“Writing is more enjoyable today than it has ever been. He published his first book in 1978, and one of the big surprises for him is that in the last 44 years he’s developed a large readership.

It’s the same thing I hope for my three children who are all quickly becoming adults.”

I want her to fly free and live her own life and not her grandmother’s or her father’s. I have grown to like the character of Rain very much. “The final job of parenting is to let your child go. Maguire often feels like a parent to the characters he has created. Most fantasies are often about the weak, the abandoned, and the cursed, so fantasy allows us to cheer on the underdog.” “We look through the lens of some foreign place to see who we are. He sees fantasy as a way to see our own homeland a bit more clearly. Fantasy has maintained its popularity even today with all the Marvel movies.” It was published the same year as the first book of ‘The Game of Thrones’ and just before the first Harry Potter book. When ‘Wicked’ was published in 1995 it was the beginning of this great era of fantasy writing. “The popularity of fantasy has come and gone in waves. Maguire has always loved reading and writing stories of fantasy, and has found himself in good company. 20, via the New York State Writers Institute, and as the keynote speaker at the Saratoga Book Festival at the Saratoga Springs City Center the following Saturday. Maguire will feature in two upcoming local events: A reading and conversation at Page Hall at the University of Albany on Thursday, Oct. “I was walking with them in this act of creation, and that was so much fun because for a few hours every day it took me out of the reality of COVID,” he said. That was my psychological escape hatch.”Īs his characters journeyed through Maracoor, Maguire went along with them not sure where they were taking him and what would happen. That’s how I ended up writing about Maracoor. I had three children, and I needed to stay functional and keep myself strong. “In March 2020 we didn’t know how many people in the world would be dead in a year, if the economy was going to flatten out, and if we were heading into another Great Depression,' Maguire said. MORE: Shenedehowa grad gets dream role in 'Wicked' Where: Saratoga Springs City Center, 522 Broadway Entrance Gregory Maguire at the Saratoga Book Festival Where: Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., Albany (SUNY Downtown Campus) Gregory Maguire reading and conversation via the New York State Writers Institute

Gregory maguire