Mythcon Part I

I said I was going to be better about updating this thing. And I haven't been! But I'm going to get Sarrah and Lindsey to join the CNN with me and maybe it'll liven up the place. They might think the new layout is a little girly. We might change it up when they start writing here too.

But on to business...

I'm at Mythcon! I've signed my first autograph (it was just the lady who put together the program and she wanted all the presenters to sign, but still I felt special!). And got some good feedback. Obviously, my survey sucked because I'm an English major who tried to do something semi-science-y. But whatevs. I think as a trial it turned out ok and if I ever did this study again I would change it a lot. Oh! In case you didn't know (which you couldn't have unless I told you irl) yesterday I presented the paper I had written about my Linguistics directed study here at Mythcon in Los Angeles. Btw. The weather here=AMAZING! It's sunny but cool and breezy in the shade. I don't want to go back to Texas. My mom's going sight-seeing today while I listen to papers and what not. I also have to work on the paper I'm giving tomorrow. ACK! I might be up all night working on it.

So now I'm going to do some research on the other presenters and then go here GoH Diana Pavlac Glyer's keynote speech. I'll write more later to keep everyone updated!

Good news about publishing...

Well no I haven't been published yet. But I'm sure I will be soon!!! No not my fiction either. That still needs a lot of work. However I know my critical stuff is stellar and until this morning I didn't know that Strange Horizons publishes critical essays! Now if I only knew how to write a query email properly... (don't worry I'm just going to google it). I'm going to see if they'd like me to adapt some of my essays that relate to speculative fiction (which several do). You only get 50 bucks per article but I really don't care about the money. How awesome would it be for someone to read what I thought critically. And care?! I know posting this is premature but it was just fate that I somehow ended up on their website this morning. That is my ultimate dream. Writing fiction is just a side project I do for fun. What I really want is for people to listen to what I have to say about speculative fiction. And believe me when I say that some of it is important to the literary cannon. Oooh I can't wait. But first I need to study for my math quiz today. Then later I'm sending off those query emails!!! They haven't had any true critical essays to publish in awhile either. So maybe they'll be excited too.

A Few(Well maybe a little more) Words About Fantasy Literature

(Yes it's literature too! Well at least some of it is.) This is where I'm going to step atop my trusty future Fantasy Critic soap box and tell you that Fantasy Literature is important to you. (Contrary to popular belief, my life's work will be to change this.) If anyone in class or in the greater online community would ever like to discuss this with me in greater detail, be my guest! I love talking about it but warning I get a light in my eyes, turn all vivacious(someone else's term not mine) and am hard to shut up.

Short Disclaimer: I know that some fantasy literature is purely fluff for girls mixed with a little war/fighting for the boys, however some is the key word there. Truly they're not all on the same level as romance novels, so please don't group them with those worn tomes on your mother's bedside table. (At least within earshot of me.) Learn to at least appreciate that a little more effort is required to write a combo romance/adventure novel in a completely different world.

Also Fantasy and Science Fiction are as completely different genres as Crime Fiction and Mysteries. Although related perhaps, they are definitely not the same.

So why is Fantasy literature important? Why is it worth more than a child's drawing on the refrigerator? Actually... perhaps it's just as important as that drawing. Anyway... Fantasy is a genre that combines all other genres and well! Romance, adventure, political intrigue, poetry, mystery, crime fiction, pyscho-analytic conflicts, family drama, etc all rolled up into a compelling novel set in a world pulled completely out of one person's imagination. These writers have to be versatile, well versed, and well read. Because let me tell you Fantasy readers are most likely very well read and we're also very picky(some may say snobby but since I'm also describing myself I'll euphem-ize) making us happy is not an easy job. Fantasy is something that can touch everyone because of this element of multi valency.

The reason I'm still going to submit my Fantasy stories for this class is because I firmly believe that Fantasy should still be a well crafted novel if you took out all the magic and mayhem. So although there won't be any of the fantastic elements in what I submit it doesn't mean it's not Fantasy writing. I'll be developing characters and writing scenes I plan on using for my future novels.

The world already secretly knows that Fantasy literature is important they just won't let themselves believe it so much. I mean look at the craze over Harry Potter and the revival of Lord of the Rings. Fantasy is a literature of hope. It shows us that if we were at our best this is what we could accomplish, saving nations, leading armies, escaping enemies with the help of a little luck, logic and good friends. Because if you look closely a main theme behind Fantasy is that it's not the characters' special powers or what have you that helps them overcome obstacles but how they use their resources and the strength of their character. Which we can all do ourselves! This is what I think is great about kids reading Fantasy literature it helps them escape the turmoil of growing up and most often shows them how characters going through their own set of problems(often quite like our own) deal with the good and the bad. You are blind and utterly wrong if you think this is a bad thing OR an easy thing to write.

I think one day after I become a semi-famous Fantasy writer and critic I'm going to write a book called How Fantasy Will Save the World. It'll make the best seller list and change how the whole world thinks about this genre. I'm starting with you though. :D Keep a look out for that book one day. You'll see it on the Amazon list and remember this first little speech from my trusty Fantasy soap box. Again I love discussing this stuff and I have a MILLION more examples, hit me up and we'll get coffee while I discuss the higher points of Tolkien's Medieval allusions or Lackey's portrayal of a feminine view of the struggle of woman taking a non-traditional role in society. (The latter is actually a paper I'm writing right now.) Yes Fantasy literature analysis can get that deep!