Royce Sears-Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author

It's "Little Moments Like These," as Brad Paisley - another West Virginian - says, that make all the effort and work of organizing one's thoughts and imagination into a work of fiction worth it. I just received this email from a reader who found "Prophecies of the New World" on the free promotional at www.smashwords.com. "Subject: Just Wow Hi! I finished reading the Prophecies of the new world. As I started reading it, I didn't even realize it was book 1. It was just something I picked up from Smashwords for free during lunchbreak. But wow! It was so captivating and mesmerizing! Loved to read it and craving for more! I hate it if a writer leaves the reader with a cliffhanger size of Scandinavia and have to wait ages for a sequel. This ending was just right for me , 'cos it left me hungry for more but not driving me crazy. Please tell me you're already working on the second book?" These are the moments that a writer lives...

     I just got home two days ago from an amazing week away from the mundane world. It was a week spent in the woods, away from technology, from computers and smartphones, from "normal" people, and the average goings on of everyday life. It was a week spent with beautiful, loving people who somehow exist beyond the spectrum of everyday life. Yes, each and every one of us who were there must function within the world around us, but we all live for those moments away from the harsh, cruel world that we find ourselves returning to after immersing ourselves in the glorious presence of other like-minded folks who see the Earth as a magical place.      In the safe space we have created, a realm of our own within the larger world around us, we laugh, we love, and we exist in a blissful state of peace that we wish would extend beyond the borders of our own small realm. We attempt to manifest and extend that peace beyond those borders as we work to help o...

Prophecies of the New World

NY Daily News: Dystopian fiction, and its appeal: Why do apocalyptic portrayals of existence dominate teen shelves? This article caught my attention. "What’s behind the surge of dystopian novels in the Young Adult department? In other words, why are nightmarish, futuristic alternate-realities suddenly sexy?" Lauren Sarner asks in her 2013 article linked above. In my opinion, the surge and popularity of dystopian fiction is closely related to the sense of powerlessness many younger folks have as they watch their elders make decisions that will affect their daily lives for many years to come with little to no regard for their, or anyone else's future. We have become a society intent on making the most profit--capitalizing on any given situation for the immediate gain-- with no regard to how our decisions may cause those "butterfly-effect changes" further down the road. I believe our young people see this trend as evidence of our self-destructive behavior a...