What Makes Speculative Fiction Unique?

I’ve followed Jennifer Hallmark for years, but this is the first time she’s been a guest blogger on my site. Her first novel, Jessie’s Hope, is women’s fiction, but now she’s taken off down the yellow brick road into the world of speculative fiction. What makes speculative fiction unique? Jennifer tells us below.

Jurassic Park. Star Wars. The Lord of the Rings. A Game of Thrones. The Martian. The Handmaid’s Tale. Books and movies we love or hate.

What is speculative fiction and why the controversy?

Speculative fiction is a genre of books or movies not based on reality. Unlike most romance, general fiction, and historical fiction, speculative books aren’t rooted in our world. Not as we know it.

This world is created in the mind of the author. But it’s still anchored to planet Earth if it’s relatable. This is the draw and beauty of speculative fiction. We might not own a golden droid programmed for etiquette and protocol like C-3PO of Star Wars fame. But we all have at least one friend or relative who doesn’t know when to stop talking. 

Rangers of the North like Strider/Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings don’t live nearby but we know people who will fight for us while struggling at the same time with insecurity.

Dictionary.com mentions the speculative genre as one encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. My first novel, Jessie’s Hope, is the story of one family’s struggles in modern-day rural Alabama. Nothing about it is speculative.

However, I have two publishers looking at my time-shifting YA novel set in 1978. While it’s the most entertaining work I’ve ever penned, it has easily been the hardest. Why?

World-building.

If an author is creating something supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic, they have to maintain a believable world with made-up elements. This could consist of a language, a culture, species, or time elements that differ from the norm. Personally, I find working out the specifics of time-shifting tedious. It’s one thing to write a story, but a different task to have readers buy-in and find your characters and settings both believable and relatable.

Questions I ask:

  • Can the reader relate to the personality of my character? Whether I’m creating a robot, lizard creature, or child, I pattern their personality after real people.
  • Can the reader relate to my character’s problems? To their victories? I try to maintain a balance with problems to keep my characters humble and victories so I don’t destroy the arc of external and internal growth I’m striving to create.
  • Does the setting have enough reality to ground the reader in the world I’ve built? I want them to see the Orna trees, my creation of trees that absorb light in the daytime and glow at night. In my mind, the trees are larger versions of the solar lights that line my sidewalk.
  • Does the setting’s laws of nature work for the world? I love how Star Wars set the planet Tatooine orbiting around two suns, making it a desert planet because of their scorching intensity.

Speculative authors and screenwriters combine otherworldly elements with relatable believability and construct books and movies that can boggle the imagination, yet entertain.

My ten favorite speculative books:

  1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
  3. Star Wars by George Lucas
  4. Watership Down by Richard Adams
  5. Rooms by James L. Rubart
  6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  7. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
  8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  9. The Day the Angels Fell by Shawn Smucker
  10. The Wizard of Oz

Yes, I have weird—I mean—eclectic taste in literature but I know what I like. Spot-on world building, courageous yet flawed characters, and a story I can’t put down. We can find this in the unique and entertaining genre of speculative fiction.

What are your favorite speculative novels and movies? 

To learn more about her novel and how to connect with Jennifer, read on!

*****

Years ago, an accident robbed Jessie Smith’s mobility. It also stole her mom and alienated her from her father. When Jessie’s high school sweetheart Matt Jansen proposes, her parents’ absence intensifies her worry that she cannot hold on to those she loves.

With a wedding fast approaching, Jessie’s grandfather Homer Smith, has a goal to find the perfect dress for “his Jessie,” one that would allow her to forget, even if for a moment, the boundaries of her wheelchair. But financial setbacks and unexpected sabotage hinder his plans.

Determined to heal from her past, Jessie initiates a search for her father. Can a sliver of hope lead to everlasting love when additional obstacles–including a spurned woman and unpredictable weather–highjack Jessie’s dream wedding?

*****

Jennifer Hallmark writes Southern fiction with a twist and her website and monthly newsletter focus on her books, love of the South, and favorite fiction.  Jessie’s Hope, her novel published by Firefly Southern Fiction, was a 2019 Selah Award nominee for First Novel. You can subscribe to her newsletter here and visit her on Facebook, Facebook author page, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Collaborative Speculative Fiction Part 4

Collaborative speculative fiction part 4 is the last photo prompt for our shared story. Below is the last contribution from last week and my addition for this week. To read all parts of the story, click here. On July 11, I’ll post the entire story. If you haven’t played yet, please feel free to add your inspiration to the the story in the comments.

