Stories are doors.
Can’t visit that place? Read a story. Can’t do that thing? Read a story. Can’t meet that person? Read a story.
The stories we hear shape how we see the world.
Have you ever been having a conversation with someone and suddenly realized that one of you had no idea what the other is talking about? We communicate by using common codes — words and sentences serve this purpose on a fundamental level, but shared references and stories that we all know also accomplish similar things.
The stories we tell reveal what we believe.
Realizing that someone has no idea who Robin Hood is, and that he steals from the rich and gives to the poor, is eye-opening. So is having a hundred people stare at you when they realize you don’t know that about the Butterfly Lovers’ forever-unfulfilled romance.
And the stories we invent bring the future a little closer.
A wise man once said, “Without vision, the people perish.” Of course, everything starts as fiction; just because I can imagine it doesn’t mean it’ll happen. However, if you can’t – or won’t – imagine it, it definitely won’t happen.
Here are a few of my projects:
The Crown of Secrets – a collection of fantastical short stories for children, illustrated by artists from around the globe
The Third Tower – a short story for young readers about a girl’s journey from her city to the Third Tower
Desert Mass – a synthesis of story, music, and liturgy about the cycle of revelation and understanding
Worlds (on Into the White) – a very short story about perspective
Destiny 2: The Bones of Nessus – a short story about the allure of mystery, set in the Destiny universe
Myths of the Middle Kingdom (forthcoming) – a collection of the most important myths from China that you’ve never heard, as they’re understood by the people who live in their shadow
The Mamo Fragments (forthcoming) – a middle-grade novel in which two young Pearlings flee the destruction of their home only to find that the world is full of bigger problems than they knew