Today is the day I begin seriously writing. Today I begin seriously studying and learning the craft.
Welcome to my blog
When readers read my novels I want them to feel warm, to feel good, to breathe deeply, to sigh, and to feel renewed with hope to tackle the difficulties in life ahead. I want them to feel refreshed. I want them to be in love with the characters; to want to rush out and find the next novel so they can continue to partake of the character’s lives. I want them to feel excited, knowing difficulty can be overcome. I want them to feel empowered; to feel salvation; to feel they can champion over death. I don’t want them to fear getting old anymore, but instead to feel excited, knowing that beyond death’s door lay a world one can only imagine… a world of joy, of beauty, of love, of all the good things in life wrapped up in a tidy bundle that you can never lose. I want them to feel happy; to feel love. I want them to smile, and for it to be the kind of smile that remains long after the book is put down. I want my book to become a treasure for them; a treasure they give to their children; a story they dream about sharing with their children, eagerly anticipating the day the kids are old enough to be exposed to the wondrous world within my novel. I want it to be a book that is worn, the pages turning color from long use; a book that they cherish enough to want to read over and over again, like a book they eagerly anticipate reading in an Adirondack chair on the beach at the start of a long summer vacation or the book they choose to nestle with into a soft, overstuffed leather chair by a huge blazing hearth, content to read by a soft light late into the night.
To me, novels are about escaping the mundane world around us and experiencing the joys, laughs, loves, fear, conflict, hatred, and anger; the world of emotions, boiled down and concentrated into tangible things we can feel, taste, breathe, hear, see, and smell. Novels are like a deep well that we are drawn to, that we step near to, our breath short with anticipation. We peer down in, and then step forward and fall in, dropping down into a world from which we don’t want to leave. Novels are like jewels that bring a bright joy to our world and, like soft warm blankets, envelop and surround us, comforting us while letting us experience the raw range of emotions in a safe, secure way. They let us explore worlds beyond what we dare experience in real life.