Purpose

I read once that, when writing a blog, you need to know exactly what it's going to be about. Too many people use them as public diaries, and people generally don't want to subscribe to your random thoughts.

I've been thinking about that, and the obvious choice is for me to write about writing and self-publishing. Sure, I can do that. I enjoy the process of writing and storytelling. I enjoy how events and characters click together in an unfolding tale. I like to think I have a knack for the various brushstrokes required to keep detail and pacing.

However, in the end, I have no idea how to be a writer. You write, I suppose, but beyond that I'm no more equipped to tell you than any highschool teacher would be.

So what I've decided on to be the central theme of this blog instead, is essentially an extension of what my books do. I may still offer the occasional post on crafting a scene, but my focus here will be on reaching out to people and hopefully helping them; offering a bit of insight into themselves.

More than I've been a writer, I've been a survivor. I've been a human being in some of the darkest places of the imagination. It is there, in those shadowy bits of your mind, that I feel I have the experience to offer advice.

Of course my books are meant to entertain. I hope that's their primary role, and I hope they fulfill it. However, no good story is merely for entertainment alone. They are meant to teach us, to guide us, and to help us uncover the best pieces of ourselves that may have otherwise been left buried.

Is that writing advice? ...maybe. The point being, that I hope to use this blog as an experiential extension of my stories. I hope that every soul, trapped in the dismal corners of their own hearts; those places you're not even allowed to talk about, have a chance to come here. I hope they read The Mallis Tragedy, and I hope they subscribe to this blog.

Genius and creativity, too often, fall prey to depression and hopelessness. We are losing far too many brilliant lights and radiant souls to despair. It is my hope that these words become a beacon for at least one of those people. I wish to be an unexpected lighthouse that proves there is a shore.