Guest Post on Fresh Fiction: Why I write -- and read -- Urban Fantasy

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Southern Magic Readers' Luncheon in my home town of Birmingham, Alabama, where I met one of the editors for the Fresh Fiction website. As they say down here, we got to talking, and I pitched my writing/psychology blog posts as a possible guest spot for them. She was interested, and so today, I am very excited to say I have a guest post on the Fresh Fiction site.

In a recent blog interview, someone asked me why I write fantasy. My answer was that I always wanted the world to be more interesting than it really is. For example, one autumn morning when I was a child, I looked out to see a leaf that looked like a little fairy perched on a wind-tossed tree branch. I imagined it was a tiny gnome hanging on for a wild ride. When I got older and discovered the genre of urban fantasy, where magical elements are part of ordinary life, I was hooked.

As a psychologist, I can't help but ponder the question of why I and others like fantasy, and especially urban fantasy, from a psychological perspective. There's definitely the aspect of wanting more magic in life, but I believe it goes deeper. A lot of the problems people come to me with end up boiling down to how they handle real or perceived power imbalances, both externally and within themselves. Urban fantasy is a great way to explore power and how it works – and could work – in our world.

So, with that in mind, here are some reasons I write and read urban fantasy: 

To read the rest, click here.

Another reason to check it out? Comment at the Fresh Fiction site for a chance to win an electronic copy of The Mountain's Shadow.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by, and have a great weekend!

Readers on the Couch: Guest Blog at the Mesdames of Mayhem

I wasn't able to post this one right away since I was at a conference and my iPad wouldn't see the wireless. My newest guest post is at the Mesdames of Mayhem, where I discuss why we love mysteries from a psychological point of view.

As a psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist, I hear the following three complaints most often in my practice:

1. I can’t sleep.
2. My mind won’t stop racing.
3. Why is this anxiety/depression/sleep problem happening to me?

I address the first two a lot. The third one doesn’t come up quite as often because people, being naturally curious about themselves and their own lives and minds, usually have a good idea of how their sleep problems started. However, when I ask if they can think of what kicked off their insomnia, about ten to twenty percent of patients frown, wrinkle their noses, and eventually admit they can’t say why or give some vague answer like “stress, but my life has always been stressful, so I’m not sure that’s it.” Some are very distressed that they can’t figure out the origin of the problem because, as human beings, we like to have explanations. Knowing why gives us a sense of control.

To read the rest, click here.

Don't forget that my debut novel The Mountain's Shadow is now available in all electronic formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other ebook retailers.