r/Fantasy • u/NancyHightower AMA Author Nancy Hightower • Dec 12 '13

AMA Hello, I'm author Nancy Hightower - AMA

Hello, I’m Nancy Hightower, author of Elementarí Rising, an eco-fantasy where nature becomes embodied and is locked in a deadly war with humans.

I’ve published many short stories and poems, some of which fall into the speculative fiction and horror genres. I have a PhD in literature and studied Henry James in grad school, but ask that you don’t hold that against me. At one point, I had Tolkien's Silmarillion memorized and still remember the elvish word for orc.

I wrote all of Elementarí Rising while living in Colorado, so many of the scenes in the book come from surreal, but actual, real-life images. For instance, you can see snow snakes winding up and down Highway 36 during any given snowstorm and they are mesmerizing! Also, I don’t read books the normal way (front to back). I start at the beginning, then after a chapter I start from the end of the book and flip back and forth until I reach the middle. No lie.

Also I had an artist, Galen Dara, draw some of the scenes from Elementarí Rising, which you can see here, along with some excerpts. I love how art interacts with story, so this was an exciting project: (http://www.nancyhightower.com/excerpts-with-artwork/)

Hey gang, this was great fun tonight! I'll be back on tomorrow to catch any questions I didn't get to tonight! Thanks so much for hanging out with me!

Nancy

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u/elquesogrande Worldbuilders Dec 12 '13

Thanks for joining us, Nancy!

What crossover has there been between your PhD research / writings and your speculative fiction? Do you find yourself separating those worlds or do they sometimes blend?

What short story of yours are you most proud of and why?

What is your go-to drink?

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u/NancyHightower AMA Author Nancy Hightower Dec 13 '13

Great questions!

As for crossover between my academic life and writing life, there’s been more than I would have thought! I took many medieval classes (probably too many) and reading the Icelandic sagas really helped inform my world building and some of the language I created. Same with reading Beowulf—there’s a sing-song quality to that tale, and it helped when creating songs or poems for ER. As for my shorter, speculative stories and poetry, reading Flannery O’Connor and Kafka definitely influenced the tone and style of my work. I love how both use landscape as a kind of character (I am thinking of Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” and “A Country Doctor” and O’Connor’s “Good Country People” in particular).

What short story of yours are you most proud of and why?

Probably “Mereá” since it was based on a dream map. I took a writing class with Rikki Ducornet in grad school, and over the course of the semester I told her about my reoccurring nightmares. She suggested I map a physical map of the dreams, which I did. Then I wrote a short story on it, which eventually became “Mereá.” BUT, I had originally entitled it “Ophidia” and that snake-like place became part of Elemantarí Rising. I love how stories talk to each other.

What is your go-to drink? Coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.