Some do not like surprises, so they explain 'coincidence' through practical and analytical methods. Not me. I think of Fate sometimes having a hand, and maybe sometimes a mischievous imp who is in the mood to have fun by teasing me.

I was at @papa-pepper writing a comment (and asking a question). I happened to see a comment which showed a mind similar to mine in the way of thinking, so I clicked to go to her blog page. There, I found my feelings confirmed by the kind of articles I saw she had/has posted, so I clicked on follow and then chose an article to read because it is what most interests me.

And here I am!

Having looked through the subjects of your publishing, I know you will not be interested in my kind of writing, though I have a short story I should publish which is just slightly romantic that I think you might enjoy, but I also used it for the characters to teach me a lesson I needed to learn about myself and someone I have loved all my life. Hmm, okay, I'll post it tomorrow , the original short story about 'Little Cherine'.

I'd love to see that you read it and have your comment. {It is my first story ever, written about 17 years ago, but it led me to starting a novel about the same characters, which has a different basis and is more of a Fantasy novel than Science Fiction}.

Why am I telling you all this? Imagine an old man, a loner but an incurable romantic, trying to write about the life of a girl. I had to be her whenever I wrote and I would say that the one comment I have treasured above all others from a reader was when he told me he really wished he could have had a daughter just like her. Another, reader, an artist, sent me a painting of his, showing me his little daughter who had died and he told me that my story re-awoke his pain, for it was as if I have met his daughter and was describing her in more depth than he could have.

I also fell in love with her and some of the other characters, with the result that I have written the equivalent of 26,000 pages and am still writing. I've had lucid dreams about them, seeing them, sharing an adventure or two with them and so on. I really, really wish I could move to their universe.

All along, what has dominated my thinking is that it does not matter if the fantasy is believable, well thought out and so on, as much as it matters that my characters, however odd and alien, are real. Entering their world and sharing their emotions, it is what brings them to life for me - and hopefully, for my readers.

See? I finally did arrive at the point I was wanting to make. Reading articles like yours makes me feel less of a freak (I am often told by family to 'grow up' for being such an impractical romantic- lol) for still caring to depend on emotions for making my stories real.

PS: I do not see any button for 're-steeming' so I probably cannot because I'm too new? Maybe one day then.

Oh dear, I had to hit 'Edit' so as to ask, my short story, would it matter if I post it in one go, or should I split it into 4 page posts? Which would you prefer?