If we told our children to stop imagining
If we took away their books
kept their minds from wondering
and wandering through worlds fantastic
unexplored
If we told them to limit their reading
to the philosophers, the mathematicians
measured science, and the events of now
what would we be killing?

**

What's wrong about writing fantasy and speculative fiction? What's wrong about a child who imagines dragons knocking at his door, the advent of a cosmic whirlwind, the creation of a galactic dog.

I still fight for the right to dream and imagine worlds unseen and unexplored. Perhaps my truths are not the truths of another. Does this mean I have to box up my imagination and tailor it to fit another man's perception of truth? I mean, look at how many truths we would have missed if we hadn't read The Brothers Grimm or listened to The Folktales our grandmothers and aunties told us.

Yes, I believe the bible is the ultimate truth, at the same time as I believe that imagination and the creative mind are divine gifts that we have no right to suppress.

Dr. Seuss demonstrates so clearly how we can suppress and oppress a child's imagination just by being too grown up. ( read Murlberry Street ). Which goes to why I love Seuss...I love it that his books encourage children to imagine and explore the worlds inside their heads.

So, when I am writing fantasy, I am returning to the child in me who walks through the park and sees falling stars walking among the trees.

**