This morning my family went on the Cinnamon Bear Cruise, a Portland holiday event that celebrates an adventure through the magical world of Maybeland.  After the magician’s performance, one of my sons asked me if there might be such a thing as real magic.

As a fantasy writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about magic:  magic systems, their rules, sources of it, good ways to reveal it.  Fiction writers of all genres specialize in immersing the reader in a created world so convincing, it feels real.  The senses are triggered.  Emotions are conjured.  Characters who do not exist elicit responses often more intense than those to the people we encounter every day.  Effectively, it is sleight of hand (of mind?).

As for my son’s question, I wanted to answer him truthfully and leave the door open to wonder.  I crouched to his eye level and said, “Maybe that magician just knows some really good trickery.”  Rather like my favorite writers.