This blog is supposed to be about writing cozy little murder mysteries, or maybe about pets and life in Littleton. But doggone it, I am first and foremost a writer. And the moral obligation of every writer is to tell our current human story with passion and concern.

I know several of my readers are authors and aspiring authors, or family members, so I’m writing today, not as Daisy’s creator, but as Liesa, a writer of passion and voice.

In my family I was raised to take action if action needed doing. If someone was cleaning, it was everyone’s job to help out. If someone was crying, we came together to hug, cry, and share the pain.  We shared our lives and the joys and sorrows within them because we knew that together, we could survive any craziness, challenge, or overwhelming situation.

Writer’s share these same human experiences with our words. We bring people close and encourage action.  We change the world with our words. This, to me, is a very high calling.

The Obligation Ignored

I forgot that obligation when the Columbine shooting happened less than a mile from my home fourteen years ago. My voice was not to be heard when the shootings occurred in West Nickel Mines School and five little Amish girls were killed. For Newtown, I made a Facebook comment and little more. And now, perhaps because I have not acted, I have not voiced my own disapproval of the violence that permeates our society, I am the silent good person. I am the good person who has not stood up, and more evil has prevailed.

Because this blog is supposed to focus on the happy world of fiction writing I don’t tend to write about my politics. Wouldn’t want to turn off potential novel readers. But as a writer, I need to express my repulsion of the evil that has been attacking our country with a steady increase of unbelievable violence.

The Boston Bombing

You can get the facts of the Boston Marathon Bombing across the Internet right now. The horror of thousands as hundreds were maimed and killed. We are all part of that community. We are all Bostonians in waiting . . . Until we as a community come together and demand that this violence stops.

It won’t happen solely at the hands of our government, as if our government is some far away entity that only touches our lives with its laws of inconvenience and inept efforts to come to terms with warring political parties.  We need to remember that government, at least in this country, is of, by, and for the people.  That’s us.

Change won’t happen with the soul-searching reverie of our political pundits, who will examine and debate to death what happened, until it can be neatly packaged into a drive-through-window of political slogans. Or empty gestures of flag flying that leave us donating more dollars to some good cause that doesn’t really solve our problem, THE problem.

As Writers We Write To Make A Difference

At the bottom of what we do as writers, is to give voice to the society of our age. We were blessed to be born into or to adopt this country as our own, where the freedom of speech is guaranteed, guaranteed in our Constitution.

But with every right, comes a certain amount of obligation. If, as writers, we don’t write about the hard stuff, the shootings and the bombings, and the lives gone awry, who will? Who will tell people that something is broken and needs attention? Who will generate or record ideas that may help solve the problem of violence in the United States of America?

All it takes for evil to prevail is for good people to sit aside and do nothing. We are good people. We need to act in good ways. The solution to our community’s apathy is for each of us to meet someone new today. Not necessarily through the Internet, but to reach out and care about the stranger on our street. Who is crying today? Who is happy? Facebook will not replace the warmth of a real hug, the salve of a willing ear, the power of the small person’s tale told by writers like us.

Let’s start today. Let’s reach out with love and concern for both the marathoners and our neighbors. Let’s make our voices of peace be heard. Let’s write with the pride, honor, and truthful passions of our profession.

We are writers. Let’s do our job and tell whomever bombed Boston that they are not going to get away with this.  Let’s tell Bostonians that we are with them in our hearts.  Let’s write how we can make good changes happen. Then make those good ideas so.