My novellete, "Hammer Song," appears in Blood & Devotion, published by Fantasist Enterprises. This anthlogoy features nine tales of epic fantasy focusing on the dual themes of war and religion. In the real world, these are sensitive topics. In fantasy we are able to approach them more openly, without feeling the need to defend a position. We can explore possibilities without fear of judgment. When we break open the prison of reality, we are able to experience new freedom and share in a journey that takes us to places we have not yet imagined. And, isn't that what we often fight for, what our devotions lead us toward? Fantasy is the mythology of now.

"Hammer Song" is about the clash of inflexible, doctrinal ideals with raw, creative source. It delves into the struggle to rebuild your purpose when everything you thought you knew, everything you found safe and familiar, is turned on its head. How do you change the world without being consumed by the forces and factions that swirl like a tempest through it? Each of us has a gift that is wholly ours. We own its boons and its consequences. We must decide for ourselves how to wield it.

Additional Writing Samples

One Small Light • Longridge Writers Group, 2004 Christmas Anthology

Between • Daoine Sidhe, Editor's Glade, Winter 2006

Sunrise • Daoine Sidhe, Editor's Glade, Spring 2008

As children, we all had vivid imaginations. It turned our sticks into swords, our pillows into shields, and logs into our mighty steeds. Stories weren't just stories. They took on a life of their own in our imaginations and we were able to see them... live them... For me, that's what writing was about, at first. Creating wondrous places to visit and forgetting about the rest of the world for a time.

Then we grew up. We didn't really lose our capacity for imagination. After all, most of us still enjoy a good movie or book and forgetting about the real world. But when the screen goes dark or we close the pages, we return to reality. Or do we? In the "real" world, our unexercised imagination finds its own outlets, manifesting as sources of anxiety. We very "realistically" imagine what could happen upon losing our job... we'll have a hard time finding a new one... we won't be able to make the mortgage payments and lose our house... we'll end up in a shabby apartment in the middle of a drug territory... the rest of our life will be spent in misery and fear. And there's the lottery. Millions of people happily hand over their earnings for something they have virtually no chance of winning because they imagine how great life would be with all that money. Some people lose everything they already have chasing that imagined existence.

Are our imagined progressions through life any more real than the stories we lived as children? Some would say there is a much better chance of losing your job or winning the lottery than fighting a dragon, but what does the possibility of actual occurrence have to do with anything? People die from stress over what hasn't happened yet. The stock market is rooted in speculation and depends on uncertainty to function. Our State relies on the revenue generated by people imagining that they can live like kings for just a five dollar slip of paper. So, who is it that is really fighting dragons and falling to dark lords?

Now writing isn't an escape for me. It's a focus, a means of entering life on my terms and living it to the fullest. Every child knows how to do it. When we imagine our reality, the story overwhelms us, crushes us with its terrible possibilities or impossible dreams. But if we take a moment to turn reality into something more manageable... a giant, flying, fire-breathing, armour-crunching dragon for instance... suddenly, we stop cowering in the shadows and courageously brandish our stick swords as we rush forward to meet our fears head on.

If, through my words, I can shove one person out the door of reality and into the terrifyingly infinite power of imagination, my own quest will have been successful.

Some of my own motivators and kickers-of-the-pants include:

Longridge Writers Group — is a program that has, for 20 years, taught thousands of aspiring authors how to find their own writing niche--and how to break into print.

 

Mary Rosenblum — author and Longridge instructor who served as my mentor as I was just discovering what writing really meant.

 

Joseph Campbell — Campbell's works speak to the heart of what myth and story is all about. As he said, "The adventure you're ready for is the one you get. Life is short, go for it."

 

Dr. Wayne Dyer — His words and insights have made me look, made me think. When you do that, you change. When you change, there's something to write about.

 

Fantasy and Legends Organization — An organiztion that provided an environment in which I sharpened my appreciation for fantasy and myth and honed my writing craft

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Courage is not the absense of fear,

but rather the judgment that something else

is more important than fear.

~Ambrose Redmoon