Barry Wolverton is the author of The Vanishing Island.From his Q & A with Stephanie Painter for Memphis Parent:
How do you use mythology in your story?Visit Barry Wolverton's website.
Mythology and folklore are supreme acts of invention that any creative writer has to admire. In fantasy and science fiction, we emphasize "world building" because our stories take place in alternate time periods or universes. But we're just playing at it — our worlds only have to make sense within the confines of a book. The original myth-makers and storytellers were, in a sense, building the world people actually lived in. Another compelling thing about mythology is how you have these fundamental patterns in stories across every culture, no matter how diverse: how the world began; how it will end; explanations for natural phenomena. And this plays a big role in The Vanishing Island, when Bren, trying to decode an ancient map, realizes the key may lie within the overlap of...[read on]
The Page 69 Test: The Vanishing Island.
Writers Read: Barry Wolverton.
--Marshal Zeringue