Locus Online has a nice article on Horror writing and why it’s so hard to take most of it serously. Not only do I agree, but with the changing of a few words, it would be equally applicable to the SF/fantasy niche.

“Most normal readers - in the real world - saw horror as a tacky little subgenre popular primarily with teenagers, and ineligible for consideration as literature, or for that matter, “serious” reading. And, truth be told, probably 90% of what was published as horror did not deserve to be called anything other than trash. Still, there was a decent living to be made by hacks willing to churn out formula fiction, with the ever-present brass ring of a fluke bestseller, or better yet, a movie sale in the post-Exorcist boom times.” Read More…

But others have not been so afflicted.

“There is no and can be no Pax Americana. We cannot rule the world with force of arms, only by moral suasion. We cannot pick the rulers of other people. Regime change is a fantasy, not a policy. We can help liberate and stabilize only when we are wanted. When and where we are not, we can only repress.”
-Steve Gillard

…We can’t afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy
It’s a do or die situation
We will be invincible…
- Pat Benatar

Because I will never be as innocent as I was before that day. Because the world changed forever. Because I still hope for a better future, but I fear we are heading for a darker one. Because I had tears in my eyes as I drove to work this morning. Because I want my loved ones to be safe. Because I would rather be the one who is sacrificed rather than the one who is left behind. Because it’s been a year and still…. nothing makes any sense. Because I fear my government almost as much as I fear the killers who slammed into Washington, a PA field, and NYC.

Well, maybe I do have words after all. Just rambling and incoherent ones.

I started this blog almost exactly one year ago in response to the world suddenly making no sense. Before then I didn’t think I had anything important enough to say that I should put it out on the global stage.

I don’t know what I’m going to write tomorrow, or if I should even write anything. I’ve been looking towards this day for the last two months with the same lack of enthusiasm one reserves for exceptionally painful dental procedures, and for pretty much the same reasons. Maybe I’ll have something to say. Maybe I’ll just call in sick and find a tree to sit under.

DragonFolkStudios.com is finally up and live! Between my brother and myself, we finally got it up and running. Go take a look at the work of the woman who raised me.

Now, seeing as it’s almost four in the morning (aside to self… EEEK! I have to be up in 3 hours.) I’m gonna go collapse now.

So it’s a good thing I just found a good source. I give you…. It’s My War.