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" It's hard out here for a fantasy writer, after all; there's all these 'rules' I'm supposed to follow, or the Fantasy Police might come and make me do hard labor in the Cold Iron Mines. "
N. K. Jemisin
Rules
Cold
Fantasy
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" Magic is the mysteries into which not everyone is so lucky, or unlucky, as to be initiated. It can be affected by belief, the whims of the unseen, harsh language. And it is not. Supposed. To make. Sense. In fact, I think it's coolest when it doesn't. "
N. K. Jemisin
Belief
Think
Magic
" It's the way the human brain works: when enough events occur in a pattern, we stop thinking and go into macro mode. "
N. K. Jemisin
Thinking
Events
Enough
" Reconciliation is a part of the healing process, but how can there be healing when the wounds are still being inflicted? "
N. K. Jemisin
Healing
Wounds
Reconciliation
" Within the sphere of steampunk, there seems to be a rapidly growing subsphere of gadgetless 'neo-Victorian' novels, most of which attempt to recapture the romance of the era without all the sociopolitical ugliness. "
N. K. Jemisin
Most
Growing
Without
" Readers seem to really like the fact that what I'm writing is not traditional fantasy. "
N. K. Jemisin
Fact
Seem
Like
" I tend to like writing characters that are not typical heroes. "
N. K. Jemisin
Like
Heroes
Characters
" I think the people who believe that works can and always should be divorced from the context are people who have the privilege to do so. "
N. K. Jemisin
People
Think
Who
" Any writer kind of who knows what they're doing goes forth and grabs a copy of an issue of something that they want to be published in, or they skim it online. They read what that market has been doing. They see a particular flavor of fiction. "
N. K. Jemisin
See
Flavor
Doing
" I don't really understand why so many fantasy writers choose to focus on worlds that just seem strangely denuded. But to them, I guess it doesn't seem strange. And I guess that's their privilege. It isn't mine. "
N. K. Jemisin
Strange
Choose
Focus
" To some degree, as I move outside of the exclusive genre audience, the exclusive genre issues don't bother me as much. Maybe that's just speculation. "
N. K. Jemisin
Me
Audience
Move
" I write for myself - but it is nice when other people like it, too! "
N. K. Jemisin
Write
People
Other
" All people who grew up with science fiction and fantasy and horror went through the whole acculturation process of the genre. We were all told to read the golden age writers. We were all told Heinlein and Asimov and all these straight, white males, although some of them were Jewish. "
N. K. Jemisin
Horror
Age
Science
" In the 'Dreamblood' books, I'm focusing more on what I like about epic fantasy: the layering and depth of tension; the chance to really delve into the minutia of an alternate society and its politics; a large cast of characters to love and hate. "
N. K. Jemisin
Love
Hate
Chance
" When I start a new novel, I often write 'test chapters' in different tenses and from different points of view in order to figure out which is best to tell the tale. "
N. K. Jemisin
Tell
View
Best
" There's a thriving field of self-published stuff in, particularly, black fiction. I don't know that other groups of people of color have that same recourse. "
N. K. Jemisin
Black
Same
People
" Actual Victorian mores and politics were a reaction to a specific series of historical events, technological and scientific developments, and ethical trends in which the commodification of people was de rigueur. "
N. K. Jemisin
Technological
People
Events
" As a black woman, I have no particular interest in maintaining the status quo. Why would I? The status quo is harmful; the status quo is significantly racist and sexist and a whole bunch of other things that I think need to change. "
N. K. Jemisin
Woman
Need
Black
" If you can imagine something, it will be. "
N. K. Jemisin
You
Will
Imagine
" I read a lot of history for fun. "
N. K. Jemisin
Fun
Read
History
" My first series, the 'Inheritance' trilogy, in the first book, you were dealing with a woman of color from an impoverished culture, being brought up among wealthy, privileged white people and having to cope and perform in ways that she has not been raised to do, and that was obviously drawn from some personal experiences. "
N. K. Jemisin
Culture
You
Woman
" It's human nature that we come in our own flavours, and it doesn't make any sense to write a monochromatic or monocultural story unless you're doing something extremely small - a locked room-style story. "
N. K. Jemisin
You
Story
Small
" Fantasy is fantasy. It's fiction. It's not meant to be a textbook. I don't believe in letting research overwhelm the fiction. That's a danger of science fiction in particular, as opposed to fantasy. A lot of writers forget that what they're doing is supposed to be art. "
N. K. Jemisin
Research
Art
Believe
" I've always believed that as an artist, as a writer, you need a lot of contact with other people to make your art good. "
N. K. Jemisin
You
Need
People
" This is magic we're talking about. It's supposed to go places science can't, defy logic, wink at technology, fill us all with the sensawunda that comes of gazing upon a fictional world and seeing something truly different from our own. "
N. K. Jemisin
Logic
Magic
World
" I would love to just write and not have everything I say or do turn into a political battle. "
N. K. Jemisin
Battle
Turn
Just
" With epic fantasy, there is a tendency for it to be quintessentially conservative in that its job is to restore what is perceived to be out of whack. "
N. K. Jemisin
Fantasy
Conservative
Out
" A fantasy novel set in something other than medieval Europe, featuring an almost entirely black cast, is considered risky. "
N. K. Jemisin
Almost
Black
Fantasy
" There's a tendency in American thought - maybe elsewhere, but that's the culture I know best - to default to social Darwinism, even though even Darwin noted that's a misapplication of his ideas. "
N. K. Jemisin
Ideas
American
Culture
" I've been very happy with Orbit and am thrilled that they're giving me more chances to explore my creative visions. "
N. K. Jemisin
Me
Creative
Explore
" I am a linear thinker in a lot of ways. "
N. K. Jemisin
Ways
Am
I Am