lot-- it's always like an impromptu spelling bee or a random final Jeopardy question. I never know when it's coming. It's like calling the smart daughter is like the ultimate trump card. :)

2.) Nathan Fillion added me back as a MySpace friend. Too frikkin' cute.