Here at SFFWorld we’re pleased to bring you a guest post from New York Times bestselling fantasy romance author Breanne Randall. Here Breanne writes about the importance of Fantasy to her and what made her want to write Fantasy:
The truth is, I never quite “grew up” by society’s standards. While others outgrew childhood fantasies, moving on to “realistic” pursuits, I held tightly to the worlds of magic and adventure that shaped my imagination.
It all started with the Boxcar Children, huddled up with a mound of blankets and the notion that life could be an adventure if you only shifted your perspective. There’s nothing quite so magical as slipping into the pages of your favorite world and relinquishing the ironfisted grip of reality. Fantasy became my portal into extraordinary realms that were filled with all the things I craved so desperately; possibility, beauty, adventure, and love. Even as I got older, I never really stopped visiting them. For me, fantasy wasn’t just an escape; it was an avenue to understand the world differently, a way to reimagine challenges and to approach them not just with creativity and courage but with empathy.
At its core, I really feel like fantasy creates space for our deepest fears, hopes, and dreams. Fantasy doesn’t ask us to suppress our sense of wonder or our belief in things beyond the ordinary. Instead, it invites us to lean into those things. Personally, I found freedom from “what is” and replaced it with “what if.” What if seemingly ordinary people, like me, could do the impossible? What if love really did transcend all? What if courage wasn’t the absence of fear but the strength to keep going despite it?
These questions, though embedded in mythical worlds, were deeply relevant to my everyday life. And ultimately, fantasy helped me (and still helps me) make sense of things in a way that grounds me, ironically, in reality. Obstacles become opportunities and magic becomes a metaphor for the potential we all hold within ourselves. The Hero’s Journey, a concept that has fascinated me since I was old enough to learn about it, became a kind of model for my own trials and tribulations. What stage of my journey was I at? Who was my mentor? What was the call to adventure, and would I answer it? And asking those same questions of the characters I was reading about helped anchor me in my growth as I learned right along with them.
Experiencing the parallels of heartache, fear and frustration; I may not have been slaying literal dragons in my own life, but the figurative ones breathed just as much fire. And as I read about impossible odds and faraway lands, I realized that we’re all on our own heros’ journey. That the ordinary moments weren’t quite as mundane as I thought they were. My chronic pain, countless surgeries, the death of family members, and the particular, cauterizing heartbreak of youth; those were all part of my journey. Because ultimately, fantasy teaches us that as we navigate our own setbacks and moments of self-doubt, we’re building our resilience, finding what it means to maintain hope in the face of impossible odds, and inspiring our imagination to overcome obstacles in ways we might not have thought of otherwise.
Through the lens of fantasy, my thirst for experiencing different perspectives and cultures was deepened. As a home-schooled teenager with a father who was a pilot, I was able to travel the world and see firsthand the inspiration behind many of the stories I read. In turn, this propelled my desire to entrench myself even deeper into other perspectives, questioning my own beliefs and deepening my empathy. Because magic, as it turns out, is a powerful vehicle for seeing past the surface of things and learning to appreciate others’ strengths and struggles.
This, in turn, renewed my belief in possibilities. It brought me to a place where wonder and possibility can coexist freely and this reminder to believe in the things that could be, rather than accepting what is, still influences me to this day. It illuminates the magic in the everyday, the desire to see the good in the hard moments, and that always, there’s another chapter. Because the story continues long after the last page. By holding on to fantasy, I’m reminded that there are portals to the extraordinary all along our path.
So no, I never really “grew up” in the traditional sense of the term. Instead, I embraced a world where magic is real just not perhaps in the way we expect it to be, where courage is possible, and where imagination and belief can shape our very reality. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Breanne’s latest book, “Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things” is published by Aria, Head of Zeus on the 27th February 2025. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/spells-strings-and-forgotten-things-9781035912209/
Thank you to Breanne and Yas @HeadofZeus for making this happen.
