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8.
AOTW: There's an existing stereotype of fantasy writers and readers that depicts them as a bit "off the bubble" --- people who play video games and Dungeons and Dragons all day long. Is there any truth to that? What one stereotype about fantasy writers is absolutely false? What one stereotype is right on?
Carol Hughes: Stereotyping always makes my blood boil. It is so lazy. I don't doubt that some fantasy writers are complete nerds who would happily spend all day in Forbidden Planet or online at Cthullu.com, but I am equally sure that there are others who spend their time reading Proust or hunting down little known facts about Wagner in the Bodleian library, and I know from experience there are yet others who divide their time between writing and ferrying kids to and from school. There are a lot of different styles of fantasy writing and there are a lot of different lives being lived behind those styles.
Nancy Farmer: Of course fantasy writers are nuts. Otherwise they would be working as bank tellers. Whoever gave insanity a bad name?
Nancy Springer: "Half a bubble off plumb," you mean? Probably --- but then, I don't think anyone can be a fiction writer --- of any sort of fiction --- unless they're a bit neurotic. Perfectly happy, well adjusted people don't feel the need to write stories. In my experience, fantasy writers are too busy with paperwork to play D&D or videogames. And if the readers were role-playing all day long, when would they find time to read, or earn money to buy the books? I'm not particularly aware of any stereotypes about fantasy writers, because I don't think the world at large considers us important enough to bother stereotyping us!
Meredith Ann Pierce: Every genre and endeavor has its fringe element. I've seen creepy fantasy fans, creepy Trekkies, creepy gamers. But then I've also seen creepy hobbyists of every sort: amateur genealogists, doll collectors, and Civil War re-enactors. I've also seen a lot of people who do all those things (including enjoying fantasy) who were perfectly normal, sociable, well-adjusted, competent people. Stereotypes tend to be uncomplimentary, dismissive and belittling. I try not to buy into them. On the other hand, I do think that most fantasy enthusiasts are creative and intelligent. It's sort of a prerequisite. If you're not creative, you won't enjoy all the imaginative settings, events, and dialogue to be found in works of fantasy, and if you're not intelligent, you'll never be able to keep up with the often intricate storylines.
Patrice Kindl: Well, my readers tend to be 11-year-old girls who enjoy: playing soccer/riding horses/taking care of pets/trying to ditch their homework assignment by getting the author to do it for them. And reading. Most of them like to read. I don't think that's so weird. I also get adults who have discovered that YA and mid-grade fantasy can be just what they're looking for in a good read. I can't tell you about any odd habits they may have (though I did once get a grandmother of 13 who wanted me to write out something that looked remarkably like a spell. I obliged). I do get boys, too, but they are likewise unforthcoming about their other activities.
Speaking for myself, I absolutely never play video games or Dungeons and Dragons. I am fond of animals, fixing up an old house, cooking (and eating). And reading. Especially reading.
I don't think I can speak for other fantasy authors because I don't know any well enough.
Sherwood Smith: I don't know; I find games so boring that I tend not be in social situations where gamers gather and talk. (I also find a great deal of SF and F boring to read, so I can't characterize those authors.) I guess the obvious 'stereotype' that is 'right on' is that we all write!
Mark L. Williams: The absolutely false one is that they're (we're) all nerdy. We come in all stripes and all levels of social skills! As for the right on stereotype? Hmm... that we're defensive about being perceived as nerdy?
Tamora Pierce: I'm the wrong one to ask. Video games give me migraines, and by the time I was around enough people to see what a D&D game was like, I was horrified by the constrictions placed on the characters. It's much more fun to make it up myself.
I don't wear cloaks, skirts *or* gowns, cultivate my hair in tumbles of curls, or carry staffs, though I am rather partial to unusual jewelry and dragon tchotchkes. My friends among fantasy writers all tend to be down-to-earth people, too, which I guess goes against stereotype. In fact, I can't think of any stereotype I could apply to any group of fantasy writers, because once you get that third person into a group of two who fit a stereotype, any similarity between all three vanishes. There are people who claim to see commonalities, but then, there are people who insist on separating cats out by breed. I envy them their simplicity, but I'll never share it.
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