My reader, myself

We're always told to write about what we love, what we have a passion for.  And some of us wonder who we're writing for when we're given that advice.  We want to be published, we don't want our stories to languish in a drawer, being seen by our eyes only.  But the advice to write what we love goes deeper than that.  It includes the idea that we should be writing for our ideal reader, someone who is like us, and loves the things we do.  

I look at the people I meet when I'm out and about during the day and realise that most of them are as far from my ideal reader as I can get.  The vast majority of people I see are just too domestically focused to think about the future.  They're too busy cooing over their new baby, or idly enjoying their retirement.  These people just want a pleasant, easy way to get through their day, they don't want to be challenged about their lifestyle and beliefs.

And that's what I hope my writing does.  Challenge the supremacy of human beings and their coziness, urge people to think about the legacy they're leaving on this Earth, show them that other creatures have the right to exist on this planet too and we need to make space for them.

My views will alienate a lot of people, but I believe there is a readership out there that is interested in the ecology of the planet, that does understand that humans are just one unremarkable species among billions, and that there's no guarantee that they will survive long-term.

In short, I'm writing for people like me, people who haven't been sucked into the happy families dream, who retain some awareness of the natural world and its wonders, readers who look at the future and wonder if all its developments will be good for the Earth.

It's taken me a long time to come out and do this, to trust the reader will get my ideas without dumbing them down.  And also to have the courage to claim my ideas.  They run counter to the prevalent religion of the family which dominates our current culture.  My characters don't spend their time being controlled by family, they've broken free of them.  

That might lose me some readers, but it will gain me others.  It will gain me people like me, independently-minded people willing to question the way we currently live, and to consider alternatives.  And that's the best a writer can do in terms of changing the world.