Why I write fantasy

I've always loved the fantastic ever since I was a little child. When I was six or seven years old, my parents took me to see The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland. I read the book and wanted more. (I was always a voracious reader, devouring books dozens at a time.) As a result, I spent every penny I could scrape up on Oz books, of which there were many, not only by Frank L. Baum, but by Ruth Plumly Thompson and John R. O'Neil. When I grew older, I became interested in Science Fiction. In those days most SF was published in pulp magazines. I bought as many of those as I could afford. In addition to SF, they contained fantasy as well. From reading in these genres, I gradually came to the realization that I would enjoy writing fantasy and science fiction.

As an adult I took a mail order writing course and tried my hand at writing, short stories at first and gradually worked my way up to novel length. At first I had little time to devote to writing due to work and household duties. The internet and retirement started my career. At first I had short stories published in E-zines. Finally, I became a published E-book author.

My first venture into fantasy was a humorous adult fairytale I called the Book of Retslu, about a youth who wants to win the hand of a princess by winning a tournament and going on a quest. His problem was that his nemesis, an evil sorcerer, enchanted him so that he always went in the wrong direction. I followed this up with three sequels.

Mostly, however, I write dark fantasy about witches, demons and vampires. My Morgaine the demon witch series is up to ten novels. I've also written a series about a character I created for the Morgaine series. Her name is Raven Lenore, and she is a tough private eye and psychic. I like writing in this genre because of all the possibilities from trips to hell and fairyland, time travel, magic, science fictional concepts, the occult and interesting characters. (I have also written science fiction.)

My favorite fantasy novels and authors. There are many. I love Pierre Anthony's Xanth series, all the Oz books, anything by H.P. Lovecraft, Lord of the Rings of course, and novels by Marion Zimmer Bradley, especially The Mists of Avalon.

Why do readers love fantasy? I believe it is because fantasy takes you away from the humdrum world that most of us live in and into worlds of adventure, magic and mystery.

Would I write fantasy if no one read it? Probably. I think writers are cursed to write. We are like drug addicts, only story addicts. Ideas are always popping into my mind that I need to write down. I'll probably never write all the stories that I have ideas for. I'd to be immortal, like some of my characters.