Karen Jackson asked Michael J. Sullivan:

What inspires you to write?

Michael J. Sullivan I suspect most writers are like I am, in that we write because it's what we HAVE to do. I spent more than a decade without writing in my life, and I don't want to return to that dark time...not ever. But an important corollary question is why do I write the types of books I do because the answer to that is the root source of my inspiration.

Let me start out by noting that my genre (fantasy) has gone a bit grimdark in recent years. Apparently, there was a perception that knights in shining armor needed to step aside for a more realistic depiction of the protagonist...and hence the anti-hero was born. Instead of rising to the occasion these new protagonists sink to the depths of depravity. This change in fantasy happened while I was absent from the genre...I'd taken to reading other works as a means to expand my horizons, and when I wrote my own books, books that had a more upbeat perspective, I found that I was bucking a trend that I didn't even know to exist!

Don't get me wrong, my books aren't all rainbows and butterflies. There are hardships, deaths, and heartache, but even as my characters stumble and fall they are on the path to becoming better people. They are striving to do the right thing.

Some would call such depictions as "unrealistic" or maybe "naive." People are quick to point to news reports filled with reprehensive behavior, but I'm reminded time and again of acts of extreme kindness and heroism that are ofttimes underreported. Maybe I wear rose-colored glasses, but my reality seems much different than other people's. And how can that be? My answer is that reality is subjective, and a person's perception is integral to how they view the world around them.

There is a speech that Robert DeNiro gives to Halley Joel Osmet in the movie Second Hand Lions, that goes like this:

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil, and I want you to remember this, that love...true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in."

And that, more than anything else, is what inspires me to write the books I pen. I believe in the things worth believing in, and if my stories can interject a little bit of that optimism into the world...if I can help others to feel that same sense of hope and goodwill toward their fellow man that I feel, then I will have added to making the world a better place. Grandiose? Maybe. But shouldn't an inspiration strive toward a high ideal? Okay, maybe I''m just a born romantic. But it works for me and I'm sticking with it.

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