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Comment by Ilie Ruby on April 15, 2010 at 8:18am

I'm glad this group exists. My novel The Language of Trees is due out July 20th (Harper Collins) and is in the world of magic realism.

This discussion is interesting because I've been working on this novel for a handful of years. And at one point, I removed all of the magic realist elements. And after much thought about what was integral to the story, I returned them all to their rightful places. I say rightful because I wanted to keep the narrative organic as opposed to contrived, and with magic realism it is a delicate balance between believability and satisfying the writers' and readers' imaginations. For me, this genre is what kept the writing fun!

You can find it on FB if inclined:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ilie-Ruby/200978600608?ref=ts

Comment by Lynne Barrett on March 22, 2010 at 4:13pm

My short story "The Borges Cure" (which is under 750 words) was just published online at Night Train Magazine. I think it fits the interests of this group. You can check it out at http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/contents/barrett_fb.php

Comment by Carol Novack on March 22, 2010 at 9:00am

Hi all: Many of my works contain surreal and irreal elements (my publisher says more irreal than surreal). If anyone is interested, here are some links: http://newdeadfamilies.com/about/eatinghabitsofthepoo/ (originally published in Gargoyle); http://crossingchaos.com/WHAT_TO_DO_WITH_THE_BABIES_by_CAROL_NOVACK... (originally published on Web Del Sol and in audio, with others, at http://www.myspace.com/madhattercarollers; http://www.apostrophecast.com/authors/carolnovack.html (audio's with music of works published in Caketrain and First Intensity. Also an audio on Wheelhouse - more surreal than irreal, actually: http://www.wheelhousemagazine.com/archive/winter_spring09/Execution.... There are more links at my blog: http://carolnovack.blogspot.com.

Comment by Rebecca Coffey on March 22, 2010 at 7:42am

Well, this is about as surreal as my fiction gets. "Take a lipstick and begin rouging your sex…". The wonderful Elissa Bassist has published my "Anaïs Nin's Hot Cross Buns"in the "Funny Women" column on The Rumpus. "Don’t be nervous; you are in a state of grace, and everyone is mostly asleep, anyway. In accord with the surrealists, you are about to reach for the marvelous...." And then she does.

Comment by Thaisa Frank on February 12, 2010 at 3:11am

I've also been reading Manguel "Libraries at Night." I feel close to his work because (like me) he was influenced by Borges. He's written a lot and I've only recently been made aware of him by a good friend. There's a lot more surrealism going on on the continent--and always has been. And did I mention Bruno Schulz--A Street of Crocodiles?

Comment by Thaisa Frank on February 2, 2010 at 10:18am

Adrienne--a belated reply. Apologies. I'm getting galleys ready. Here goes:
Contemporary: Memories of the Future; I Served the King of England; Some of Kelly Link's stories Stacey Richter's stories. Remainder by Tom McCarthy ( a titled world).
(has elements: A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime)

less contemporary but very good: Borges, Barthleme, Rachel Ingall's novellas
(some of them), August Montorosso (what of his has been translaed)

Many of my stories are considered surreal. One unbelievable or slightly tilted even is ejected into ordinary life. And my editor calls the novel I've just finishe,
"A fairy tale, with atrocities....."

About contemporary fiction (that isn't fantasy, vampire or werewolves which comes under the categpory of fantasy--can people thing of others?

Comment by Beverly A. Rearick on December 17, 2009 at 3:48am

I wanted to introduce myself to this group. My name is Beverly Rearick and I live in a rural area of Pennsylvania. Rural in the way that we have more Amish than non-Amish people in our community. I have been writing for as long as I remember. Although I have been published in non-fiction, I haven't yet reached my goal of published fiction.

I currently work full-time in a day care and work as a public relations manager for Haunted Voices Radio Network. I am also a paranormal investigator when I have the time. So, as you can guess the type of fiction I typically write is paranormal in nature.

With my 34th birthday coming in a week and one day, I am really trying to get my fiction writing in gear and thought this site and group would be a great way to do it.

I would love to start chatting with everyone and getting to meet some fellow writers. If anyone has any tips of how to manage writing with a full time job, I would love to hear it.

Until later.

Comment by Adriana Ryan on December 14, 2009 at 10:36am

Hey ladies! I'm new here. I just got an email yesterday saying that one of my 'speculative fiction' short stories is going to be published in an e-zine! :) I love this genre, and am looking forward to learning more.

Comment by Thaisa Frank on November 27, 2009 at 12:17pm

About the challenges of surrealism and magic realism: I think the biggest challenge is maintaining a narrative arc with momentum and suspense, and creating believable characters. It's easy to think that the surreal element or the magic realist world is fascinating enough to readers. Instead, it either provides a catalyst for action in the real world (surrealism, Metaphorphisis, for e.g.), or is a tapestry against which people live their lives. (Voltaire wrote some of the earliest stuff). Readers who pick up a book with a surreal element in the plot or a background of magic realism, still want to read a story. One might say that writers in these tilted genres have one of the most difficult challenges of all:
1. the narrative arc has to have momentum and suspense
2. the characters must be believable people, living their lives in spite of,
not because of the, the story
3. there must be action (take a look at Borges, who seems so ethereal, and you'll see a lot of shooting and violence)
4. like most fiction, character must be given an opportunity to change---whether or not they take it--and this opportunity can be small and/or they must be in a dynamic relationship that changes. In Metamporphosis, Kafka's sister, who is the one person who enters Gregor Samsa's room and gives him food, has many opportunities to come closer to him. From time to time, he tries to come closer to her. This dynamic of distance and rejection, of continued reaching out and continued distance, is essential to the narrative arc. Her distance--as well as his father's rage over his attempt to come closer---contributes to Gregor Samsa's complete sense of defeat and eventual death. In other words, while this fantastic occurrence is going on--i.e. a family member has turned into a huge bug--a family dynamic is also occurring. It's easy to forget how important this arc is because the reader can be dazzled by the images. In surrealism and magic realism, both, this can be true of the writer--i.e. the writer is so dazzled by their own images, they forget that they have to write a story. Okay--this is what I've done instead of going out into the dark Black Fridy.

Comment by Thaisa Frank on November 27, 2009 at 12:07pm

About new writers working in this field: I'd recommend collections of shot fiction: A DATE WITH SATAN by Stacey Richter, and some things by Kelly Link. Also--if you can live with a character who's detached for along time, I'd recommended
REMAINDER by Tom McCarthy.

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