In December 2020’s In Style magazine, writer, producer, and comedian Jordon Firstman said, life is “…all about finding the balance between letting change happen and pushing yourself to achieve major progress…” I agree, but how does one find the balance between taking charge and letting go, between pushing and allowing, between will and surrender? In…
Visionary writers are incredibly important to the publishing landscape. And yet, the “visionary” label of this broad set of writers can confuse unfamiliar readers or put off publishers afraid to take risks.
Visionary writers are incredibly important to the publishing landscape. And yet, the “visionary” label of this broad set of writers can confuse unfamiliar readers or put off publishers afraid to take risks.
Visionary Fiction entertains, which is, after all, the main purpose of fiction as a literary form. But visionary fiction goes one step further; it nourishes the mind. Not all visionary fiction, though, nourishes the mind in the same way. Some novels in this category are profound and literary, others deceptively simple and straightforward. Visionary novels…
The copious comments and suggestions that greeted my post, “Visionary Fiction for Readers” of December 2, 2018, shows that the suggested sea change of emphasis from authors to readers on the our website is both necessary and welcome at this point in our genre’s evolution. I apologize that I did not follow up with the…
Editor’s note: We are re-posting an article originally published in 2014, one worth repeating in that it encourages visionary fiction readers and writers to take heart. Good works of visionary fiction can—and do—become word-of-mouth hits. ***************** What if I were to tell you that one of the best selling books in history is visionary fiction? Say what? Yep, The…
From the first posts on VisionaryFictionAlliance.com in August 2012 until the present, emphasis has been on defining Visionary Fiction and exploring the art and craft of writing it. In the beginning, we were not sure what content rightly belonged in the genre and what writers were actually or potentially producing genuine Visionary Fiction.
Some months back, John Van de Kamp, a relative of one of our founding members, Margaret Duarte, asked her if she had ever heard of theosophy, suggesting rather grandly, “I believe this concept may be the basis of visionary fiction.” A group of us discussed the idea and concluded that the topic might make for…
In Part One of my Q&A with writer, soul-community creator, poet, spiritual field guide, and deep soul explorer, Janet Conner, we discussed the techniques she outlined in her book Writing Down Your Soul, including the four steps to activating the Voice within. In Part Two, Janet Conner shares the primary guides that helped her find…
What makes writers happy, besides working on their craft, of course, is connecting with other writers to delve into the unknown and explore one another’s minds for fresh ideas. Add to that a team of experts and inspirational speakers and you kick up the happiness factor a notch or two. You can imagine my reaction…
It seems with each post I write in the Build Your Own Author Website series, the road parts like Robert Frost’s two roads diverging in a yellow wood. And, believe me, when it comes to the selecting the theme for your author website, the road you choose will make all the difference. There are many excellent author themes…
Changing the WordPress theme once you’ve invested valuable time and energy into building and customizing your author website is not advisable. I know because, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I learn things the hard way. When I set up my original author website, I used the Twenty-Eleven WordPress default theme, only to discover later that there were…
When you hear the word “domain,” you likely think of something you own or master like an estate or territory. In most cases, your domain amounts to your home, to which you attach a name and address so that people can locate you. When it comes to your website, you, too, need to claim ownership…
While reading an article by Kathleen McCleary titled “5 Ways To Get Luckier,” it hit me that the very same strategies she listed for shaping the good fortune in your life could also be used to shape your success as a writer. Take, for instance, McCleary’s first way to open yourself to good luck and…
Let’s suppose, as projected in Part 1 of this series, “The Bucket,” that Visionary Fiction has become as prominent a genre label as Science Fiction or Mystery. Now let’s consider the ingredients writers must put into a work to have it qualify for the Visionary Fiction bucket and what experiences or benefits readers can expect in a work pulled out of that bucket.
Genre is a subjective marketing category that often misleads rather than informs. Some books defy classification, especially books by Dean Koontz. How do you pin down stories that fit at least a dozen marketing labels, including: Action, Adventure, Crime, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Philosophical, Science Fiction, Speculative, Thriller, Urban, and, yes, Visionary Fiction? No one could…
Dean Koontz prefers to avoid genre labels. By his own admission, he writes “cross-genre novels in a mainstream style, with elements of comedy and social commentary and philosophical speculation.” That said, I hold firm to my conviction that much of Dean Koontz’s work contains elements of visionary fiction as detailed in the Wikipedia article written by our…
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…
Exciting news for all Visionary Fiction authors, readers and lurkers:
As of August 2014 a entry entitled “Visionary fiction” has been published on Wikipedia at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visionary_fiction
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…
It came to mind that a backdoor approach to the key question—What is Visionary Fiction?—might yield valuable insight into this genre’s elusive definition. So let’s take a look, for a lark, at what is not visionary fiction.
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…
By Eleni Papanou March 3, 2014 “When I was twelve, I read the line, ‘An unexamined life is not worth living.’ I took it seriously to heart. And literally. Like it was a requirement in life, akin to the Buddha’s suggestion that we maintain ‘sufficiently inquiring minds.’” Harold Ramis interview in Shambhala Sun When Harold…
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…