Visionary fiction is not metaphysical fiction. Visionary fiction is not magical realism. Visionary fiction is not religious fiction or sci-fi or fantasy. What will it take for traditional publishers to make room on the shelf for fiction that “speaks the language of the soul and offers a vision of humanity as we dream it could…
What if I were to tell you that one of the best selling books in history is visionary fiction? Say what? Yep, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, one of the most widely read books in the world, is visionary fiction. And its rise from a flop in 1988 (with sales so dismal that the book was dropped…
Before I became a serious writer, my powers of observation made me about as Sherlock Holmes-like as an open secret or plastic glasses. In other words, I was a perfect antonym for the famous detective, who took such pains to notice subtle cues and details in the people and situations around him. I didn’t need blinders. Mine were built…
The statement below was written by a practitioner of painted visionary works, yet I was struck by how it synced with our definition of visionary fiction at Visionary Fiction Alliance and how it applies to other visionary art forms as well. Art of the Visionary attempts to show what lies beyond the boundary of our…
If you’ve followed recent posts at VFA, you’re aware of the ongoing discussion about what distinguishes visionary fiction from other genres listed under the umbrella of speculative fiction, including sci-fi and metaphysical. Although our internal deliberations and debates have led to some interesting revelations and “ah ha” moments, I figured it was time to invite in an outside source to shine fresh light…
Same Umbrella, Different Factions Violence aside, I would gladly welcome the dystopian sci-fi novel Divergent into our “faction” here at Visionary Fiction Alliance. Veronica Roth deserves her New York Times Bestselling Author status. She deserves her book’s 13,561 Amazon reviews (9,733 of which are five stars). She deserves her book sales of over eleven million. All these…
When it comes to promoting visionary fiction, I sometimes feel like Don Quixote, cherishing magical hopes and taking on missions I’m not equipped to handle. I begin to wonder if I’m no more than a delusional dreamer, fighting windmills and sheep. Then, as so often happens in life, along comes a reminder that being idealistic…
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what about ugliness? How do we define ugly? What repulses us? And why? In his latest novel, INNOCENCE, Dean Koontz shows us ugly. Little by little, step by step, he immerses us in ugly; until we are in ugly’s head. And then he holds up a…
Too smart for ageless wisdom teachings? We don’t need wisdom teachings from the past to guide us on our journeys toward self-discovery, right? We have science. We have technological gadgets galore. We are so full of confidence, determination and eagerness to push forward that we hardly even read the instructions that come with our purchases and assignments anymore. As my granddaughter says when…
I didn’t choose to write visionary fiction; it chose me. This may sound strange to you and what I’m about to share even stranger, but I can think of no better way to explain how I ended up writing in a genre that parallels the new neural sciences and has yet to find a receptive audience. A word from…
I write visionary fiction. Unfortunately, mainstream agents and publishers do not recognize visionary fiction as a genre. In fact, they have dubbed it “the kiss of death” with the flat of their swords. In the past, visionary fiction was heavy on preaching and light on storytelling, so it deserved temporary banishment to the time-out corner. But…
By Margaret Duarte For part one of the article, click here. Hal Zina Bennett points to ebooks as a significant piece of the puzzle when it comes to proving to the mainstream that visionary fiction has something valuable to offer. “Maybe successful visionary fiction is a little like the legendary Hindu rope trick,” Bennett says, “where the fakir throws…
By Margaret Duarte The genre of visionary fiction leaves many people puzzled, even the experts. Take Hal Zina Bennett, author of more than thirty books, including: Write from the Heart, Writing Spiritual Books, Follow Your Bliss, and Spirit Circle, his own contribution to visionary fiction. When I asked Hal to define visionary fiction, he said,…
Editor’s Note: This post appears courtesy Margaret Duarte’s site (slightly edited). By Margaret Duarte I’ve been blogging for over two years now , and lately I’ve been doing some serious soul-searching about the value of working so hard. Then today (16 October), I received an email from Dean Koontz concerning the post I wrote about him…
By Margaret Duarte Dean Koontz is generally categorized as a writer of horror, and I’m not a fan of horror, so I’m not sure what possessed me to read one of his novels. Maybe someone gave it to me. Maybe I picked it up in a bargain bin somewhere. What I do remember is that the…
Margaret Duarte Before I explain what Visionary Fiction is, let me position it on a chart that shows the basic types of literature and genres. As you can see, rather than being a genre of its own, Visionary Fiction is a subgenre of Speculative Fiction, which makes it hard to categorize, and, although VF has…