20 February 2008

Introduction

Well, this is my first post here at BtV...and I have NO idea what to say! Which, for anyone who knows me, is actually kind of impressive.

I'm also a former FaE blogger, though I'll admit I've been so swamped with real life this past year I never got to know my fellow-bloggers well enough. I'm hoping to work on that in the coming months here.

The short version bio:

I'm 31 years old, and due to have my fourth child in 5 weeks. (three boys so far)
I have the most fantabulous husband ever.
I write fantasy. With romance and without. With sex and without.

Wow. Way to sum myself up in three sentences, eh?
Oh yes, I'm Canadian. ;)

Funny enough, the first question most people ask me is "why Fantasy". Granted, with things like Eragon and the Spiderwick Chronicles coming out as movies, I'm getting that question a little less. But I was still made to feel as though 'magic' was something I should have put aside about the same time I realised we really couldn't keep a pony in the garage.

Instead, my fascination with it all has just grown as I have. I'm amazed by how many writers have put their own spin on old favourites. Or who have created entirely new legends that live on in the global subconscious as something which 'simply always has been.'

I love the freedom of being able to create worlds, to establish my own rules and cultures. I love the epic nature of fantasy books - it isn't just boy meets girl, but it's often World meets World. Or...boy meets girl and saves the world ;)

I love the fact that fantasy books tend to have something which triumphs over all. Whether it's good over evil, or love over death or...well, you get the idea. There's a transcendence. An ability to believe in the best of people, even if they're not human. And when it's written very very well - the fact the characters aren't human just underscores their humanity, which I think is pretty freaking cool.

So why fantasy?
Why not ;)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Dayna.

Good to see you here.

R F Long

Diana Castilleja said...

Hi Dayna! I look at this way... Why not Fantasy?

Well, why not romance then? Or why not comedy?

Because readers want it, and you want to write it. Boring, but true.

And also because you happen to an awesome fantasy writer. (Yes, I am too wearing a straight face typing that!)

Kaige said...

Great explanation of why I read fantasy, Dayna! You said it much better than I've ever been able to. Thanks!

Kayko May said...

Umm yeah...I just realized something, lol, so let's try this again.

Why not fantasy? It's the genre that appeals to you most, in which you can express your ideas best -- and which many readers happen to love.
You shouldn't be getting comments anymore AT ALL, zero, zilch, nada. Fantasy is so established now...

Sela Carsen said...

Hey you. Fantasy writer. Yeah, you. Welcome to Beyond the Veil!

Dayna_Hart said...

Hey Ruth, thanks for coming by!

Diana, it amazes me how people think we choose our genre...I think it chooses us.

Kaige...I've had a lot of time to think about it. lol

It's funny, Kayko, you'd think the comments would stop (I've been writing it since I was a kid!) However, I still get it. A lot from my family, too, which is sort of hard, but also from strangers. Or they assume I mean YA-Fantasy. "Oh, so you're writing the next Harry Potter." Erm. Not quite, thankeemuch, though I'll take the sales ;) My fairies tend to have sex (on or off camera) They fight, get into wars, bleed, swear! (oy do they swear!)

Sela: *mwah* You're one of the reasons I'm so happy to be here!

Anonymous said...

Hi Dayna!

I love fantasy because the worlds are always so different but the same - i think it takes a very special person to be able to create that ;)

Ayla

Gwen Hayes said...

Sometimes, our world seems so mundane and routine--it is nice to build one in which you make all the rules.

The coffee tastes better if savor it because you are being chased by the bad guys who could steal your soul, ya know?

Liane Manso Betton said...

I love the "why fantasy?" question. I've attended the San Fran Writers conference a couple times. At my first conference I was talking to a couple people about my UF series. One of them looked at me and said "What's wrong with you? You look so normal."

Needless to say we became great friends and have had a lot of discussions about supernatural beings. Trying to explain my passion for Fantasy with someone who had never read it was great for me. It boiled down to the realization that I love the question "what would happen if...?" Fantasy allows more creative room to answer that question and dream up possibilities. At least in my opinion.

Jean Marie Ward said...

Hey, Dayna, glad to see you back in the blogosphere. Best wishes on the upcoming addition to your family. Giving birth to a baby is possibly the most magical act of all.
With that going for us, with all that is magical in this univers of ours, how can we NOT write fantasy?
Hugs and smiles,
Jean Marei