Otherworlds: Past and Future

When I first began to write, I knew I wanted to write fantasy, but I thought fantasy could only take place in a secondary world setting-somewhere other than the world we all inhabit. I learned that wasn't true as I continued to stretch and grow as a writer, and eventually found myself spending all of my time writing stories set in the here and now, with the fantasy element only stopping by for a visit.

I call what I write now "mythic fiction" - a term that my friend Terri Windling and I decided to use for our work, feeling that if our stories were going to be put in a genre (as fantasy usually is). it might as well be one we choose for ourselves.

This is what we mean by mythic fiction: stories that take place in more mainstream settings that use the material world of myths, folk tales, and folklore to illuminate their themes.

Charles DeLint
Waifs and Strays