I’m back!

I have returned to the good old US of A (or “the States,” as every single person abroad says) after a few months hopping around several undisclosed, sandy countries. It was only moderately unpleasant, and work went well enough I got several attaboys and two job offers, so I consider it all a success. Unknown when I’ll be leaving again. Was going to be next week, but that got delayed.

But who cares about work? What matters is what writing got done! While away, I finished two more chapters and have started on a third, bringing total completion to about 66%. I didn’t get as much done in my off time as I expected, but have confirmed I’m productive when sitting around airports with nothing else to do. I took a break after first getting back, but added a new section this past weekend. It involves sorcerous murder!

Now, I think I promised a post answering some questions I’ve been asked. This one is from just a few days ago. Why do I write?

WHY I WRITE

Short Answer: Because I must.

Long Answer: I’ve always created. I’m driven to. I started making fantastical worlds when I was five years old. I wrote humorous short stories based off Indiana Jones when I was seven, on my grandmother’s old typewriter. I tried outlining my first intended book when I was eight or nine. It was a military epic, with fleets and named ships, heroes, armies, towns, and the like. It went nowhere, of course, but laid the groundwork for some intricate maps and maritime concepts for when I was eleven, some few of which survived to be included in my present work. In middle school, I wrote a satirical history of local BBS culture written in revelatory, mythic style with vaguely blasphemous names for the chapters; Genocide, Excrement, and Deuteranopia, if I remember right. I sketched the grandfather of Terryth’s current map when I was in high school, on some powerful drugs for wisdom tooth removal. I even managed to get myself hired out as a freelance background writer before I went to college, through the magic of the Internet.

So you can see this goes back quite a way.

And this bizarre, inexplicable creative impulse probably poisons my attitude to writing, in comparison to other writers. People seem to think that I should view The Mountain Throne as a triumph, a milestone achievement of my life. My first published book. Such wow.

Except I don’t, really. It was exciting, of course, because it was all new and everything was on me (speaking of which, I’ve since discovered a minor typo in it…), but it’s just the highest reaching of many creations. I’ve written a complete tabletop RPG (and GM’d a playtest campaign for it), just for fun. I’ve made several board games, which were also successfully playtested (with two favorites; one long and political, one fast and automotive). I’m confident there will be more later.

I even draft things at work when I don’t have to.

So, I write because I must.