Patricia Wrede’s Out of Context (Overheard at 4th Street 2011) is a hilarious — and occasionally thought-provoking — read for writers and anyone into sci-fi and fantasy.
Some of my favs:
Genre books are built around secrets.
The author borrows the reader’s brain; if he leaves potato chips ground into the carpet, we have a right to be upset.
I don’t write fiction. I’m not that brave.
Sometimes you just have to line your characters up against a wall and ask, OK, which one of you guys is screwing things up?
Humans use magic; monsters are magic.
I mean, think about it! Genre books are built around secrets. They’re a niche. They’re built around a shared secret code, that unspoken but essential set of characters, environments, events and ambiance that the reader expects when they pick up that genre.
That will inspire me for the rest of the afternoon!
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