Why do we write? Perhaps I should rephrase the question: why do you write? To create the perfect world? The utopia, full of excitement and happily-ever-afters? We writers have the means to create, and share, a great story, and we have a strong compulsion to do so. Why us and not others?

When I write family stories, memoirs, and creative nonfiction, I seek to define myself by bringing to life those whom I knew and loved. It’s revitalizing to relive past lives, past events. I can almost feel the presence of my long-departed family and friends as I write their stories, sharing these stories in the age-old art of storytelling.

But I don’t always write family stories, real stories about real people. I also write food stories and garden stories, to share my personal experiences in two pastimes I thoroughly enjoy. By creating a story around a favorite food, like homemade pizza, I’m reliving past moments when pizza became a part of my eating experience. One of my first food stories published centered around the era of pizza making kits and my siblings’ attempts to follow the directions. The end result was a sloppy mess and I chose an egg salad sandwich over mushy pizza. It made for a good story as I introduced my own recipe for homemade pizza.

And my life in a garden? From edibles like zucchini to wildflowers like trout lilies, I have a story to share.  By weaving a story about my rhubarb patch in the garden, I’m sharing stories of my great grandfather, whose rhubarb I’ve inherited. I love the endless possibilities of stories from my garden.

I also write historical fiction and fantasy. Am I trying to rewrite history? Rewrite life itself? I don’t think so. However, I do enjoy playing with facts. As my father always said, “There has to be a better way.” I guess that’s what I’m doing with my writing: creating what I perceive as a better way. The fun with writing fantasy and time travel stories is that your own imagination is the limit. Anything goes. Within reason and within the perspective of reason. Or is it?

We all know that happily-ever-after and utopia don’t exist. At least, not outside the imagination. Why write about it? Well, considering the horrific events invading our planet, the pandemics, wildfires, destructive storms, irrational warfare, it’s no wonder we seek a realm of escapism. That’s what it is, after all. A means to escape the frightening realities around us.

I write fantasy and historical fiction to escape and have fun in my make-believe world. I write family stories to enjoy the act of resurrecting those I love and making them stand out for all time.

Perhaps the ideal of writing what we know, writing about ourselves, our families, our lives, will not guarantee manuscript sales. However, it does guarantee that in our writing we are true to ourselves. We have to remember that what we write is permanent and we should ask ourselves if we want future generations to read all that we have written. If we can truthfully answer ‘yes’, then we have found our inner voice, our writer’s voice.

I have to believe that I am being true to myself as I venture from one story-writing adventure to another. The world is full of stories just waiting to be told. On a recent CBC radio interview, I was asked why I thought my mother’s story was so important, why my mother’s life was so significant that I should write an entire book. When I was submitting my grandmother’s story years ago, I frequently received rejection letters from big-name publishers telling me that they would only consider a biography of a famous person. My argument since then has been, how many books do we really need about famous people, when there are so many un-famous, more than ordinary, extra-ordinary, beyond the ordinary lives whose stories should be, need to be told. These are the stories that make our world, that define our world and our lives; these are the stories that describe who we are. Extra-ordinary people – we are all extra-ordinary, we all have a story to tell, our story.

I still love the mellow, soothing aura of storytelling and many of my stories, though sometimes delving into the realms of fantasy and science fiction, still use my own childhood memories, my fascination with history, and all that I have enjoyed writing about in the past.

I continue to write little snippets of family stories and memoirs which I publish in various online and print journals, including https://insteading.com/ and http://www.curiousguide.ca/. I seem to be branching off into the realm of possibilities: fantasies and science fiction, but all with a foot firmly planted in my roots, my family, and my vivid imagination. “Queen Mary’s Daughter” evolved from my shared passion with my grandmother for Scottish history. My recently released Middle-Grade fantasy series, “The Piccadilly Street Series”: “Mrs. Murray’s Ghost”, “Mrs. Murray’s Hidden Treasure” and “Mrs. Murray’s Home” (Tell-Tale Publishing), explores my memories, dreams, and fantasies of growing up in a haunted house.

So, why do you write? I know why I write. Perhaps my stories are or aren’t a happily-ever-after utopian existence. But by writing, I feel good about myself. I feel like I’ve accomplished something permanent, everlasting. I have somehow made a difference. I have become, through my writing, immortal. Powerful thoughts, don’t you think? Obviously, my drive to writing is to find the happily-ever-after utopia in the written word and the act of writing itself.