Persevere and overcome with tenacity, courage and understanding

I sometimes feel the need to explain myself, a bit, as a writer.  As in, why do I write?  Or, where did the ideas for my stories come from? 

Not easy questions to answer, really.  I suppose it was, initially, because I heard of some event, or tragedy, and I wished it had turned out differently.  In my mind, I wanted to change the way it turned out.  In real life, that cannot be done, of course.  But, in fiction, all things are possible.  As Paul Theroux says, “Fiction gives us a second chance that life denies us.” In my writing, I can create anything I want, and give it a happy ending, and mostly I do that.  Along the way, there may be tragedy, or hurtful events, but I try to create success and triumph in the end.  Here are some things I would be happy to achieve:

• If my stories help young people, by giving examples of kids persevering in difficult situations, then I will be very satisfied. 
• If my stories help young people overcome their own challenges, and perhaps find some inspiration, then I will be happy. 
• If my stories help young people find the tenacity and courage to succeed in their own lives, then I will be very pleased. 
• If my stories help achieve some better understanding among friends and families, then I will consider myself fulfilled.

I have found that I really enjoy writing.  When I write, I imagine that I’m in the scene, or watching the action, and I want to describe it as fully as I can.  What’s more, I can change the scene, or the dialogue, or the action, as much as I want.  Most importantly, I write for myself.  I write what I want to read.  I like Jesse Stuart's quote, “Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it.”

If even one young person finds some example in one of my books that he or she can use in their own life, then I will consider that every moment I spent writing those books was the best possible way to spend that time.

Thanks for reading,

Wil

Print or eBook? How about both? It's all reading, folks!

I'm amazed at the numbers of readers who get all upset about eReaders, and declaring that they will never switch from print books. Yeesh!

There was a recent piece in HuffPost, about using eReaders, and many of the comments were from people who said they'd never give up their print books. I'm thinking, 'So, don't.' I don't see anyone trying to pry a print book from anyone's fingers. Stick with print books, but know there's a place for both print, and eBooks. 

It's all reading, folks! No matter whether on a Tab, or an exclusive eReading device, or yes, a print book. Every method of reading has its place. Using an eReader or Tab app allows for making print larger for those who have difficulty with small print. Using an eReader or Tab app makes it easy to take lots of books when traveling. And, yes, it's nice to be able to sit with a real book, sometimes.

In the end, it's all about reading, and these days, there are multiple ways to read. We should celebrate that. As an author, I don't care how readers want to read my books, but I'm glad my readers have all the options.

Happy Reading,

Wil

Looking for Free eBooks for Young Adults?

Looking for Free eBooks for Young Adults? In January 2010, I started another blog, entitled Free eBooks for Young Adults, with occasional assistance from another Smashwords author.  I've listed over 130 free eBooks, and the number of views for that blog is now over 20,000.   I'm really pleased with that, and I hope the blog has helped many readers find books by my fellow YA authors. There are many, many good reads for Young Adults out there, and lots are available free.  I will continue to search them out, and list them on my other blog, Free eBooks for Young Adults.

Happy Reading, 

Wil