Over the years, I've received many comments about my writing. It seems the one thing that infatuates everyone is -- why is your writing so dark? Why does someone die in nearly everything you write? Aren't you happy? Hmm...I find those to be some heavy questions. However you, the reader, are entitled to an answer since you take some of your well earned time to read my work. Yes, I'm happy, though very morbid. The bottom line: a story--a character--can not become precious to me unless the audience knows that character is only human, only mortal. Think about some of the great character franchises in modern day literature/film. Superman...James Bond....Luke Skywalker -- I love all of these characters. But I hardly pay attention to them anymore. Why? It's simple the franchises are old, boring, stale. How man ebola coctails can James Bond drink and not die? Perhaps he needs a smarter super model in his next flick. Superman has been killed and resurected and killed and resurected again...how quaint, how dull. And Luke--his universe has become such a snore, I doubt I will even bother to get out of bed to watch the next Star Wars movie. The force is no longer with Star Wars. In real life, death makes our lives precious, our time important, becuase it's all temporary. The same with literature. What is the point of caring about a story, if in the end the good guy always wins, always survives relatively unscathed? On a further note, I have a morbid fascination with death and what lies on the other side. Original writing is hard to do. It's rare to create something that will please everyone and have a great story. I'm pleasing myself and if no one likes it...well that's too bad because someone has to die. Now, having made that point, perhaps I'll break it. George Lucas--pay attention--no one wants to know the out come before they read the book.