Margaret Duarte

Sliding Door Moments
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Sliding Door Moments

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…

Nourish the Mind with Visionary Fiction
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Nourish the Mind with Visionary Fiction

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…

Visionary Flop to Best Seller

Visionary Flop to Best Seller

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…

Soul Writing with Janet Conner, Part Two
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Soul Writing with Janet Conner, Part Two

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…

Build Your Own Author Website – Step 10: Book-Snapper Author Theme
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Build Your Own Author Website – Step 10: Book-Snapper Author Theme

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…

Build Your Author Website – Step 9: Your WordPress Theme
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Build Your Author Website – Step 9: Your WordPress Theme

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…

Visionary Fiction Part Two: What Goes into the Bucket?
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Visionary Fiction Part Two: What Goes into the Bucket?

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.

Interview with Dean Koontz: “Metaphysics are the ink in my pen.”
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Interview with Dean Koontz: “Metaphysics are the ink in my pen.”

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: That guy with “horror” tattooed on his forehead.
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Dean Koontz: That guy with “horror” tattooed on his forehead.

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…

Synchronicity, Meaningful Coincidences
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Synchronicity, Meaningful Coincidences

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…

Visionary Fiction Through The Lens of Perception
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Visionary Fiction Through The Lens of Perception

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…

Divergent by Veronica Roth – A Visionary Fiction Alliance Book Review by Margaret Duarte

Divergent by Veronica Roth – A Visionary Fiction Alliance Book Review by Margaret Duarte

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…

Harold Ramis: A Comedic Visionary Crosses Over

Harold Ramis: A Comedic Visionary Crosses Over

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…

Promoting Visionary Fiction, A Quixotic Quest?

Promoting Visionary Fiction, A Quixotic Quest?

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…

Innocence by Dean Koontz – A Visionary Fiction Alliance Book Review by Margaret Duarte

Innocence by Dean Koontz – A Visionary Fiction Alliance Book Review by Margaret Duarte

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…