Sneaking Up on Magical Realism

Dear Readers,

I’ve always loved stories within a specialized world. The author makes up rules about how his world works and plops fascinating characters into that world to sink or swim.

I first touched on the unseen wonder of life in The Queen of Sleepy Eye. The hero overhears a conversation–one-sided–between a new widow and her dead husband. This was a very small foray into magical realism, but I really liked it.

In Seeing Things (soon, like hopefully this week, to be released as a Kindle book), the hero’s hallucinations take on form and voice. In Birdie’s world her macular degeneration brings color and detail to her dark place. Nothing unusual there. But I asked myself, What if her hallucinations talked to her? Hallucinations aren’t supposed to do that, but what if they did? The results are both enlightening and troublesome.

Goodness & Mercy asks the question, What if God displayed his mercy and his goodness through children? This isn’t really magical realism unless you’re a hardcore concrete thinker. I happen to believe in miracles, so considering God’s work through a pair of twins came naturally, but to show how being extraordinary would effect the lives of the children and her family stretched me as a writer.

The novel I’m tweaking now, You Deserve Better, gives voice to regrets through antique telephones. Yep, if you hear a telephone ring in the Pierside Bait and Telephony, regret wants to talk to you. This is full-throttle magical realism, and I had a blast considering all the possibilities.

I’ll keep you updated on where You Deserve Better lands.

For now I’m playing with ideas for new worlds.

I hope to find a home in this genre for a long time.

Warmly,

Patti

Whoa! That was a long break.

Patti Hill is not dead.

Now that we’ve settled that misunderstanding, let’s move on, or maybe we should catch up.

A few months ago–maybe longer–I decided to step back from social media to actually finish my novel.

It’s done! Well, it’s as done as it is right now. I’m still tweaking. If an agent sees the story–I’m really not sure I want to go on that hunt–I’ll probably have to do more than tweak. By reputation, they slash and burn manuscripts. But they also sell them for real advances and the possibility of royalties. I’m checking my armor for holes before I proceed.

I’m nervous about how the new story will be received. Some of my readers will be aghast. There are implied sexual encounters and a few bad words, nothing graphic. My hero is living in a prison of regret, mostly of her own making. She is not a believer. But she discovers the wonder of a God who is near in the story. Perhaps my readers will forgive me, even enjoy the story, and recommend the book to others.

That’s what I’m hoping.

Warmly,

Patti