Why I write

This question came up in a past interview, and I really never gave it much thought until I had an “author’s meltdown”. What’s an author’s meltdown. Well, it’s when we get frustrated with running in place, never seeming to get anywhere, or it feels that way. It’s like writer’s mid-life crisis.  I asked a friend, why am I doing this? I’ve dedicated time, energy, brain-cells and yet no amount of promotion, and hard work seems to be generating any different results.

Insanity:  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So, does that mean I’m crazy? After careful deliberation, a few stiff drinks, and a pity party with my editor, I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not.

Okay DL, you just said you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results—and that is crazy. But hear me out, because instead of expecting different results, I’m hoping for them. What does that amount to? It means I have a dream, a vision for the future. Now that I resolved that I haven’t lost my mind, I can step back and look at why I’m really doing this.

I could give the standard, “Because the voices in my head told me to”, or perhaps this oldie but goodie, “I would go crazy if I couldn’t write”, but really, that’s not why, those are just symptoms of the obsession. I love to tell stories. I love to create worlds and characters, and I believe I always have.

Writing is like being a child all over again. Remember playing with your dolls or toy soldiers and building a world around them, giving them personalities, names and careers? They were real people to us. Often they had superpowers or the traits of heroes and heroines. I guess I can say I never grew up, not all the way. I still like playing in those make-believe worlds, except now, I do it a little differently, and I invite others to join me.

So what does that make me? I do it because it’s a dream—and I do it to create worlds to play in, and I’m doing it so others can see my fantasies. That makes me what, a dream-weaver? LOL Yeah that seventies song is playing in your head right now, isn’t it? We could call it dream sculpting I suppose, or a general contractor of adult play-lands. Yeah, I like that last one.

When I really thought about it, got to the meat of my obsession, I realized that sometimes adults need to play too. And sometimes we like lots of playmates. Because hey, it’s so much more fun to storm that castle with friends. And this is the reason I write, nothing complicated.

So if you write, why do you do it? Money? Success? Why do you really do it? Talk to me, because there is a little “dream weaver” in all of us.

So, I’ll leave you all with an invitation to come play in my worlds. The doors are open. Let’s storm the castle together. Better yet, let’s take a ride into space and land in the middle of a revolution. You might fall in love with an underground leader, or meet a Regulator sworn to uphold the law at all costs.

Blurb for Rebel Souls: 

"Good morning, Duchess.”

Born in the fires of revolution and baptized in the blood of those who fought for a better life, Captain Ava Frost smuggles illegal materials to a war machine that will someday free her people from an oppressive government.

A child of two worlds, Ava is bound to a heritage that won’t release her. While living on New Xiera, Ava meets Brodie Mark, a boy who will become a leader of the revolution, a man that will someday challenge her love and loyalties in every way imaginable.

Ten years pass, Ava crosses paths with Captain Seth Reynolds, a Regulator commander looking for a dangerous cargo of fissile materials. She falls for the enemy, endangering all the underground has struggled to achieve.

When Brodie Mark, a man she thought dead, walks back into Ava’s life, she must make a choice. The wrong one could kill her. The right choice could get her arrested and destroy a freedom in its infancy.

“No man flies three days to the edge of Nexian space without a reason.”

Have a great weekend!

D L