I had recently come across a Stephen King quote that somehow I missed (or sadly forgotten), and yes it was in the form of a meme.  I must have been blind, blonde (bottled one too many times), or dumb to the fact.  We really do have something in common.  Each one of you could probably relate.  It is so simple, so elegant, and yet so true.  The fact that it comes from one of my big idols makes it even better. No matter what, I had forgotten the simplicity, yet meaningfulness, of a quote. We all get caught up in so many things as it is and I may have done it all too much, or just so completely wrapped up in writing or life in general that it passed me on by.  If it were the latter I definitely wish that it weren’t the case, although it probably was.  Writing takes a lot out of people (and those writers out there reading this know exactly what I’m talking about) mentally and physically.  Let’s not even talking about editing and  correcting the grammar. On top of that, life never stops for a single moment to give us a break, only a distraction; good or bad.  I have had a LOT of distractions as of late, and maybe someday I can share, but for the moment we’ll just leave it that my head and heart are heavy and in my entire being they’re cranked up to 11.

BUT, on the saying, I started thinking that these two things went perfectly together.

“Monsters are real, ghosts are real too. They live inside us,and sometimes, they win.”

Simple. Whether you believe in monsters or ghosts, anything supernatural; all that is moot.  That’s not what it is saying.  It is telling us we each have our own demons and internal thoughts that we wrestle with every single day and unfortunately we don’t always come out on top.

Personally I have been wrestling with both.  The Monsters are quite grand are not the cute fluffy blue kind you see in the movies.  They scream at me from all corners of the earth and there are days those get defeated, which makes for great days.  The ghosts, well lets just say I have a lot of ghosts.  As secretive as I am about quite a few things, my ghosts are definitely ones that stay there surrounding me in vapors and sometimes it seems like they hold hand in hand with the monsters. Those days there is no way to win.  On the days I am given hope or feel like a ninja (too many movies on Netflix give me the feeling I can be a ninja or do Kung Fu sometimes) I pass through the thick walls of smoke and emerge victorious even for just a moment.  

What does all this have to do with anybody else?  Think about all your monsters, demons, your ghosts.  Realize that some days there is no winning.  Those days suck, and sometimes it can get really bad where all you see is nothing but black days.  The main thing is that every now and then there has to be a peek of light, right?  Humble yourself, realize defeat, and fight another day; hopefully with the help of someone who can hold you up even if for just that day. Tears flood, anger boils, it can be too much.

Every now and then those monsters, the anger, the heartache, the grief, the happiness that comes with it makes for a great writing tool. The ghosts make you who you are no matter how evil, sad, or traumatizing they were. You would be surprised what emotion you can tap into when those days are around.  If you are at the right moment it just makes what you’ve written even more profound if not just to you.  During the writing of Vampire Realm: Rise of a Queen, so many things had gone on in my mind and life that I would think you could feel the emotions.  I didn’t just write on the pages I put my soul on the paper.  

If I were one to pay attention, I would follow my own instructions.  I should be tapping into my own inner self to bring magic to the pages.  If only I were at a point where I could write what I’m feeling without veering from the storyline at all.