Anyone else write magical realist/surrealist/fabulist/spec fic stuff?

[Writer'sBlockBuster]

Or, I should say, anyone else write and publish this stuff?

I have a bunch of stories that are fundamentally literary but have elements of magical realism or speculative fiction or whatever thrown in, and it's so hard to find markets that accept this work. So many markets are either straight literary (realism only) or true sci-fi/fantasy, and my stories are definitely not sci-fi. I spent all of today searching for markets for one of these stories, and I think I found two in all that time! It's incredibly frustrating! Add to this the fact that my current story is on the long side (slightly over 7,000 words), and I'm rapidly seeing my prospects dwindle.

Anyone encounter similar problems with this kind of crossover work?

[sunandshadow]

I think surrealism is interesting but I haven't tried to publish any, sorry. Let me know if you find a market that wants erotic surrealism or surreal erotica though.

[Writer'sBlockBuster]

That I don't think I've ever seen. But if I do, you'll be the first to know.

[Gillian]

I do. In my experience large presses say "Love it, but not sure it quite fits what we do", but small presses deal better. Alas, my own small press is leaning towards historical fiction now and my second book will be my last there, so I'm out there looking, too. If you need someone to share ideas and experiences with, give me a hoy.

[LaceWing]

http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/margin/periphery.html

Notice the author's names at the bottom of the page. Maybe you can locate them on the web to ask questions of them.

Good luck.

[JenNipps]

Or, I should say, anyone else write and publish this stuff?

WBB, have you looked at the Science Fiction/Fantasy (http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39) board here? I think you've received some good responses here, but I also think you'll get more there.

I'll copy this thread over so you don't have to repost the whole thing.

[badducky]

I do, and I know a large publisher who is searching for it, and you'd better hurry because their annual open call is almost done.

http://ww2.wizards.com/books/Wizards/default.aspx?doc=main_submissions

However, for your shorter pieces, the best I can advise is to watch magazines carefully for things that fit somewhere near your stuff. And, a great way to find those magazines and read them is through both ralans and the creighton writer's center. Check the list of markets in the short story forum.

Good luck.

[RTH]

It seems to me I've heard mixed reviews of Wizards of the Coast... though I know very little about them. What's their deal?

[Shadow_Ferret]

What exactly is magical realism? :Shrug:

[badducky]

I'm working with them right now, and it's fine so far. I wish things moved faster but it's a new imprint, and it's in publishing, so you have to expect things to be a little on the slow side.

Regardless, Magical Realism is a very fancy word for realistic fiction a la Tolstoy and Hemingway that uses magic for artistic purposes.

Unfortunately, what is - in actuality -- merely a literary technique is inappropriately used as a buzzword for Surrealist Fiction a la Kafka and Borges and Gunter Grass.

[daoine]

Try searching this database: Duotrope (http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx)

It's pretty extensive and there is a genre-search for Magical Realism/Surrealism, plus you can specify your story length to narrow the search results.

[Shweta]

I write the stuff sometimes. I haven't had much luck publishing much yet though :)

If Polyphony (http://www.wheatlandpress.com/polyphony/submissions.html) is putting out another anthology, that might be a place for it. They're slipstream. But I fear that they are totally closed now.

Fantasy Magazine (http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/) seems like they might be broader/more interested in literary stuff and magical realism than other places. Also, the (new) GUD magazine (http://www.gudmagazine.com) is definitely interested in "literary with speculative aspects". Strange Horizons (http://www.strangehorizons.com) might be interested too, I guess.

[Lyra Jean]

My first short story. Okay I only have two. But my first one is literary surrealistic. I have to place it and I've written this 6 years ago. I don't know if I should keep sending it out or not.

[MacAllister]

It's very much what I write.

Then I cut the self-indulgent "look at MEeee" writer-masturbatory bits, and lo and behold! It's straightforward urban fantasy. :)

[Toothpaste]

I quite like Wikipedia's definition of Magical Realism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_realism

There is a broad scope for this type of genre. There are the more literary options, but something as straight forward as A Series of Unfortunate Events could also be considered such. I know that I was surprised to learn that my writing fell into that category, but it was nice to find a place! And yes, I am being published. I think the question is more of a 'literary' versus not. Publish in Canada! We love literary stuff!

[BruceJ]

Gotta quick question for y'all:

I've never dabbled in writing fantasy (I almost wrote "I've never dabbled in fantasy" but that would be a lie). Statement of the obvious: research is a big part of writing, but do you folks do a lot of research or can you just make up stuff that doesn't have to mesh with reality due to the genre? That's probably a really silly question and it's not a poke at all, I'm just curious. All fiction has to be believable to an extent, but do you think you have more latitude in the believability department than other fiction genres? I'm really interested--I'm not sure I have the imagination for what you all do.

