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Contemporary Fantasy Writer’s Group
Hi my name is Jayrod,
Currently I am interested in a group that wants to write contemporary fantasy. To differentiate Urban Fantasy tends to have the magic as being hidden in the world and is based in our world. As contemporary has been defined to me it doesn’t have to hide the magic and it is typically based on a world other than earth that is in its own modern day. I think there is enough out there of medieval fantasy and I’d be very interested in a group of writers writing in a modern or possibly futuristic era with their fantasy. What does it look like when guns and magic are in the same world together?
To that end I’m working on my first novel “Breaker of War.” It is based around a young man who lives in the tundra of the north who must unite tribes that have been at war for generations to unite against an imperial threat that wants to destroy them all. He grows up from being about 8 years old in the novel to about 18 and goes from being a child to the War Chief within his own tribe. It is a coming of age story that is certainly YA, and I have no intentions of it being “clean.” No sex, but folks will cuss. And obviously war means violence.
If anyone is interested in writing in this vein, or is interested in working with someone writing in this vein, please hit me up.Cheers!
Jayrod -
7 Replies
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Let me see if I got this right – If I’m creating our world where magic has been introduced since Adam and Eve and is now part of everyday society, but a certain part of that magic is being hidden from society would you call that Urban or Contemporary?
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My understanding is that contemporary fantasy can be similar to urban fantasy, it’s just not in an urban setting. Also, urban fantasy has a few other conventions that contemporary doesn’t–it’s sort of a catchall for a fantasy that’s in our world that isn’t an urban fantasy.
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Ditto
Looking For Group (LFG).
Modern fantasy. Novels and shorts.
Understands that art isn’t safe. -
You say “contemporary” but your story description seems alt-history.
Is this in Canada? Or on an earth with completely different nations?
My novel takes place in Atlanta, GA in the near-present.
Not sure if I’ll be able to help.
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Responding to folks here: Sarah, that could go a lot of different ways. Someone might say that’s alternate history. Others might still say that’s urban. But it really sounds like you are similar to me where you are trying to find a place for your story. I’d be happy to talk with you and figure out if we would work well together. =D
Bonnie, you could be right. I didn’t know contemporary fantasy really existed until last year. And I often don’t see it being used as anything else than a catch all for stuff that doesn’t fit into other ideas in Fantasy when I google the term. In fact I might say that they are synonymous to some folks.
Lazarus, Modern Fantasy is what I used to think my writing was at one point or at least that is what I called it a few years ago. I’d be happy to talk with your about your work and see if that would be a good fit for us too!
You mention that it sounds like I’m doing alt-history. I’m not. I make the geography familiar because of the science behind how worlds function as far as I know, but I’m not writing in Alaska or Canada. Familiarity is still important even working in a secondary world. It helps to ground folks. That’s what I’m hoping to do with making thing familiar.
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I’m also looking for a group for accountability and critiques. What I’m writing varies but the novel in progress may be a type of urban/contemporary fantasy. It’s set initially in a software company that is connected to a magically manufacturered world. Both worlds are used as settings as they are threatened by the same magically-derived quantum problem. Warning: I pantsed the whole thing so far (114,000 words) because I spent too much of my life writing to the strictures of tv episodes and thought this would be fun. It has been fun and its a light, amusing novel hopefully but it also a tad ungainly. For the type of novel it is, I should be sending in only maybe max 100,000 words but it looks like rough draft will be at 130,000 now.
How would a writers circle work here? Do we do our own zoom meetings once a week or so? Email stories or pieces of? I’ve never really even been in a writing group, so I don’t know how it’s organized. But it would be great to get feedback. -
Lazarus – funny, that is what I’m writing right now too – UF set in Atlanta.
Though I suppose it would be contemporary by those definitions.
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