It is no wonder that when he did begin to write that his work was highly influenced by all three types of literature. De Lint is connected with the creation of the "Urban Fantasy" genre. However, he actually started out writing in the traditional fantasy style. It was only when his wife, Mary Ann, suggested it to him that he began to set his fairy filled stories in a modern day setting. All of his characters are extremely developed and he has also created the fictional city of Newford that has become the popular setting for many of his novels and short stories. He told Somerton also that "The main thrust of my work is contemporary - taking place in a contemporary setting - involving ordinary people and how their lives are changed or not changed by some kind of extraordinary occurrence." .

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             One of de Lint's most recent novels is titled Someplace to be Flying. It takes place in modern times and in de Lint's city of Newford. This book has many elements of Native American mythology within it. It is based on the idea that the world, and everything within it, was created by "animal people", also called the "first people". These animal people are the fantastical creatures found in Someplace to be Flying. The otherwise ordinary main characters are Hank and Lily. Hank is a gypsy cab driver who lives as a squatter in the abandoned tombs of Newford. Lily, in contrary to Hank, is an uptown freelance photographer. The story follows their meeting, relationship, and newfound connection to this mythological world of animal people that lies beneath the 'real' world. Clinton Somerton writes that "Someplace to be Flying takes readers on a fantastic journey by tapping into deeply rooted and shared human mythologies, and making them vital and accessibly again." He also writes that "Someplace to be Flying.links the hope of self-discovery to a heightened awareness of the world's possibilities, while bridging the sheer membrane between the mundane and the ethereal.