Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Speculative Fiction--What is it?


Today I'm pleased to offer a blog from Linda Swift, whose lovely Civil War novel,  This Time Forever, I can highly recommend. (Full disclosure: I edited it for Champagne Book Group.) This post was originally posted at Between The Pages: http://betweenthelinesandmore.blogspot.com and is reposted here with the kind permission of Lynda Coker. Take it away, Linda!

 

 

Speculative Fiction—What is it? 

I am an author of published contemporary and historical romance, women’s fiction, short stories and poetry. As if that isn’t enough to keep my readers in a state of confusion, I have recently added speculative fiction to my publishing credits. Only I didn’t know this was what my short stories were until they were given that label by my publisher. In fact, I wasn’t aware this genre existed and I’m betting some who are reading this aren’t either. 

Since I now have five speculative fiction stories available online, and a just-released anthology of these five stories in print, I thought I really ought to find out a little more about what this means. My first step was to check my faithful Webster’s New World Dictionary. (Yes, I still love to look up words in my hard copy reference which tells you more than I probably want you to know about my age.) None of the definitions of the word “speculative” seemed to fit the situation at all. I finally settled on “uncertain or risky” as a possible meaning. At least, I know it is always uncertain and risky to publish anything one writes. 

Next, I Googled “Speculative Fiction” online. And wow! Was I impressed. The term was defined by Wikipedia as “ancient works to cutting-edge, paradigm-changing, and nontraditional intentions of the 21st century.” And the names associated with this genre? They read like a who’s who in literature. There were Greek dramatists to William Shakespeare to J.R.R.Tolkien and many more. 

I won’t bore you with the long explanation that I doggedly plowed my way through in order to become more enlightened on the subject. But I will offer one further quote which I think shows the big picture.
 
“In its broadest sense it (speculative fiction) captures both a conscious and unconscious aspect of human psychology in making sense of the world, reacting to it, and creating imaginary, inventive and artistic expression.” 

Armed with this new information I turned my attention to my stories in an effort to see if they would fit the definition. I looked first at Winner Take All, my first-written story of this genre. It is a tale of man against nature and a life-and-death struggle between the two. Billy Ray Warren is a good ole southern boy who went up North to make money and comes home to fight the kudzu that is taking over the place. Yes, he is trying to make sense of his world and reacting to it in a positive way. 

Nathan, the Buttercups are Blooming is a story about growing old and sick; about the helplessness of losing control of our lives. But Nathan is a fighter, especially when it comes to his beloved wife and his insensitive children. And boy, does he react to the situation he is in. He does not “go gentle into that goodnight” to quote a famous poet.  

The disease of epilepsy is at the center of Give It All You’ve Got. This is a tender love story set in a rural mountain school with three main characters who are as mismatched as people can be but their lives become entwined by circumstances beyond their control.  They each react to their narrow world in the only way that makes sense to them. And in so doing, a villain becomes a hero.

Three to Make Ready is a story that deals with the busing issue as it was in the early days of the mandate for US public schools. It takes a look at the situation from both black and white perspectives and further examines it from two social classes of white families. This story looks at the big picture from the author’s point of view based on personal experience and believe me, the story contains reaction in spades.  

Last, I examined The Good News. Defining it is difficult even for me as author.  I think it addresses the possibility of a random occurrence that no one can foresee and the way the people involved react to it. The story deals with a mother’s worst nightmare and her valiant efforts to prevent it.  

Have you noticed that my brief blurbs of each of these stories contain the work “react” in them? I think we can assume that my speculative fiction involves reaction of some sort in all the plots.  But rather than dissect them in this manner, I like to think of them as stories that reflect ordinary people living their lives in the best way they can, given their circumstances. Even though you most likely have not experienced what the characters have, I think you can relate to their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows. And it is this connection that makes a story real to you.  All of them contain a measure of suspense and uncertainty and some unexpected outcomes.  In the past, I have heard this type story referred to as “slice of life” fiction. 

Frankly, I don’t care what they are called.  I only care that they are read and that my characters touch the hearts of those who read them. They are available at Amazon and Smashwords for 99cents each.

 

And if you’d like a complete collection in print, Take Five: Stories of Speculative Fiction was released the last week in September through Publishing by Rebecca J. Vickery and is now available in ebook and print at the above links. The price is $9.95 for print and $2.99 for ebook at this link:


 

 

 

 

 

 

5 comments:

  1. Good morning, Nikki. Thank you for inviting me as your guest today. And thank you for your kind words about my Civil War. It was a pleasure to work with you on This Time Forever. You are a wonderful editor and your input made a good story even better! I look forward to talking with your guests today.

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  2. ooops, that was supposed to be "my Civil War book." I'm guilty of sending and then proofing! Bad habit. Sorry.

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    1. No problem. And thank you for your comments about my work. You are a pleasure to work with.

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  3. I learned about speculative fiction first when reading works by Harlan Ellison--his stories are often categorized this way.

    Best of luck with your story collection, Linda. It sounds wonderful!

    Liz

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  4. Hi Elizabeth, I don't think we have met before. This is why I enjoy being a guest on different blogs. I'm not familiar with the work of Harlan Ellison so I will check it out. Take Five is a "bargain" as the five stories are available on Smashwords for 99cents each and in the collection all five sellls for $2.99. Thanks for your comments.

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