All right, I don't mean the ones about the girl in the next row, I mean the genre. A lot of agents seem to be very stern in specifying 'no fantasy'. This disheartened me a little as fantasy happens to be what I like writing, however, I noticed Christopher Little is among these. And I would have thought that Harry Potter fell, broadly, into a fantasy genre.
What makes fantasy, then? A quest, a dragon, mountains and armies? Or wizards and goblins sat on toad stools, driving around in little yellow cars?
Thanks guys. The three agents who I have considered so far are all 'accepting no submissions, try again in May/August/next year (delete as applicable)', or not accepting new authours at all... still, no one said this was going to be easy!
It's all about gist and a person's individual, resulting prejudice.
Go for magical realism, every time. All good stories are true and reality is often too complicated to describe without a little magic.
I also am working on a fantasy project right now.(alongside another more life based project) I'm aiming to write something I wouldnt want to put down, in truth the best books for me are those that whisk me away entirely from the day to day stuff. I spend enough time thinking about the important big decisions the universe throws at me and there is nothing wrong with escaping for a bit, even just half an hour after the kids go to bed. That to me is fantasy, not trolls/goblins/witches/fairies etc etc etc etc, just an alternative to real life.