I just think it’s so simple to look at something and categorise it as being one thing or the other, but it’s never that simple. The more we define something as black or white, right or wrong, the easier it is to make the jump to something being immoral, or someone else being “lesser”. It’s something the media loves to do; you’re either for or against the war, liberal or conservative, but in the end doesn’t our need to put something in a neat box just show how narrow our point of view is?

I know I consider myself none of those things; I just try to be true to my instincts, and to do what feels natural in a situation. It’s worked so far. There are a few moral choices in Shards, but really what I’ve struggled with is making those choices seem like they’re something people might really make in dire circumstances. But I don’t think that’s what I have to do now; it’s not about justifying it as much as making it feel like an extension of their choices. In turn (I hope!) that should make them more real.

The crux of the story is just how far would you go if everything around you – your family, your life, your society – was threatened? Faced with something new that could destroy your way of life, is there a point you’d cross in protecting yourself that means you’d stop being human? And would you willingly cross it? That point is different for everyone, but I’d like to think I wouldn’t; there are some things that are just too important to lose.

Hehe, well I do have a few more readers than that! I have some very loyal readers of my blog and my stats are usually good; I meant more that I have a few less readers with my fiction. It’s been a while since I finished anything, so I need to rebuild my audience. I actually started Shards because an agent asked if I had anything to show them; I’m not sure I would show it to them now, but it’s definitely the novel I needed to write to know that I could. And I hope once I get these last few details ironed out that it’ll be a good read.