Mindful Monday - My Fantasy Beginnings

This was written (mostly) more than two months ago...

My interest in writing lies mostly in fantasy, and last night as I attempted to drift towards dreamland (it was a very slow journey) I thought about where I got my beginnings with fantasy. 

As a child often left to my own imaginative play, I was always in another world (or another form-think lion or princess), I didn't know I could share my friends :)

Now of course there were the Disney princesses and fairytales that everyone hears, but I mean my own personal interest in fantasy that was chosen by me, not forced by common lore. There are two works that stand out for me as earliest (literary) fantasy choices: Winter of Fire by Sheryl Jordan and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I don't know which one was first, but they are at a similar point in my memory-somewhere around the 4th grade. Somewhere around the 6th grade I sat outside next to the big oak tree out front and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.I only ever made it through 4 of those (oh the shame! I'm an embarrassment to my generation!).  I don't really recall reading anything else that I would qualify as fantasy, but my memory from those years is a bit difficult to access, so there might have been more. 

Throughout high school my literary interests turned towards thrillers, especially those written by Dean Koontz. Interspersed with my required school readings and teenage interests that might not have been quite so literary, I don't recall indulging in fantasy then, either.

At some point in time, I believe it was just after I graduated, I was finally able to get my hands on and finish the two books that followed The Golden Compass. 

My real, lasting interest became formed most fully when I read A Game of Thrones. I was already living my adult life, away from home and the small-town-mindedness that had previously surrounded me my entire life. I have, since then, been an avid consumer and lover of fantasy. That is also when characters began slipping through hallways in my mind and I began to put them onto paper (or screen).

I still enjoy general fiction, but there is something so exciting about exploring other worlds!

I ought to add that my husband had a great influence on this interest as well, although this post is more about the literary influences. He read these fantasy works alongside me (in fact I think he is the one that brought them home), as well as several series that I have not yet begun. He's also always been a gamer, and there is a ton of fantasy knowledge and lore that comes along with that. He has always encouraged my interest and supported the ideas I throw his way. My interest in fantasy owes him as much credit as it does to the works which influence me. 

So what have I read recently that I consider fantasy?
The Madness Project by J. Leigh Bralick (also check out The Lost Road Chronicles)
Dragonhold by Brian Rathbone (also check out the rest of the Godsland series, here is the first)
Double LIfe by S. Usher Evans--Sci-fi/Fantasy (Book two, Alliances, out in 8 days!)

And what's next on the TBR list that's fantasy?
Crown of Stones: Magic Price  by C. L. Schneider


Of course there are loads more on the lists, but this is a good place to start :)

Julia