There is a school of thought that circles the internet that says professional entertainers shouldn’t talk about politics.
You’ll lose sales, they caution. You’ll turn away potential audience. Entertainment is some people’s escape from the real world!
Maybe this is true. The trouble is, whether or not that’s a good idea, the question comes, when you’re a writer, is it even possible?
My politics exist in my books. The narrative I’m building is full of characters striving towards a better world, and as the writer, I decide what that better world looks like. I decide who gets to have a happy ending. I decide the nature of the struggles my characters experience. All those ideas are shaped by my own personal beliefs of what is right, what is fair, and who gets to live the life they choose.
The point is, no one who reads my work should be shocked by my politics.
I live in the US, and this week, we inaugurated a new president. It is, shall we say, a relief. It hasn’t sunk in yet, the full impact of this change just on my mindset, but there is a dawning, tenuous sense of hope that I haven’t known for a while.
These last four years have not been great ones for creativity. Since the horror of election night in 2016, it has been as if a heavier and heavier weight has been tied to my brain and I’m only just now starting to tug at the ropes to see if it’s finally gone.
There are still a lot of problems in the world. There’s still a lot of work to do. But I’m starting to think maybe I can go back to thinking like a writer again. Maybe I can go back to being a writer again.
Thank you, everyone who’s been with me on this journey. Thank you, again, readers who have stuck with me through some…let’s say…irregular schedules.
It’s a New Year.
