I have been drawn to reading science fiction for as long as my memory is, and I’ve had the urge to write it for just as long. My very first stories, penciled onto the fronts and backs of the big gray handwriting line paper during recess, told twisted tales of little girls waking up as Barbie dolls on Christmas, and aliens who were secretly disguised as parents and teachers (with obvious influences from authors such as Bruce Colville). To my childhood self, however, the stories that I read and wrote weren’t really fictional, nor did I know then that I was writing what I now know to be sci-fi. In fact, there was very little distinction between the fictive worlds that I read, and the possibility of the story being true, somewhere in the endless universe. In those innocent days, the notion of there being any difference between the world of imagination and the one of reality had to be taught, indoctrinated into me as a condition of my maturity and development into adulthood.
I’ll be honest with you here. Although I am now a mostly mature, mostly logical adult, I still have not been able to really clarify that distinction between what is fiction and what is reality, between what is imagination and what is not. In the dark cavern of my mind, my reality feeds my imagination, and vice versa. Reality and imagination are processed in the same area of my brain, mind, soul, or whatever combination therein that is responsible for this thing called consciousness.
As a reader, I still believe that the worlds created within the pages of the sci-fi stories are literally written into existence, and that these worlds and the characters populating them are as real as I am, as fully-functioning and self-sustaining as my own world. Such is the power of words in shaping perception and reality. If a scifi story is able to ensnare the reader’s imagination to the point that they can visualize, hear, even smell that world in their mind's eye, then that world is alive in my book (pun intended!). The world and characters do not die simply because I am not reading the book. They are always there when I pick the book back up, and will proceed to exist with or without me.
The same goes for the scifi that I write. I draw from very real life experiences in generating each idea for each story, from the same conscious living experiences that I have on a day-to-day basis. This process of drawing from experience has allowed me to create a feedback loop, where my imagination feeds into my reality for creative living, and my living feeds into my imagination for creative writing.
In honor and as an eternal reminder of this concept that there is only a thin, default separation between reality and imagination, I have had symbology and illustrations tattooed on me. I have, for instance, the cover of Octavia Butler's Mind of My Mind novel tattooed on my left arm. I identified with the main character, Mary, to the point of reflection, and as such, wanted to carry that reflection with me. This may seem, to some, to be a particularly extreme demonstration of a concept, but I find the concept of imagination as reality to be fairly commonplace in science. Science and technology, after all, have benefited from the imaginations of science fiction writers as much as the reverse. Many of the words and terms that we believe to have been fashioned in a laboratory, such as “zero gravity,” “ion drive,” and “robotics” were first used in science-fiction stories, and subsequently integrated into science jargon. Many of the world’s famous scientists, Newton and Einstein alike, have told stories of their work being inspired and informed by dreams and other long, thoughtful forays into the worlds existing in their very own heads.
As I devour the works of more and more Black sci-fi authors, I find that I may not be alone in my thinking that the the term science fiction is itself a fiction, a compromise for what could, perhaps, more properly be termed science-possibility, where science is used as a means of exploring possibility and potential. The works of Black sci-fi authors envision, and through their powerful vision, reflect, a more accurate rendering of the world, where Black people exist as potent agents on Earth and beyond, now and then and always. This is as opposed to the whitewashed world in traditional sci-fi that begins our timeline at slavery and ends it in the running now, dismissing our survival into a post-modern age. As I mentioned in my previous post, Black people using words as alchemy is an ancient art form, dressed to fit the times in more modern clothing. It is, in its present form, called sci-fi. We have always, though, and will always, shape our futures, manipulate our present, and re-examine our past through speech and language. Science fiction is simply one more tool in the arsenal to continue that powerful tradition.
I look forward to your comments! See the Intro entry or the end of this blog for more details on a chance to win a $10 Amazon.com giftcard and please hop around to the blogs of the other participating authors to view their thoughts on their favorite subgenre of sci-fi.
