WordShaping: Why I Write Fantasy

Welcome Ann Wilkes, space opera author, science fiction reviewer, and blogger!

Amber: Why do you write fantasy?

Ann: I like to explore human behavior outside of the trappings of our own world, time or civilization. I love the "what ifs". I love to be transported to another reality and I want to transport readers to another reality of my creation. I want to get readers to consider social issues in a new way without even realizing they are. I love reading it, viewing and reviewing it, but mostly I love writing it. Making the wild things I can imagine become real for a while to the reader.

Amber: What are your favorite science fiction novels?

Ann: I just posted my top 10 2010 favorites with links to my reviews:

The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
www:WATCH by Robert J. Sawyer
Mad Skills by Walter Greatshell
Soulless by Gail Carringer
Mozaart's Blood by Louise Marley
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith
Are You There? And Other Stories by by Jack Skillingstead

In addition, Who Fears Death and The Evolutionary Void will remain all-time favorites, adding to my all-time favorite list below:

The Practice Effect, the Uplift War trilogy and Glory Season by David Brin
Realtime Interrupt, Code of the Lifemaker, Thrice Upon a Time and Multiplex Man by James P. Hogan
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe series and The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Fallen Angels by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Michael Flynn
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
The original Ender's Game trilogy by Orson Scott Card
The Space Trilogy by CS Lewis

Amber: Why do you think readers love fantasy?

Ann: Partly to escape, but mostly to dream. To let our imagination go and recall the wonder that was second nature to us when we were children. Readers also like peek at what might be around the corner for humanity and to speculate about what individuals or society might do in this or that otherworldly situation.

Amber: Would you write fantasy even if no one read it?

Ann: That would be a very sad state of affairs indeed. I think I would, but not as much. I write not just to entertain myself, but to stir thoughts and feeling in others. I want to write prose that the reader simply can't put down and that they are still thinking about for the next few days.

Most of Ann Wilkes' fiction found in anthologies and magazines leans toward tragic, funny or both. Her first published novel, Awesome Lavratt, is a tongue-in-cheek space opera filled with mind control, passion and adventure. On her blog, Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys, you'll find book and other media reviews, author interviews and commentary on writing and science fiction. She lives in California's wine country with her husband, Patrick. When she's not writing, she's dancing like a Greek at her favorite taverna or listening to the blues.

Awesome Lavratt

(Unlimited Publishing/Redwood Writers)

Beautiful Aranna Navna plans to conquer the galaxy one planet at a time. She steals the Awesome Lavratt, a mind control device, from a freighter in Horace Whistlestop's junkyard. She takes Horace, too. With the Lavratt, Aranna manipulates the thoughts and desires of everyone around her—until she gets to the Emperor of Calistania. Then things go from bad to worse for Aranna. The Lavratt, however, has only just begun! Oh, the fun you can have from a small cube with mind control powers. Travel the galaxy with Tyrantz Lavratt. Silly science fiction at its best. All puns intended.

Read Ann's story "Trapped Star" in the Dark Quest Books anthology

Beauty Has Her Way (Jan 2011) edited by Jennifer Brozek

And "Immunity Project" in

Defending the Future IV: No Man's Land (May2011) edited by Mike McPhail