So, why do you do this again?

It should be the easiest question in the world to answer, of course all of us are supposed to have a rough idea of why we do the things we do. But if you really think about it, every time you come back to that question you have a slightly different answer. Sometimes you want to have people read your work and appreciate it. Sometimes you want to just make enough to support a hobby you love. Sometimes none of that matters to you and you just want to do something because you enjoy it. It’s enough that when we do stop to think about it long enough we begin to question why we do it ourselves. How can you possibly answer something that’s really more a feeling than a thought?

Frankly, a lot of it is terrifying and intimidating. Just the act of writing out our thoughts is one thing. But to actually publish them in public view? Well even J.D. Salinger was afraid of doing that. And sure, he may never have said he was afraid, he may never have come out and stated that the attention intimidated him. But it was clear, especially as he became reclusive and ceased to publish any of his works, that Salinger had hit a point where the act of exposing himself to the public was just too much. And if a man like Salinger could shy away from the public, what do we have going for us when we push forward?

The answer, for me, is a strange one for any of the people who have actually followed this blog long enough: faith. I have faith that, if I work hard enough, I can turn something I enjoy into something that contributes to society. I have faith that when I put myself out there that there’s enough reason for people to like it that I don’t have to be afraid of that response. I have faith that my stories are worth sharing.

A Patchwork Soul is a sequel to a book that hasn’t lit the world on fire yet. But I believe that when you get into these books you’ll find that there’s reason to follow both of them and the continuing series to come. I know not only from my own experience but from the responses I’ve gotten from the people who have read through them entirely that there is more to these stories than just my ego (not that my ego isn’t in there too, but at least it’s not alone). To me, the Alters, while based on the legendary creatures of folklore, are an attempt to make those legends more tangible and more real as a whole. They aren’t soulless monsters, though many of them struggle with the question of whether any of us have souls. They aren’t black and white or good and evil. The Alters are people, just like the rest of us, and I think that’s an angle that’s really always been lost and buried under how unusual they are.

Many series to feature worlds like mine keep their society of creatures buried or hidden from the world at large. Only a select few such as the Southern Vampire Mysteries or Anita Blake have really approached the idea that these creatures would mingle with the world at large. And even then I came to the thought that there was never really a profound change in how the world’s governments dealt with them. While it’s always true that personal stories are the most important, the culture that forms these people and their opinions is just as important in my eyes. Why would a group that would know they were destined to meet with hostility and fear simply come out without some plan of action? Why would they allow themselves to be targeted so openly by the “normal” human population simply because something had made life different for them? In my eyes, the act of revealing themselves to the world would invariably change that world, and by extension, change how they interact with the people. And that’s the kind of world I’ve tried to put forward in my work. Hopefully, if you give it a chance, you’ll find it’s a world you want to know more about. Because I know it’s one I want to continue to show to people.

However, it’s not enough for me just to wish and hope for it, there’s a lot more to be done. So I leave this post and look forward to the months ahead. It’s going to still be a long, hard road and it’s going to require a lot of motivation. But this song still rings in my head every time I think it’s time to quit:

Yeah, I’m a strange guy.

And, as always, I’d appreciate it if you gave the Altered World series a chance: Shards of Glass and  A Patchwork Soul are available at all major online book retailers. Thanks for your time and I hope to see you again.