Participating Authors
Winston Blakely, Artist/Writer — is a Fine Arts/Comic Book artist, having a career spanning 20 years, whose achievements have included working for Valiant Comics and Rich Buckler’s Visage Studios. He is also the creator of Little Miss Strange, the world’s first black alien sorceress and the all-genre anthology entitled Immortal Fantasy. Both graphic albums are available at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and other online book store outlets. Visit him at : http://blakelyworks.blogspot.com or http://blakelyworkstudio.weebly.com.
L. M. Davis, Author — began her love affair with fantasy in the second grade. Her first novel, Interlopers: A Shifters Novel, was released in 2010, and the follow-up Posers: A Shifters Novel will be released this spring. For more information visit her blog http://shiftersseries.wordpress.com or her website www.shiftersnovelseries.com.
Milton Davis, Author — Milton Davis is owner/publisher of MVmedia, LLC . As an author he specializes in science fiction and fantasy and is the author of Meji Book One, Meji Book Two and Changa’s Safari. Visit him at: www.mvmediaatl.com/Wagadu and www.wagadu.ning.com.
Margaret Fieland, Author — lives and writes in the suburbs west of Boston, MA with her partner and five dogs. She is one of the Poetic Muselings. Their poetry anthology, Lifelines http://tinyurl.com/LifelinesPoetry is available from Amazon.com Her book, Relocated, will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in July, 2012. The Angry Little Boy will be published by 4RV publishing in early 2013. You may visit her website, http://www.margaretfieland.com.
Valjeanne Jeffers, Author — is an editor and the author of the SF/fantasy novels: Immortal, Immortal II: The Time of Legend and Immortal III: Stealer of Souls. Her fourth and fifth novels: Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds and The Switch: Clockwork will be released this spring. Visit her at: http://valjeanne.wordpress.com and http://qandvaffordableediting.blogspot.com.
Thaddeus Howze, Author — is a veteran of the Information Technology and Communications industry with over twenty-six years of experience. His expertise is in re-engineering IT environments using process-oriented management techniques. In English, that means he studies the needs of his clients and configures their offices to optimize the use of information technology in their environment. Visit him at: http://ebonstorm.wordpress.com or http://ebonstorm.weebly.com.
Alicia McCalla, Author — writes for both young adults and adults with her brand of multicultural science fiction, urban fantasy and futurism. Her debut novel, Breaking Free will be available February 1, 2012. The Breaking Free theme song created by Asante McCalla is available for immediate download on iTunes and Amazon. Visit her at: http://www.aliciamccalla.com.
Carole McDonnell, Author — writes Christian, speculative fiction, and multicultural stories. Her first novel is Wind Follower. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and have been collected in an ebook, Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction. Visit Carole: http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com or http://writersofcolorblogtour.blogspot.com.
Balogun Ojetade, Author— of the bestselling Afrikan Martial Arts: Discovering the Warrior Within (non-fiction), Moses: The Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Steampunk) and the feature film, A Single Link. Visit him at: http://chroniclesofharriet.wordpress.com.
Rasheedah Phillips, Author — is the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair in Philly. She plans to debut her first spec/sci-fic novel Recurrence Plot in Spring 2012. You may catch her ruminating from time to time on her blog, AstroMythoLosophy.com.
Nicole Sconiers, Author — is an author and screenwriter living in the sunny jungle of L.A. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and she recently published Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage. Visit her at: http://nicolesconiers.com and http://www.nicolesconiers.com/blog.
Jarvis Sheffield, M.Ed. — is owner and operator of TheDigitalBrothers.com, BlackScienceFictionSociety.com and BlackCommunityEntertainment.com. Visit him at: http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2stjwb1h216fd.
You have several chances to win a prize by commenting or promoting the discussion. You can also visit any of the blogs of the participating authors for an opportunity to win their particular giveaway. The first giveaway day will be Monday, February 6, 2012. For a chance to win my first giveaway prize, a $10 Amazon.com gift card, you can:
- Post a comment on my weekly discussion here at AstroMythoLosophy
- Tweet #blackscifi2012 #blackspecfic or #blackscifi with my twitter handle @AfrofuturAffair.
- Post comments on my Facebook page, The AfroFuturist Affair
- Reblog the weekly discussion from my Tumblr page
