The Reasons I Write

1.) I like to. Duh. Why would I write if I didn't enjoy it? It would defeat the purpose.

2.) To expose my soul to an otherwise apathetic world. If you talk about your opinions, nobody will really listen except your friends and family. But if you write about them, more people will be interested.

3.) To get my characters off my back! No really. Ever feel that way? Like your characters rule you and not the other way around? Bossy, bossy, touchy, touchy, and so critical of me are my characters.

4.) People tell me I'm good, then they tell me I stink, then they tell me to attack myself with a red pen. So I do.

5.) I feel like it. Do I need a better reason? Writing is an impulse.

6.) Because I always write. It's a habit. No, it's an involuntary action.

7.) To make people think, really think. In the stories I write, I often try to show the world from both the typical protagonist's view, and the typical antagonist's view, and I try to blur the line between good guy and bad guy. After all, the characters really aren't that different, are they?

 I write about controversial issues. I write about politics, about moral dilemnas, about timeless questions that I can only offer a tentative answer to. I write about the very nature of humanity. I write from point of view. I write of the past, present, and future. I write about some dark themes, and some very dark pieces, but out of tragedy, often beauty and love will arise. The phoenix is born from the ashes of its predecesor. And so are hope, faith, love, and the beauty of life reflected in the most tragic happenings. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people, and sometimes, bad people are good people and good people are bad people and then you can't really tell the difference anymore, can you?

 I write across age gaps, across racial gaps, across gender gaps, even across religion gaps. My protagonists/antagonists consist of a variety of ages, races, and genders. Treali Storm (F, middle eastern, 54, religious on her own terms <complicated>); Thomas E. Stone (M, white, 78, catholic); Talia Solis (F, hispanic, 16, jewish), Casie Schwartz (F, white, 24, protestant); Justin Masterson (M, black, 43, protestant); Natalie Schultz (F, white, 46, practices christianity islam and judaism concurrently <weird I realize but so is Natalie>); Sabre Lustate (M, middle eastern, 86, atheist); Carlos Hodgson (M, hispanic, 65, agnostic); Karmii Storm (F, asian, 14, buddhist/shintoist); Ilana Aimee (F, white, 19, protestant); Jai Qelah Asa (F, various, 53, atheist). And that's just a sampling.

I write to reach out to people in various states of life, to let them know someone knows what they're going through, how it feels, how I can help and they can help themselves. I write to touch people's hearts with a simple memory or event. I write for others, mostly, and then a little for myself.