WHY I LIKE TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY
Ever since I was young, I was fascinated with otherworldly things; aliens, monsters, and legends. I can remember once, when I was about 8 years old, waking up from a deep sleep hearing to cats outside fighting. I used to believe in a Catman, a cat that walked on two legs was waiting outside to come up the side of the house for me. This of course was ridiculous, but back then my imagination ran wild and I watched horror and monster movies a little too much I guess. This was about the time the original Planet of the Apes came out and the Godzilla movies were going full bore. I always watched The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space and Star Trek back then as well, as well as Batman and Land of The Giants. The truth was there was so many of those types of shows back then I was in my field day.
About the time I turned ten I began to read extensively, starting out with easier books like Robinson Caruso, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Watership Down, and The Wizard of Oz series. When I turned twelve I began to get into JRR Tolkien, Issac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, C.S. Lewis and just about any other author I could grab at the library. Although it took me years to actually publish, I started writing my first novel at 11, and continued regularly until I was about 14, when my attention turned to girls,weed, and beer. I still have that handwritten book, as bad as it was. When I went to rewrite it, I tossed out the original story but kept the main characters within the story. Once I went to work, I put my stories aside for a while, but still wrote in journals to keep my thoughts on paper.
Once my daughter was born, it grew almost impossible to catch time to write, but during this time, I began to put my stories back together slowly. I concentrated on my first science fiction novel "Dimension Lapse, " and twenty years later, I had a self published book. It's not that I didn't try the traditional way; for many years I used a typewriter, word processor, and computer to submit sample after sample to publishers. Some I would hear from and some I would not; some had good things to say, some weren't so nice. After several revisions of the original copy of the story, I was ready to publish my first science fiction novel.
But none of this has to do with why I like to write in this genre. I like science fiction and fantasy because it takes me to other worlds that live only within my imagination, taking me to places I could only dream of going. It also makes me sympathize with a character who does things I would never have the courage or ability to do myself. It has helped me create worlds and cities from scratch and become a better topographer and navigator, understanding theories and information I never knew before.
Some authors write to make money, but I feel this is not a true author's calling, which is to be a creator and storyteller. Like most writers of my genre, I write because I feel I have to to release the creative soul inside of me which drives me to lands of Grey Aliens, arthropods, mythical creatures and evil sorcerers. I write because it comes to me as easy as breathing each day, and without it my life would be dull and unexciting.
Writing has also gained me a new set of friends I would have never met if I hadn't became an author; other authors, artists, and local celebrities. These friends and their resources have helped me to become a better storyteller, and now that I'm 12 books in, I am finally starting to see the fruits of my hard labor.