The creature glided toward the light, its long body leaving a slow wake. My jaw open, I watched it too. Then a gentle splash to my left caught my attention. I stared for a minute and then realized that a second creature like the first was making its way toward the light. I quickly looked between the two animals, and then glanced back at the distant light. Clearly I had been forgotten by the enormous and mysterious creature. Had I also been forgotten by the hurt people back in my house? Now that I wasn’t about to be torn apart by teeth the size of my arm, I had a chance to go back and apologize. I blew out my cheeks, dropped my head, and took two steps toward home. Another thought crossed my mind. Now that I wasn’t about to be torn apart by teeth the size of my arm, I also had the chance to find out what that animal was. And who the person with the light was. And what they were doing. I looked back to the light and counted four distinct swells with tails cutting through the water. I turned my face toward home and heard the door slam. That was enough to make up my mind.

I strode down the pier, the only sound the slapping of those tails and a gulping sound. Through the mist, I saw a white head illuminated by a lantern. The elderly person was pitching something from a garbage can seated on a dolly.

I had the strangest feeling I was interrupting something but cleared my throat.

The person whirled to me, an old man, his face seamed from age and weather. “What’re you doin’ out on a night like this?”

“I-I-I–who are your…pets?”

His eyes narrowed. “You’ve seen the animals?”

“Yes.” I stepped closer, and the stench from the garbage can pushed me back.

“And you didn’t run away?”

I decided to be honest. “I thought one was going to eat me, but then it swam out here to your light.”

“Ain’t my light.” He dug a short shovel into the garbage can and heaved the stinking meat into the sea. “They smell the rotten fish. They can smell it on still nights.”

A thousand questions swirled in my mind like the mist. As I was trying to choose one, the old man stiffened. “That shouldn’t be on the water at this time of year.”

I peered at the sea. The boat that took tourists on pirate cruises in the summer chugged toward the pier.

The old man rummaged through items in a box beside the garbage can. “It’s gettin’ so’s a man can’t have any peace with a few friends any more.”

Three Sources for Names in Speculative Fiction

If you’ve followed my blog for very long, you know I love names–their history, their meaning, and finding just the right one for a character. In many kinds of fantasy and science fiction stories, authors have the luxury, or the problem, of inventing names. Below are three sources for names in speculative fiction. Just remember The Golden Rule for Creating Names in Fiction: it must be easily pronounceable.

World Myths

Perusing world myths is a great way to find names, especially if you read the ones that are less well-known, like Slavic or Celtic.

GREEK AND ROMAN NAMES
  • Atalanta
  • Meander
  • Dido
  • Alecto
  • Evander
  • Nisus
  • Marsyas
  • Thetis
  • Arion
  • Leander
  • Cadmus
  • Maia
  • Nysa
NORSE NAMES
  • Sif
  • Idun
  • Galar
  • Brokk
  • Alvis
  • Gerd
  • Thiazi
  • Skadi
CELTIC NAMES
  • Balor
  • Bran
  • Branwen
  • Bres
  • Dagda
  • Morrigan
  • Caradoc
  • Finntan
  • Korrigan
  • Mael Duin
  • Nemed
  • Nuada
  • Veleda
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
  • Sadko
  • Morevna
  • Perun
  • Mati Syra
  • Kurent

Field Guides

Because my oldest is the Nature Nut, we have all kinds of field guides laying around our house. By flipping through them, I’ve discovered all sorts of names that would blend right into any speculative fiction story. In a field guide on birds, I found Calidris, Striatus, Thula. Asio, Strix, and Zenaida. Tyto Albo is the name for barn owls. It also sounds like a great name for the hero of an epic. If I change it to Tyta Albo or Alba Tyto, I have a heroine. If a scientific name sounds–well, too scientific, play with it like I did with Tyto Albo, leading me to the next tip, which is …

Play with Familiar Names

I take a name like Olivia and write it backwards, Aivilo. That’s easy to pronounce for any English reader–Ay-vil-o. But some one might notice I used Olivia backwards. So I change it to something like Raivilo or Ailvilor. You can honor friends by naming characters with disguised versions of their names or hold a contest for readers and disguise the winner’s name.

Writers, what sources do you use for names in speculative fiction? Readers, what are the best names you’ve read in speculative fiction?

Collaborative Speculative Fiction Part 3

Onto the next installment of our group story! Here’s the photo for our collaborative speculative fiction part 3. In collaborative fiction, writers take turns adding sentences or paragraphs to a story. To read the first installment, click here. The second installment is here. Below is the last paragraph from last week. My next contribution is below it. I’d love for your to play along! Write your inspiration in the comments.

What was it? And why was it coming toward me? The creature’s eyes had to be as big as my head. And its eyes were fixed on me. It was approaching me fast, now only ten feet away. A wild cry, a high-pitched roar that seemed to slice my ear drums, raged from the creature’s throat. I spun on my heels, adrenaline surging and heart pounding, but I slipped on the wet pier and face planted the cement. Was this it? Why, oh why did I leave the house, slam the door, yell that I never wanted to see any of them again? Was that really the end of it all?

I whipped around to a seated position, expecting to see the creature opening its mouth for its first taste of me.

Instead it lifted its head and made a sound like a giant sniff. Then it swam toward the end of the pier.

