Authors write for all kinds of reasons I suppose. Some for money some for fame, for a career or as an avocation, because someone challenged them perhaps. Maybe it is to entertain or to enlighten, to frighten or to move to tears or to laughter. Yet, I suspect that, whatever the superficial reasons, underneath it all, we write because we must. It is what makes us happy. It is what fulfills us. It is what gives us joy. And, I am very certain, it is what helps us “find our soul”. That is what is most important and most universal.

Some contend that there is, in spite of what you might think, only one story. One mega story told in variation since the beginning of human kind. If there is even a speck of truth in that belief one can see how difficult it is to craft a story that, not only rings true, but that also feels new. Whether it is fiction or historical fiction or non-fiction; whether the media is poetry or dramatic dialogue or short story or novella or any other platform  the challenge for the writer remains the same.

When creating a story, the author by necessity, not only discovers more about the world we live in but more about his or her self as well. It is virtually impossible to create characters and a world that belongs to them without learning more about yourself and your own world. This journey and the consequent discovery of “our soul” is the true passion that drives every author to write no matter the other rewards or lack there of.

Personally, I find this discovery is enhanced by travel. There is, for me at least, no better way to find oneself and the world in which we live. The discovery of places, people, cultures and history that make up our present world and the worlds that have come before us is invaluable to me as an author. Consequently, my travel blogs are as much about what influences my writing as they are about the adventure itself.

So, if you are an author or just someone who enjoys blogs or a friend I have bribed to follow me, check out my travel blogs as well as my other blogs that are simply about the art and challenge of writing.