Friday, October 19, 2007

Why I Write # 194: Sam Millar

“‘From a very early age, perhaps the age of five or six, I knew that when I grew up I should be a writer,’ said George Orwell in his essay, Why I Write. And there you have it in a nutshell: why I write. I write because it’s the only good thing I’m good at. Of course, people who’ve read my books might say I’m not even good at that … I can’t paint landscapes or do heart transplants, and jigsaw puzzles are beyond me. Writing is the only bare-knuckle craft I’ve ever shown any particular ability in. Creating characters from a naked canvas is almost god-like, and depending on my mood swings, I can, just like god, inflict terrible retribution on them, sometimes even horrible deaths. And get away with it. Sweet. Where else would you get this dark satisfaction? I write because I want to prove the rejection letters wrong. I write that one day a stranger might stop me in the street and tell me he/she read my latest novel – and loved it. Even if the critics despised it. But most of all I write because I love to …”

Sam Millar’s Bloodstorm will be published in spring 2008.

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Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.