Happy New Year!

Writing utopian fantasy not only involves building a world people would love to visit, it takes plenty of villains and heroes to move the story along. While there is an abundance of attention spent on Gordon, Grabon, and Heron, it is too easy to overlook the villains in my stories. As a matter of fact, it is easy to overlook all the villains in all the best stories.

If I were to try to choose a favorite villain, I would be hard pressed to choose only one. Who would you choose?

Is it a wicked witch? A bad mother, a step-mother, or a mean teacher? In Gordon’s Pride I had Hanna’s mother, a mean woman who turned her husband and sons against her daughter. In Heron’s Bonds there were the men who hunted Trissy and the illness that killed her family. I have been refining villains as I hone my craft and I am excited to see what comes up next.

As we start 2023 in our real world, I look around and see heroes and villains in our big old world. I see many hard working people making a difference to their neighbors and strangers, friends and family. I see people who need fiction to help them cope with the pain of the day, the hardship and drudgery needed to do their best. Humans need fiction to remind them that we can seek something wonderful, and we can fall into a pit of terrible muck. The trick is to keep fiction and reality separate.

As we step into this new year, maybe we can all do a better job of telling the difference between fiction and reality. Happy New Year everyone, and ready to a happy place!