What Started You on Speculative Fiction?

My mother read to me every night when I was a child.  She had an old, wooden rocking chair that had been her mother's by my bed.  It had a blue and white striped cushion tied to the seat.  She'd tuck me in and I'd lay there and listen as she read. 

More often or not she'd read me from a book of fairy tales.  I do not remember which book it was, but I know they were not the Disney version.  In these tales, the little mermaid killed herself, the prince in Rapunzel went blind, Bluebeard had murdered his wives and kept their severed limbs in a tower room, and Snow White was choked, poisoned, suffocated and stabbed.  I remember the illustrations were just as enthusiastic about depicting violence as the prose was.

I was the only child until I was four, at which point my younger sister was born.  A year later, my brother arrived.  But, with these age differences, I still ended up playing by myself.  What eight year old wants to play with a four and three year old?  Not this one at any rate.  I'd make up my own worlds in the backyard and go on adventures.  More often than not, the tree house was my house in the woods, and the vegetable garden was my magical herb garden wich which I'd make my potions and spells.

I found myself gravitating to cartoons that had swords in them.  Specifically She-ra.  I was a bg She-ra fan.  I had the costume, the bedsheets, the sleeping bag, the toys. . .  I'd tie my brother and sister up to the tree house with my skipping rope so I could have a monopoly over the television when She-ra was on.  I'd get away with it until my mom looked out the kitchen window and saw my siblings wailing in the back.  Needless to say, skipping ropes were banned from my house after a few occurrences.

As I got older, and my mom allowed me to walk down the street to the library by myself, instead of playing so much, I started reading.  I started with fairy tale fiction.  Then I got on a rather large kick on Arthurian legend when I was about ten.  That brought me to the outskirts of fantasy. 

From Arthur I moved on to Robin Hood and with Robin Hood, I discovered the author Robin McKinley.  It was her novel, The Outlaws of Sherwood that became my bridge.  I loved it.  It had everything this little girl wanted.  Swords, bows and arrows, an underdog hero, and evil, greedy villain, and a Maid Marion that was just as good with weapons as her male counterparts.  That last bit was the kicker.  I could be the hero too!  Girls didn't just have to sit on the sidelines while the boys did all the work.  I could have glory!  That book opened my eyes and affected me like no other book has. 

I decided to read the other books Robin McKinley had written.  I remember I had to order The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown through the inter-library loan service.  I waited two weeks for them to arrive at my neighbourhood library.  I remember I raced out the door after only seconds of receiving the phone call that informed me they were ready for me to pick up.  I brought them home, took them to my treehouse with a glass of juice and some pilfered cookies, and set to reading.

I was hooked.

Fantasy was now what I wanted to read.  In fact, it was all I read.  I read book, after book, after book.  I started visiting the library four to five times a week.  It got to the point where the librarians knew me by name.  They'd even go out of their way to find more young adult fantasy novels for their shelves for me.  Always they had a new book ready for me to try.  As I read them, when I got to an exciting part, I'd put the book down and run around my backyard, acting it out as if I was the hero.  I'd do this for an hour or so before going back to the book.  My mother has many stories about watching my antics through the window.

I loved the imagination involved in fantasy.  I loved the adventures, the heros, the duels and the strong female.  I still do.  Heroic fantasy will always be my favourite.

What about you?

- Victoria