Karin Tidbeck Quotes

I have control of my own style.

I can write a story in working-class Stockholm Swedish, but I'm not going to assume I can perform the same feat with Cockney. I'll focus on adventures in story, themes and structure instead.

Time is built entirely on consensus: humans decide that they have linear time, so they do.

To the goats, all people are equal, except for those who have treats.

I'm just being honest about the fact that a second language won't resonate with you like the first does.

I do love the weird, and I realize that I write much in that tradition, so I'm happy to be counted in among some of my favorite authors.

What I do with the story itself varies of course, but what I want to do is to present the world so that the reader can access it without tripping over the details.

You have to be aware what the consequences are of the approach you take.

I think that the more alien and strange a world or situation is, the more concise you have to be if you want the reader to follow you. It depends on what effect you're looking for.

Worldbuilding to me is taking the consequences of an idea.

I've always been fascinated by the concept of time.

I want my voice to be consistent no matter if it's an original or a translation.

I don't consider genre while writing.

Happily, fantastic fiction is slowly gaining in status.

I don't go out of my way to write Weird Fiction, or in any other genre. Some of my stuff easily slips into the Weird slot.

Some of my other stories are talked about as fantasy, some as horror, and some aren't talked about as genre at all. And the same story will be labeled differently depending on country.

I'm not comfortable with categorizing my own work, but I don't mind if others talk about it in relation to genre as long as they don't try to hold it up to some genre standard.

All my stories and worlds spring from the basic principle of being a slave to the premise, to follow the consequences wherever they may lead without taking any easy or comfortable ways out.

Your first thought is often the best one. You know, the one that felt too weird or silly or stupid. Trust your imagination - it knows what it's doing.