45 Quotes by N. K. Jemisin

A fantasy novel set in something other than medieval Europe, featuring an almost entirely black cast, is considered risky.

To some degree, as I move outside of the exclusive genre audience, the exclusive genre issues don't bother me as much. Maybe that's just speculation.

I read a lot of history for fun.

Fantasy is fantasy. It's fiction. It's not meant to be a textbook. I don't believe in letting research overwhelm the fiction. That's a danger of science fiction in particular, as opposed to fantasy. A lot of writers forget that what they're doing is supposed to be art.

I tend to like writing characters that are not typical heroes.

I am a linear thinker in a lot of ways.

I tend to write society as I see and understand it.

There's a tendency in American thought - maybe elsewhere, but that's the culture I know best - to default to social Darwinism, even though even Darwin noted that's a misapplication of his ideas.

When I start a new novel, I often write 'test chapters' in different tenses and from different points of view in order to figure out which is best to tell the tale.