Sci-fi's my reality.

Drama roams my nightly dreams.

Horror creeps into my brain.

Action's pumping through my veins.

Rearranging history,

Rediscovering mystery.

Adventure waits at every turn.

Facts arrive, you're sure to learn.

Fantasy set to abound.

Magic floating all around.

Castles rising to the skies.

Many people. Sundry lives.

Reading things and hearing songs.

Writing words that string along.

Dancing through the varied lands

Imagination says I can.

Close my eyes, I wander on.

Although you don't notice I'm gone.

The worlds within this quirky soul

Are just too numerous to know.

Waves crashed onto the breccia

a young maiden emerged from

the ocean carrying a water owl

she stared at her winged creation

& smiled with tears in her eyes

it was best that she sends the message

her father would be furious to find

out that his daughter had fallen for

a mere mortal~he wasn’t a royal

still that didn’t change how she felt

about him— she loved him and hoped

her father would let them be together.

#KingNeptune’sdaughter©

sunday, 20 october, 2019.

My life began as a blank piece of paper,  

A clean slate,

Whole, a loving family of four.

Years passed, and sections were filled,

Memories brushed on in a splatter of hues and shades;

The pristiness of innocence a mix-matched palette of colors, replaced.

Primary school started as quick as it ended, and new memories pigmented the paper;

New colors, new language, new home, new country,

Tones of tints overlapped and soon the old was buried.

It was sudden, the change;

Vibrant colors faded into the shadows of shades,

A palette murky with aging hues as time was wished unmade.

As a stroke of red streaked across the paper,

And blood red spikes dwindled flat down the line,

Ringing softly as it crooned, “Goodbye…”

Above Manhattan, the sky blurred with ashes and smoke

As fire engulfed the paper once part of my life,

Now as black as the widow, no longer a wife.

My life became a charred strip of paper,

A marred slate,

In broken state, a family of three as of late.

I love all genres, but if I were asked to choose one, I'd say Fiction. Fiction means something invented, or untrue. The thing I love about fiction is it can be as outrageous as you want it to be. You can write about a dude who met with with a ghost and he became friends with him and it would be fine. In other genres, you are restricted. Since the term fiction is so vague, you can write about anything. It gets your creative juices flowing. It gets you to think outside the box. It is, in my opinion, one of the best genres!

Don't stress to impress

if one reader couldn't care less.

Write your truth

(or your lies)

your dreams

(or your nightmares).

Whichever is your toy,

whichever sparks joy.

If you can't, take a break

your life isn't at stake.

Write what you know

and what you want to know

What brings emotion

to your motions.

It's your choice,

your voice.

Here's my final advice:

if that idea has its own:

theme song playlist,

characters (your a-list),

place in your heart,

a mental plot (a start),

Then you're ready when you are

just make sure to shoot for you star!

There are so many topics of interest for me. To choose a genre I have to be able to bring it to life in my head. As I am writing I must be able to visualize myself in the story, walking through it, interacting with the characters. I believe that is why when I write the subject matter usually will revolve around science fiction or fantasy. It is also easy for me to write on a topic that I can relate to though experience.

I can go all over the place. I prefer good, literary works where the focus is on character development, but sometimes literary works can get dull. The plots go nowhere, so it takes a deft writer to pull it off. But I loooove when high-quality writers steal plotting from genre fiction: David Mitchell is a master of this.

Some excellent examples of this genre/ literary blending include The Lovely Bones by Alice Siebold, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid.

But I also read my fair share of science fiction, probably my favorite genre. The Expanse series by Corey is a fave. As is anything by William Gibson, the Dune books, Iain Banks's Culture series, etc.

I used to read fantasy, but it got old. During college, I realized I'd outgrown it. Though I confess to having read EVERY SINGLE Discworld book by Terry Pratchett and loving their satire. And, of course, I've read the Harry Potter books.

That said, I've recently been introduced to urban fantasy through Neil Gaiman, whom I love. A lot of urban fantasy is YA... and I'm WAY older than YA... but I have found some stuff that I like a lot. Writers like Patricia Briggs and Jim Butcher... whom I enjoyed but stopped reading after he creeped my out by hyper-sexualizing a 15-year-old character.

