Breath of Life: Guest Post: Why This Genre? From Author Leeland Artra

So today on the blog I have author Leeland Artra talking about Why This Genre for us. Enjoy!

Why This Genre?

It is hard to believe we are all 99.9% genetically the same. With over seven billion people in the world every single person is still unique. We are all wired for storytelling; everyone I know loves a good story. The only difference is the type of story. With over seven billion possible fans there is someone for every genre. The beauty of it is that most of the seven billion are not dedicated to one narrow genre. People who read science fiction can also enjoy none fiction histories or fantasy romps without all those silly rules of science to constrain the possibilities.

Travel and adventure drive humanity. We all dream of going someplace new. As morbid as it is think about what will be your last thoughts of this life. Will they be thoughts like “I wish I could have clean my toilet one more time before I go” or “I really should have spent more time at the office”? Not likely people need to escape, to take trips. Even more important they need to connect with friends and family. Going on a real trip is fabulous but I can only afford to do this once or twice a year, if that. But reading a book takes much less time and far less money. Yet it is a shared escape from the day to day world regardless of the genre.

The greatest invention of humanity is the written language. With written language you may share thoughts with potentially every other intelligent being in creation. With written language you can share events which may or may not happen along with the inner most feelings and thoughts of those involved. Books are a great ways for me to connect my family and friends. If we read the same book we then have a shared memory, something to talk about and discuss. Books are magical because I can read a book when at any time or place, my friends read when they can and yet we both have the same shared experience across time and space.

I have dreams, great big dreams of fantastic things, the eternity of human spirit, the enduring courage of people to face the unknown, and of the need for people to stand up for what is right. I write the books I do because they are where my passion and dreams combine. I love fantasy and science fiction. I have always dreamed of a fusion of the two with the reality of our own existence. Why? Because I read everything I could find and the books I lost myself in where the science-fiction or fantasy novels. I love suddenly realizing hours have passed as I explored the fantastic lands and people of a novel.

It is because of the hundreds of universes I have explored and hundreds more I hope to find that I write fantasy and science fiction. I write the books I’d like to read. I have met dozens of other authors and thousands of readers who are like minded. We have a shared experience and we love to talk about it. New fans are pointing me at books I never would have found if not for meeting them.

If you want to be a writer, write what you are a passionate about. Write the books you want to read. Don’t wait for tomorrow, start writing today. Perhaps one day we can talk about a common experience from your book over coffee. I would like that.

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