James Blaylock

James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author.

Blaylock is noted for his distinctive style. He writes in a humorous way: His characters never walk, they "clump along", or when someone complains (in a flying machine) that flight is impossible, the other characters agree and show him why he's right.

He was born in Long Beach, California; studied English at California State University, Fullerton, receiving an M.A. in 1974; and lives in Orange, California, teaching creative writing at Chapman University. Many of his books are set in Orange County, California, and can more specifically be termed "fabulism" — that is, fantastic things happen in our present-day world, rather than in traditional fantasy, where the setting is often some other world.

He and his friends Tim Powers and K. W. Jeter were mentored by Philip K. Dick. Along with Powers he invented the poet William Ashbless. Blaylock and Powers have often collaborated with each other on writing stories, including "The Better Boy", "On Pirates", and "The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook".

Blaylock is also currently director of the Creative Writing Conservatory at the Orange County High School of the Arts, where Powers is Writer in Residence.

Novels

A number of Blaylock's novels are trilogies, sharing common settings, characters or style, but any can be read as individual works.

; The "Balumnia" Trilogy :

Fantasy with inspiration from "Wind in the Willows" and "The Hobbit", according to the author.

* "The Elfin Ship" (1982)
* "The Disappearing Dwarf" (1983)
* "The Stone Giant" (1989)
* " The Man in the Moon" (2002) Original manuscript of "The Elfin Ship", with commentary and additional short story

; The "Narbondo" Trilogy :

Steampunk-ish — the latter two are set in Victorian England.

* "The Digging Leviathan" (1984)
* "Homunculus" (1986)
* "Lord Kelvin's Machine" (1992)

; The "Christian" Trilogy :

Present-day fantasy using Christian elements — such as the Holy Grail and the silver coins paid to Judas — without being overtly or self-consciously "religious."

* "The Last Coin" (1988)
* "The Paper Grail" (1991)
* "All The Bells On Earth" (1995)

; The "Ghosts" Trilogy :

Present-day Californian ghost stories.

* "Night Relics" (1994)
* "Winter Tides" (1997)
* "The Rainy Season" (1999)

; Others :

* "Land of Dreams" (1987)
* "The Magic Spectacles" (1991) Young adult book
* "13 Phantasms" (2000) Short story collection
* "On Pirates" (2001) Short story collection with Tim Powers
* "The Devils in the Details" (2003) Short story collection with Tim Powers
* "In For A Penny" (2003) Short story collection
* "The Complete Twelve Hours of the Night" (1986) Joke pamphlet cowritten by Tim Powers and published by Cheap Street Press

; Forthcoming :

* "The Knights of the Cornerstone" ISBN-13: 978-0441016532 (set for release December 2nd, 2008)

External links

* [http://www.sybertooth.com/blaylock/ Website and discussion forum about Blaylock's writing]