The world is a scary place. It’s frightening to think of nations that want to destroy other nations, instead of letting them live in peace. It’s upsetting to see how basic costs are going through the roof and making it hard to get by.

The stories I write, with flaws and strengths, are an attempt to give a respite from the headline news of doom and uncertainty and to allow a reader to enter a world where things are presented as black and white and where there is a right and a wrong.

The soldiers had a term for what happened when battle fatigue would overcome them. Shell shocked. When so much comes at you, too much more than can possibly be handled, and you go numb everywhere in your mind and you disengage from events.

The world can do that.

Fiction can be a place to get away and to rebuild yourself. In much the same way that getting away from the world and putting your favorite music on can sooth and rebuild your spirits and smooth out jangled nerves.

Art, music, books can all help shore up the sagging foundations one may encounter as we go through life with its joys and hardships.

But remember, you are never alone. If you have family, you are never alone. If you have friends, you are never alone. If you have books to read or music to listen to, you are never alone.

We all share in the same pain and joys daily. We think they are all private, and indeed they are, but strangely, we all go through the same feelings and share the pain and joy of living.