I also read a lot of crime fiction, preferring cozy mysteries and whodunnits over action. adventure.

That said, when I write, I tend to stick to that magical realist mode. It forces me to focus on character and real, human emotions, but it allows me to bring in genre-driven plote elements like zombies, witchcraft and vengeful spirits. Though I steer clear of "epic quests" and other tropes and use these elements symbolically.

Hope this helps.

Epic/high fantasy. Once you enter the world of a high fantasy story, you will never leave it. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is one example. Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is another. Actually, probably everything Brandon Sanderson writes is a good example. Read something by Brandon Sanderson, and learn about the Cosmere. Then, read The Wheel of Time. You'll understand why epic/high fantasy is the best. And you will be obsessed for the rest of your life.

Quote Time

" Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king."

-The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive)

" Overcome your guilt. Care, but not too much. Take responsibility, but don't blame yourself. Protect, save, help- but know when to give up. They're precarious ledges to walk. How do I do it?"

-The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives)

"I like visiting people in prison. I can say whatever I want to them, and they can’t do anything about it.”

-Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive)

“Are you that afraid of being wrong? One would assume you’d be accustomed to it by now.”

He grunted. “Be careful, girl. You wouldn’t want to accidentally insult a man.”

“The last thing I’d want to do is accidentally insult you, Vathah,” Shallan said. “To think that I couldn’t manage it on purpose if I wanted!”

-Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive)

"Pattern, you’re to be our chaperone tonight.”

“What,” Pattern said with a hum, “is a chaperone?”

“That is someone who watches two young people when they are together, to make certain they don’t do anything inappropriate.”

“Inappropriate?” Pattern said. “Such as . . . dividing by zero?"

-Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive)

“Sometimes a hypocrite is nothing more than a man in the process of changing.”

-Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive)

“Some men choose to seek greatness, while others are forced to it. It is always better to choose than to be forced. A man who is forced is never completely his own master. He must dance on the strings of those who forced him."

-The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time)

“Burn you, Nerim, that's a leg not a bloody side of beef!"

"As my lord says," Nerim murmured. "My lord's leg is not a side of beef. Thank you, my lord, for instructing me.”

-Lord of Chaos (Wheel of Time)

Having the ability to write, to create a complete world inside your head, and write it onto paper is an incredible gift. That is why my go-to genre is fantasy. You can build, create, design whole worlds. You can have anything you think up, come true. And not only is it a truly amazing journey for the author, but it also inspires readers. It ignites their creativity, their imagination, and their own version of fantasy. And the most incredable thing is, everyone has the ability to create there own world. That is why I mostly choose to write with the genre of fantasy.

'What are you thinking about?' asked Thomas as he came up behind me and sat on the step next to me. I looked up from my notebook and looked into his eyes. 'Im entertaining a story idea.' I responded. 'I don't know how you do it.' he said. 'Do what?' I asked. 'Come up with so many different stories.' He replied. 'I wouldn't even know how to pick the genre.' He said. 'I always use the same genre.' I said in more of a matter of fact way than I meant. 'What genre?' he asked. 'Historical fantasy.' I said.

'And why's that?' He asked. 'Well, it combines the two best genres of historical fiction and fantasy.' I responded. 'And why are they the best?' he asked. 'Well, historical fiction you can make the most of.' I responded. 'How so?' he asked. 'Well you can extract any genre from it like romance, adventure, war, mystery and so on they can all fit not to mention that you have thousands of years worth of cultures and civilisations to set your story.' I explained. 'And what about fantasy?' He asked. 'Well, fantasy is the most limitless of all the genres there's no limit to what you can create and no limit to what creatures or mediums you can incorporate for example dragons, fairies, and magic and with fantasy you can create your own culture, language, and weaponry.' I responded. 'And how do they work combined?' he asked. 'Well, fantasy gives you the freedom to edit the historical time period of your choice to your liking to a certain extent.' I responded. He looked at me smiled and nodded. I opened my mouth and said. 'And together these genres give one the biggest amount of creative freedom.'