What My Books Are About
After five books in the Mythical Desires Universe, I’ve realize that I write a certain kind of book. My books aren’t going to be popular with everyone, and that’s okay. I’m only trying to please myself after all.
I don’t have the pressure of being a traditionally published author that needs to write to trends or what a majority of readers are voraciously consuming. I needed to be me and tell the stories I want to tell, even if that shows my flaws or my naïve approach to some genres.
I am a contemporary fantasy author that also has a strong love for writing speculative fiction. I’m also queer and have a strong love for the community and what it represents. I also have a strong love of the monstrous and how it relates to my personal journey. I create characters as a way to explore parts of myself or ideas I have about how life could be. Because life is already magical, astounding, full of monsters both of high character and morally gray parts, it’s just that some of us have a lot of cognitive dissonance about it.
Maybe I watched too much Star Trek as a kid. It always had a huge influence on my life. I wanted to meet aliens and explore space. I wanted to travel the world and explore a planet with all its diversity.
Mythology has always interested me, and I’ve always wondered about the nuggets of truth buried in those myths. Dragons especially.
Maybe someday I’ll write about aliens and humans venturing off to find them. But for now I’m very grounded in what’s right here at home on this planet even as I watch humanity reach for the Moon and Mars.
My stories don’t have a lot of angst between the characters. I’ve never found that appealing. Communication is hard enough without adding miscommunication into the mix. I find misinterpretation or open-mouth-insert-foot reactions to conversations interests me more. How characters work through that kind of embarrassment is telling, and how other characters handle it or forgive it is what makes it a interesting interaction for me.
I’m writing in a fantasy world where events can separate characters. I’m not fond of the narrative that the relationship has to be the thing that breaks for the main characters, though often that’s more realistic. The third act break-up always seemed false to me if the characters are in it for the Happy-for-now or the Happy-ever-after. Most of my characters have something external to the relationship that moves them apart. Sometimes for a short period, sometimes a century or more. Sometimes it takes a third or fourth party involved to make the dynamics better for the relationship(s).
Even though I write queer stories, I don’t write queer angst very often. My universe is queer centric because up until recent history, the world understood and accepted queer folk. There will always be haters, but in my universe they are few and far between and their scope of power small.
In my universe, the sovereignty of indigenous peoples are recognized. Those without shelter, food, and medical assistance are cared for without religious indoctrination or persecution. The majority of the biosphere is recognized to have intelligence and/or sentience, and because of it, all species respect life. They celebrate it, and find ways to tolerate each other and exist peacefully. The line between magic and science is even more blurred giving us a greater understanding and respect for the mysteries of the world.
If you’re into all that, then hopefully my books will be a delight to read. And if not, that’s okay too. I believe stories are out there for everyone which is why we need more people to share their stories, and it’s why I share mine.