…slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men.

The trouble with believing you are invincible is that at some point the reality is that life whispers in your ear and you discover the dark secret of mortality. Yesterday I was confronted with that truth I believe for the first time in my life and much to my surprise, I didn’t take it too well.

Woody Allen once said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.” The concept that there is some finite point where everything stops certainly never registered with me when I was a young man. To be fair I’ve clung to the misguided denial of frailty for some time now.

Death it seems comes to us all. I’d kind of hoped I could delay thinking about it too seriously and I guess that’s how many if not most of us deal with the eventuality. I’ve witnessed it at close hand and used that experience in crafting much of my work. Perhaps it is most evident in Little Big Boy.

Editing Darkly Wood II The woman who never wore shoes, I have realised how I allow those thoughts to creep into much of what I do. I’m a dweller, a contemplator and an explorer, but I also live in denial. On paper, I have created a world of death and darkness in both Darkly Wood books, and only now as I put finishing touches to the second book have I been inspired by a new revelation.

I am such a hopelessly emotional writer. No matter what the subject matter, I have to inject my spirit and mood, my passion and vulnerabilities into the story. It is not something I can control, nor do I ever want to. I think it is this very thing that makes each very different Max Power book feel familiar, despite the huge differences in genre and structure.

The odd tear shed or heart ache felt as I write, seems to help me find a voice that people can connect to. That I can smile and laugh as the thoughts roll onto the page, is equal to the drip of torment, the lick of fear or the soft touch of passion that I want to share with my readers.

But can I ever share the true nature of what it feels like to be so vulnerable or afraid, when there is the scent of mortality hanging in the air. I have found a new challenge in my writing and one which as always with me, has made me rethink a little, one particular piece of the work I am editing. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, I am more inclined to say you are never too old to learn.   I thought I could write forever, though it seems that is not the case. I may have to change my approach, quicken or slow my tide to suit. How foolish are we to pretend we can sail beyond the boundaries of our ocean.   To finish where I began with a Woody Allen quote; “Eternity is really long especially near the end.”  Now time to write more books I think…

Max Power’s books include, Darkly Wood, Larry Flynn Bad Blood and Little Big Boy

You can find more details about Max Power’s books here : – http://www.amazon.com/author/maxpower

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