To enjoy a story, we need to feel that the author's world is - within its own logic - plausible; and for a story, howsoever fantastical, to be plausible it must be grounded in the reader's world. Does that sound provocative? Let me explain. A sci-fi tale may consist improbably of a dialogue between sentient sunbeams. But at least we're familiar with dialogue and sunbeams. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is plausible (within its own logic), not solely because it's built on familiar epic myths, but because its weird characters are - arguably - human beings endowed with the properties of household pets. We know what they are. Within a story, we have to detect aspects of our own world. We know what that is. Otherwise, we just won't understand the story. Plausibility in fiction is the detection of familiarity. How can we give our stories that reader-engaging tenor of plausibility - or familiarity - even if our plots or characters are very weird indeed? ...