I write for many reasons.

There are stories in my head that I have to get on the page and out into the world. Characters who talk and talk and talk until I finally share their stories. Random historical tidbits that inspire a “well, what if …?” moment and set me to writing. A call for submissions that strikes my fancy. A request from a friend or colleague. My own need for a happy ending, for the good guys to win the day.

Lately, I have been writing more out of spite.

There is lots of ugliness in the world right now. The people who should be serving and protecting the rest of us are looking after only themselves. The incompetent and corrupt hold the highest offices in the land, and their corruption is spreading.

It can be hard, some days, to feel hopeful. It can be hard to infuse my writing with encouragement, to find inspiration in optimism and beauty.

On days like that, when I still need to write, when I have to write, I do so out of spite.

I’m still here. You can’t silence me. I will write my stories of a just world. I will write my stories in which justice and kindness and wisdom win out over ignorance and hatred. I will write my stories filled with queer characters and women and brown people having grand adventures, fighting the bad guys, and saving the world. I will write stories in which humanity protects and values the environment, other species, and one another. I will write stories in which science and religion and philosophy work together to carry humanity forward, into a better and brighter future. I will write stories that offer strength and hope to those who read them, even when I am feeling hopeless and weak myself.

I’m still here. And I will not be silent.