Thanks.

[RTH]

As with anything else, I'd say that by and large it's a matter of the demands of the individual stories.

If you're going to go the traditional Tolkienesque route, for example, it's helpful to research mythology, linguistics, martial history, archaeology, and even possibly geology, ecology, etc. (if you're creating your own world.)

For another example, if you're going to do magical realism, you may want to do some anthropological research... again, it just depends on the types of people and places you're interested in.

But as for latitude, I'd say: Yeah, fantasy has more latitude -- with the caveat that the stories must be internally consistent.

[Shweta]

It's very much what I write.

Then I cut the self-indulgent "look at MEeee" writer-masturbatory bits, and lo and behold! It's straightforward urban fantasy. :)

Hm. Seems like cutting the masturbatory bits is generally a good idea, but however does that turn surrealism/magical realism into urban fantasy? Do you mean just for you, or that thats generally the difference between the genres?

Cause I'm trying to figure this out, and it seems to me that part of the difference in the genres is how people react to weirdness. In the magical realism/surrealism I've read, weird stuff happens and people just take it for granted. Whereas people only take weirdness for granted in urban fantasy if there's some explanation for why.

Thats how my current story seems more like magical-realism than urban fantasy to me; its set in India, so nobody goes "holy, sh*t, that girl's doing magic", they go "Eh, that girl, she calls animals with her music, don't let your kids too near her, she's not normal, nobody's going to marry her."

So... it might just be ethnic urban fantasy, but the feel of it is... well! In order to get the feel right for India, I end up with something that is not standard urban fantasy.

And this, I cannot resolve with your statement. Am I just being masturbatory without noticing? Because if so, darn, it ought to be better for me :D

[Shweta]

Statement of the obvious: research is a big part of writing, but do you folks do a lot of research or can you just make up stuff that doesn't have to mesh with reality due to the genre?

I do a lot of research, Bruce. I find I have to really know things in order to figure out the consequences of changing them. Making stuff up from whole cloth is hard, and consistency is hard.

For example, if I'm going to change plants in my settings, I need to research both how plants work and how ecosystems work in order to be sure I don't have a glaring inconsistency.
If I'm going to make up a language, I've got to know enough about sound systems to make sure it's not entirely laughable.
If I want to make a social system then I need to research similar ones to make sure it'd play out the way I think it would.
Because I can be certain, if I publish a fantasy book, that my readership is going to include people who know more than me about any of these things. Fantasy/SF fans are like that.

So... a lot of fantasy authors don't do this. Or they'd never get anything written. Often what we do is steal a historical/geographical setting, change a couple things, and run with it. It doesn't take less research to do that right, exactly; but it lets us be much more sure that we have it more or less right.

Of course, this can be restrictive. But it lets you evoke a world for a reader in far fewer words -- and really there are a lot of weird cultures and settings in the real world, if you do the research. Many of them can be tweaked nicely for a fantasy story.

Now, I admit that I am one of those people who will make a map for a fantasy world, complete with plate tectonics and shifts in the last few centuries, to figure out where various stones are accessible and where the rivers are likely to flow, etc.
So perhaps I overstate the case. But serious research is needed, if you want to come up with a consistent, believable world.

That's probably a really silly question and it's not a poke at all, I'm just curious. All fiction has to be believable to an extent, but do you think you have more latitude in the believability department than other fiction genres? I'm really interested--I'm not sure I have the imagination for what you all do.

So, someone (It may have been Steve Brust) once said* that we have less latitude in the believability department. That if you're writing a contemporary story, you can sketch the world very lightly and the reader will fill in the rest, but a made-up world needs serious, consistent detail to give the reader a vivid sense of it. Which you have to convey without infodumping.

I think that's the right idea. We have more latitude in the weirdness department, but not in the internally-plausible department. In some ways fantasy is a very realist genre; readers often want every leaf to be painted in the greatest detail imaginable. It's a tendency that you see in fantasy art, too; I think the aesthetic is the same in both. (Obviously there are exceptions to this. People like Patricia McKillip take it in a more dreamlike direction; but that just requires more work, and gorgeous hyper-sensory hallucinogenic prose. If there is one writer I would never dare imitate it's McKillip.)

Anyway, enough babbling, hope that helps.

* This is my murky memory from a panel at Minicon ...2001 I think, so um, bear with me.