The Last Post of the Last Day of the Year….

David’s post got me thinking, but not in ways that I might have expected. David wrote about New Year’s Res—Goals. Sorry, David. New Year’s Goals. And if you read back, David’s were most intensely about writing. And mine weren’t. Not. At. All. Heck, I wrote about cleaning my carpet! What was I thinking? Well…not about writing, obviously, which for a professional writer of the last 19 years, is just way strange…

But David’s post and my own reply have made me introspective.

Why do I write? Why do I write *what* I write? And what *do* I have as goals for 2009?

I’ve had people ask me, (under my AKA Gwen Hunter) *Why do you write about murder and kidnapping and all that stuff? Why don’t you write about good stuff? Like love and sex and romance?*

I usually make a minor joke and say that I can’t write sex, it makes laugh—the writing not the doing. And that satisfies them. But there is a deeper reason. I write about awful things because I believe they happen all the time. All. The. Time. I believe they can destroy or bring renewal. I believe that conflict is the *the* reason that we grow and evolve and become better people. Not all of us. Most humans will run and hide when the unthinkable happens. But a few good men and women will step up to the plate and fight against evil. It is their stories I want to tell.

And then other people will ask me, under my Faith Hunter name, *Why do you write all that stupid, weird stuff?* And that is a hard answer, because I’m not sure it makes rational, logical sense, and those people want a rational, logical answer.

I’m not a fantasy writer because I want to make money. (Okay, that’s a lie, because I do—I’m not stupid, but bear with me.) I’m not a fantasy writer because I like writing total fiction—genie in a bottle, wiggle-of-her-nose, abracadabra…um…children’s fluffy nonsense. No. I write fantasy because…well…I believe in it. I honestly believe that magic exists. I believe in Quests, in Heroes and Heroines in the legendary, mythical sense. I believe in mystical, spiritual guidance. I believe in things I cannot see, things I cannot explain, the coincidences that change lives in huge ways, bring healing and joy and correction of a damaged world, or death and destruction and war and delayed renewal. I believe in all the weird stuff I write about.

While thrillers make me think and write about people who face an awful reality, and deal with it, and come through, and survive, fantasy makes me think and write about people who face an awful reality, and can do something extraordinary about it! They have the fantastic, magical power of change! They think so far outside the box, that the box they think outside of hasn’t even been invented yet! That’s why I write fantasy.

So—what are my New Year’s Goals?  As a writer, and not to include cleaning my carpet…?

1. I may take down my wall of covers. I have a wall with my first 26 covers framed and hung. I have about 30 more that I’ve never gotten framed. I look at the wall and am ready to see a blank wall there. So I may take them down. This is less of a goal than a timely, decorating, not-quite-made-decision.
2. I want to write a book with a co-writer again. Maybe this is the time. I have this friend who writes plays and scripts and he has an idea…and I like it.
3. I want to write two new series alone, one dark and dangerous, and one fluffier.
4. I want to see two UnPub writer friends sold to a New York house. I want to get into the editing mode and help them out.
5. I want to write less books per year. I want to do a book every nine months instead of one every six months. (Because I *do* want to have time to clean the carpets, dang it.)
6. I want to see my first book (never sold) in print. This means that I need to rewrite it because it is not so good…I mean, it’s been under the bed for years.
7. I want to write about things that make me happy.  Yeah…happy. Maybe a book about elves or something. Elves who run whitewater rivers and make jewelry!

So there are my New Year’s Goals. Write smarter, not harder!

Faith Hunter

www.faithhunter.net

www.gwenhunter.com

www.magicalwords.net

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