Writing is weird. There are all these people and places that exist entirely in my head. Yet they feel entirely real to me, so much so that the personalities take over, and all I can do is follow along as best as I can while they get themselves into—and, I hope, out of—trouble. I get angry at my characters when they do dumb things. I feel awful when bad things happen to them. I’m joyful when they’re happy.
And the places? I can see them as clearly as I see my own home. More so, sometimes, because I’ve been known to walk into real-life doorframes and trip over my furniture, and half the time I can’t remember where I put my phone or left that glass of water. But man, I know exactly what’s on Jimmy’s nightstand or inside Nevin’s cupboards, and I can picture the precise color of Colby’s bedroom walls.
It’s also strange because once I get these imaginary people and places into stories and then share them with readers, my fabrications become real for readers too. I think—I hope!—that Aric and Zephyr feel like friends to a lot of people, and that there’s a whole crowd out there that can imagine standing on the moor above Croftwell or gazing at Dylan’s pond.
Sometimes my fictional creations find their way into my life in very tangible ways. I just finished edits on an urban fantasy called Crow’s Fate. As the title suggests, corvids play a role in the story. And suddenly I’m noticing the jays, magpies, ravens, and crows in my life. I work facing out into my small backyard, where scrub jays are frequent visitors, especially if I put out some treats. Recently I started setting almonds out there, and for the first time I’ve seen crows landing in my yard. The jays are Not Pleased. Their interactions are so entertaining that I just ordered ten bounds of raw peanuts and a bag of dried mealworms. It sort of feels like an omen that the crows appeared when they did.
When I think about it, writing is a powerful form of magic. And now I’m off to don my pointy hat, the one with the stars and moons on it. You can guess who my familiar is.
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Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
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