Fiction.

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means.” – Oscar Wilde

Tonight, I sit and write this with a headache and a bit of heartache for it pains me to see others suffer by anything that I've written or for that matter by anything that is fictionalized. Yet I find that there are those that do, by their own choice. I'm told that ethically I've been irresponsible with my writing and that likewise other artists, musicians and writers are also to blame in the same respect. I don’t agree with that at all, but I don’t like to hear that people are hurting each other or thinking harm will come to them as influenced from my writing or from anyone’s writing, artwork, music, etc. It’s heartbreaking and sickening. As a result I've stayed the writing for a few days until I was prepared to address the issue. To begin...

First and foremost let me say this nicely without animosity... The things I write are predominately fiction. The blog entries typically they come from the days and/or nights conversations with people and sometimes things personal from my own life. As most writers, artists, musicians I have to admit that there is some basis in the everyday that I borrow from, including my own life. But I take anything and everything in my experience of living; from people on the street up to and including the paint on the walls to produce. Granted I don't always write fluffy, happy things. I’m fascinated by the Boogeyman, the things that go bump at night and the darkness in humanity. For the most part my craft is always evolving and it isn’t always darkness. But I won’t lie, there's a chance that my characters will have to fight tooth and nail to get what they want and they still may not get it or they may realize they didn’t need that to begin with. As in the world at large you can not expect it to always work out in the end. It may not.

Of course, sometimes it does. And that is lovely.

Don’t get me wrong, not all of my fiction, or all fiction in general, is going to give your mind a fright. It may turn you on, take you to another world, or maybe make you laugh or cry if you let it. That’s the thing with the creation of any type of ART. It was meant to evoke a response. You can let it stir up emotions; you can simply be transported by the experience; and you can embrace it with awe. Your mind is your most powerful tool. Use it.

However, please try to remember that the imaginary or make-believe can only be dangerous in your mind... if you let it. I, like so many other writers, cannot be responsible once the words leave the page and enter anyone’s brain. The reader must interpret what they read however they choose; whether or not it causes others pain or happiness as a result. I am responsible for what I put out there but it is up to the reader to accept responsibility for their actions that come from that interpretation. People will have their own opinions as they are allowed to. I can't tell anyone to see it any other way, because people will see things how they choose. There is no “one” reality because we all see it differently. We make our own.

Does writing about killings make it so? Does vigilante justice exist because it was in a book? You can not begin to think that way. And books and movies are not the enemy. But your mind can be. When you spiral out of control you begin to see the world as a place of restricted potential for yourself and others. Then the need for imagination and innovation becomes unnecessary because we are afraid of what hasn't happened yet. Don’t let your fear keep your imagination a prisoner. The mind was meant to think of the most amazing things known and unknown. The best tool we have is our ability to imagine and innovate. Art, music, and literature inspire us. Why fear those things that can be an inspiration? The world can only be scary if we let it be.  

It appears highly unlikely that Stephen King will show up at your house with a clown that haunts your dreams or that Chuck Palahniuk will appear to challenge you to a fight at your office while his lovely jawless accomplice wields a shotgun, or that Anne Rice will arrive at your home commanding a troupe of vampires to drop in on you for some blood and tea. Those are interesting thoughts, but nonetheless are they true? Maybe on the television or movie screen or in the mind’s eye, they are. I'll let y'all think about it for yourselves. But on the off chance you meet a skeleton asking to play you a hand of cards or to collect your pinky, definitely let me know. Cause I'd love to invite him over to my house.  

-kisses. m.