Please help me welcome Isabo Kelly to my blog. She’s got a wonderful blog for you and a fantastic giveaway.
There are many things about the science fiction and fantasy romance genres I love. Both as a reader and a writer. But right up at the top of the list for me as a writer is being able to make everything up. Yes even in my science fiction, the important word is fiction. I get to play and create the same way I did as a kid, building complex and very individual worlds to run around in.
The drawback: sometimes I don’t know when to stop. Mostly, though, the ability to use anything my imagination can dream is really freeing.
Fantasy is easy. Readers and writers expect everything to be made up. Especially in epic fantasy where the stories take place on different worlds. All that’s required is that I make the world I create something a reader can believe in. After that, there are literally no limits. It’s like the best adventure ever!
Then there’s science fiction. Some people will argue that at least in science fiction romance there has to be some adherence to “realism” as far as the science goes. My response to that is: yes and no. To be honest, as a scientist, I know exactly how much we don’t know about the universe. So while some things like breaking the speed of light to travel huge distances does seem impossible given what we know of physics, I’m happy to utilize fun ways of getting around that so I can fictionally move beyond our solar system in a single human lifetime. Did you know we don’t have any idea if or what type of DNA may (or may not) evolve on alien planets? As a biologist, this was really exciting because it meant I could–once again–make things up! And I did with gleeful abandon in my Naravan Chronicles series.
In fact, because there’s so much we don’t know for sure, there’s a lot of room to imagine the possibilities. Making my flights of fancy come across as believably possible is an even more exciting challenge. And mix all that up with a good old fashioned romance, I am there!
So how much “reality” do you need from your fiction? Do you like the limits pushed and yet the stories still feel like they could happen? Or do you like strict adherence to real world rules?
Giveaway: To treat yourself during the busy holiday season, I will give one random commenter a $15 gift certificate to Amazon or B&N, winner’s choice. Leave a comment from now until Wednesday, midnight EST with your email address (name @ domain. com is perfect) to be entered to win. I’ll contact the winner directly and announce the winner here in the comments. Happy holidays and Happy Reading!
Isabo Kelly is the author of multiple award-winning science fiction, fantasy and paranormal romances. For more on Isabo and her books, visit her website www.isabokelly.com, follow her on Twitter @IsaboKelly or friend her on Facebook www.facebook.com/IsaboKelly
I love the fact that things get made up and yet can be so similar to what we know that it creates a comforting effect. I also love the escapism aspect of fantasy and sci-fi. It’s a fun genre to read. I’ve not written it, I stick more to paranormal, but I do enjoy reading it! Love the posting!!
Jesse
jesse.kimmelfreeman@gmail.com
Thanks, Jesse! I love the escapism too, even when I’m writing 🙂
What a wonderful world and blog you have created for us. Thank you for your insight… your books sound amazing!
Thanks for stopping by to read the post, Virginia!
Both novels sound amazing. Tweeted.
Thanks, Andrea!
That’s what I love about these genres too. Imagination gone wild 🙂
Absolutely! 🙂
I’ve always thought combining sci fi with romance would be difficult. To me sci fi has a lot of technical hardware, and a lot of it escapes me. I do like some fantasy romance if I like the characters. I think the world building is the biggest stretch of a writer’s creativity. It and characters with special powers or abilities really reel me in.
Depends on the type of story; don’t want to read about abuse
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Hey Karalee! It can be tough to mix sci fi and romance and keep the book below 500pages 🙂 But I think of the stories as adventures and that works with romance really well. It always comes down to relatable characters though, doesn’t it? Thanks for stopping by!
True and fair enough. Sometimes less reality is better. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Love this post! It is SO much fun to read about these fantasy worlds. Mixing romance in just adds another layer. Your books sound fantastic!
Thanks, Alicia! And I completely agree about the romance. It’s like the icing on a yummy cake. 🙂
What a wonderful explanation of the differences between fantasy and science fiction. Some of my favorite television time was spent watching Firefly, Serenity and Battlestar Galactica. Curling up with a great fantasy novel is my idea of getting away from it all.
*hugs*
Thanks, JD! You just listed three of my favorite shows! And I’m totally with you on the curling up with a good book part.
A wonderful post, agreed with every word!
Thanks, Claire!
Congratulations to bn100 for winning my gift certificate giveaway! Thanks everyone for coming out and commenting. And thanks for having me on your blog Cynthia!