Hey Fantasy Fans,
When I was launching my Patreon page last week, it occurred to me that it’s been a long time since I explained why I do this writing thing. Why do I spend thousand of hours, year after year, pecking away at this keyboard, inventing stories and characters and places out of my imagination? And why do I have the gall to let the results be published for all the world to see?
Maybe I’m ill.
I’m only half kidding. I’ve long said that all writers — all those compelled to write — must be schizophrenic. It’s a strange thing to invent with words, to wrap ideas and philosophies inside a narrative, to create conversations between imaginary characters as if they were real people. Yet I love it.
For my money, there are few pleasures in this world that compare with the bliss of getting lost in a good book. And the idea that I could contribute to the realm of literature, that I could give that experience to other people, blows my mind. It’s with equal parts hubris and humility that I set fingers to keys and try to create something that speaks to you. Because we all have shared experiences, shared emotions, shared dreams. Fiction is about exploring those samenessess to dive down into the heart of what it means to be human. That’s my playground.
So, for me, writing is not a hobby, or even a profession. It’s a calling. Even back when the only people reading my stories were myself and my wife, it was a compulsion. A drive to keep inventing, to keep improving, to become a better person with every word written.
And I’ll keep doing it for as long as I live. I may never be a “popular” author. I may never win any awards or be able to live off my sales. But I am and forever will be a writer.