Leaping to my feet, I was about to turn and put as much distance between me and the sea as I could when I saw a light bobbing at the furthest point of the pier. That bobbing had to mean a person was holding a light. I’d thought I was alone on the pier. Had the light or whoever was holding it attracted the creature?

Lessons Learned in Writing Speculative Fiction

I’m always excited to introduce a new author to my readers, so it’s a pleasure to welcome new novelist Dana Li as a guest blogger. Her first novel, The Vermillion Riddle, released in March, gave her a graduate course in the craft of writing, and she’s here today to share lessons learned in writing speculative fiction.

Fantasy and science fiction were the first genres to really hook me on stories. When I felt the itch to start writing my own, I naturally wanted to tell the fantastical, epic kind of tales that captivated me. Turns out, it takes more than a burst of enthusiasm or inspiration to finish writing a novel, let alone one where I’m building an entire world. My writing endeavors began in fanfiction, and honestly, I think that’s a great place to start – I was playing in someone else’s sandbox, with an already defined world and characters. Leveling up to writing original speculative fiction was hard: I needed to build the world from scratch, and introduce characters that would win readers over. I published my first fantasy novel, The Vermilion Riddle, this year, and it’s been a long but worthwhile journey. These are just some of the lessons I learned along the way!

Create the characters that inspire you. 

Even if you’re writing in a different world with different rules and reality, you want readers to connect with your characters. As a reader, the fantasy and sci-fi stories I loved most were largely due to the memorable characters. They’re relatable, yet brushed with strokes of heroism. In a fantasy, we get to send characters on epic adventures and have them face seemingly insurmountable trials. Take advantage of this! It’s an opportunity to tell stories with a lot of heart, showcasing qualities like courage, loyalty, and nobility. The stakes are high – let the characters rise to meet the challenges. These are the moments that stay with readers for a long time.

Commit to extra world-building. 

For The Vermilion Riddle, I created a calendar, map, and thought through the political and religious system. Not all of it was critical to the plot, but having it at my fingertips to reference in a passing remark or description enriched the story. It makes readers feel like there really is an entire world hovering in the background, and there’s more history, geography, and lore to explore beyond the confines of this particular story. Just don’t hit readers with a deluge of information. They shouldn’t need to read a primer on your magical system as a prerequisite to understanding your novel. Let them uncover bits and pieces of how things work as the story progresses.

Don’t sacrifice the plot for the sake of being preachy. 

Most speculative fiction has a point, or a moral behind the story. As a Christian, telling a good story is not the same as preaching a sermon. We’re not writing a theological treatise; we’re seeking to tell good, thought-provoking stories as Christians, and our worldview will display itself in how we portray good and evil, the nature of humanity, and more. We also don’t want to gloss over the reality that we’re plagued by sin and a broken world, and not all stories wrap up with a bow and happily ever after. Good stories will face the darkness and acknowledge our brokenness, but reject nihilism. Our stories may not talk about Christ and the cross explicitly, but let’s show that good prevails against evil, life has dignity and value, and our hope is not in vain.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice! Learn more about her debut novel and how to connect with Dana below.

*****

“To enter Faerie’s blessed demesne

four secrets must be found:

the land unbound by time and space

opens only to the one who knows

the Light, the Song, and Mortal Gate.”

In the sheltered town of Carmel, women do not have a future outside of a good marriage. That future is threatened when Leah Edwards’ father gambles away the family’s livelihood and estate. She and her sisters must hurry to find husbands. Then August Fox, a Guardian from Cariath, comes to town and purchases a supposedly haunted manor. Charged to keep the peace between mortals and Faerie, the Guardians are the stuff of legend. After he stuns her with a marriage proposal, Leah reluctantly journeys to Cariath, discovering there is more to August and the legends than she guessed.

Nimrod and his Oath-breakers betrayed the Guardians, seeking to solve an ancient riddle that would unlock the Faerie realm. Not all his followers share his desire for conquest. Benedict Fox, his second-in-command, has different motives. But as he continues fulfilling Nimrod’s plan, Benedict hurtles towards a choice between saving his family and settling a personal vendetta.

For Leah, August, and their allies, it is a race against time to solve the ancient riddle before the Oath-breakers, and reunite the Guardians to save the mortal realm. The war is never really over, and this time, the battle lines cut through blood ties and brotherhood.

*****

Dana Li

Dana Li is a software product manager by day, and a novelist by night. She holds an MS in management science and engineering from Stanford University and a BS in computer science from USC, but she’s always been better at writing stories than code. Her writing misadventures began with a dozen now-deleted Star Wars fanfiction tales. She loves good fantasy/sci-fi, classy cuisines, and roller coasters (but not all at once). Dana currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and The Vermilion Riddle is her first novel. 

You can follow Dana on Instagram and Facebook, or learn more about her work at www.penandfire.com

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