{"id":1823,"date":"2010-10-13T09:10:29","date_gmt":"2010-10-12T20:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=1823"},"modified":"2010-10-13T09:46:21","modified_gmt":"2010-10-12T20:46:21","slug":"the-heir-of-night-guest-author-series-kim-falconer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2010\/10\/13\/the-heir-of-night-guest-author-series-kim-falconer\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Heir of Night” Guest Author Series: Kim Falconer"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am delighted to welcome Kim Falconer<\/strong> today, as my fourth guest in the F-SF Author Series<\/strong><\/a>. I have been aware of Kim’s work for some time, but as with many of the other guest authors, only had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the recent Worldcon<\/strong> in Melbourne. And although it may be argued that the most important way to know an author is through her or his work, it is always very nice to be able to put a face and a personality to fine writing!\u00a0 So please welcome Kim Falconer, posting on: “Why FSF rocks [her] world.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>F-SF Guest Series Post: Kim Falconer<\/h2>\n

Congratulations, Helen, on the release of The Heir of Night<\/em> and thank you for inviting me to ” … on Anything, Really<\/em>!” I\u2019m delighted to be here.<\/p>\n

Speculative fiction is my first, then and finally love and like all true lovers, it takes me places I\u2019ve never been before. While fiction and nonfiction are busy trying to convince me of what was<\/em> and what is<\/em> and what should be<\/em>, Spec Fic is quietly asking what if<\/em>? Some say that\u2019s a cheap way to travel, entertaining and fun, but it\u2019s more than that. So much more!<\/p>\n

There is a wonderful Zen teaching that says: The Great Way is gateless, approached by a thousand paths. Pass through this barrier, you walk freely in the universe<\/em>. When it comes to storytelling, speculative fiction is the Great Way\u2014it opens the mind. This function of Spec Fic isn\u2019t new, or given only to the spiritual-weird-off beat subgenres. It\u2019s found in every good Spec Fic story\u2014no exceptions\u2014and has since the beginning of time.<\/p>\n

From the early development of our species, the shamans told stories about animals and the supernatural places they went when they died. It was our way to express and commune with the unknown and we still need that connection, now more than ever. As an explanation of the universe, science has failed. It\u2019s too inconsistent and ever changing to be a reliable guide. After making all kinds of discoveries over the last two hundred years, we find out now that most of science fact isn\u2019t \u2018real\u2019 after all. We aren\u2019t living in Newton\u2019s world anymore. According to new discoveries in quantum physics, what we call \u2018real\u2019 is so crazy even the physicists are shaking their heads.<\/p>\n

Time flows forward and backward, DNA communicates in superposition, ninety percent of the universe is unknown and \u2018reality\u2019 may be an elaborate holographic projection. These notions are not science fiction. They\u2019re current discoveries and theories. The foundation of our world view is changing so fast we are often as unsure about \u2018reality\u2019 as we were back in the cave people days. In such a state, we need stories that ask what if<\/em> to guide us, to help us prepare for the future and to open our minds.<\/p>\n

Spec Fic has a powerful effect on how we perceive the world because it turns out the brains can\u2019t tell the difference between imagination and \u2018reality.\u2019 If we are emotionally engaged with a story\u2014not aware of reading it but actually immersed to the degree we see the story unfold through the characters\u2019 eyes, become frightened when they are in danger and uplifted when they are safe, tantalised when they fall in love\u2014it is the same, to our brains, as if those events were really happening.<\/p>\n

This is the true magic of speculative fiction. It takes us to a place where the what if<\/em> becomes real. By going there in the mind, we experience it in the body. New neural pathways form, conduits of the Great Way<\/em>. From that point onward, a different perspective becomes possible because we have, for a time, lived it.<\/p>\n

If any story can change the way we think, it\u2019s Spec Fic. Enough to rock anybody\u2019s world, wouldn\u2019t you say?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>About Kim:<\/h3>\n

Kim Falconer<\/strong><\/a> is a HarperVoyager author writing epic science fantasy, stories about real people in extraordinary situations\u2014nano-tecnology, witchcraft, quantum computers, fast horses, hot bards, stunning tattoos and environments on the brink of destruction. Her novels always begin with a grain of truth. Kim\u2019s latest series is Quantum Encryption<\/strong><\/a>. Book #1 is out now, Path of the Stray<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Currently she\u2019s working on Books #2 & #3. There is a sneak preview of Road to the Soul<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, out February 2011 and her most recent short story, Wolf Being<\/strong><\/em>, appears in Spectra Magazine<\/strong><\/a>, Sept 2010. You can find her on kim.falconer.com<\/strong><\/a>, FaceBook, and Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am delighted to welcome Kim Falconer today, as my fourth guest in the F-SF Author Series. I have been aware of Kim’s work for some time, but as with many of the other guest authors, only had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the recent Worldcon in Melbourne. And although it may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fsf-guest-author-series","category-other-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1823"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1855,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions\/1855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}