It Has Never Been More Important to Tell Our Stories!
Imagine a land where stories are banned and storytellers are jailed…or worse.
I'm not talking about current events. I'm talking about the Q’ntana of The MoonQuest, a savage tyranny where fear rules and even the phrase “once upon a time” is outlawed...a story I conceived more than 30 years ago.
In this silenced land, as legend has it, the moon is so saddened by the brutality that she sheds tears that extinguish her light. As the reign of terror intensifies, Toshar, one of Q’ntana’s few surviving bards (storytellers), is dispatched on an uncharted journey to restore hope to the land and light to its darkened moon.
Guided only by the stories that come to him as he tells them, the young man and his three companions travel to the farthest reaches of the kingdom and beyond, chased by the King’s Men, an army of black shirts, black masks and black mounts determined to hunt them down.
Today (and every day in recent months), I am more and more disturbed by the parallels I see between what I "imagined" and what plays out on the streets of this country and in those headlines that bother to report it.
At the same time, I am awed by the power of the stories we free to tell themselves through us...stories we could never have consciously planned out or plotted...stories that, as I say in all my writing books and workshops, constantly prove themselves to be infinitely smarter than we are.
And I am increasingly convinced that, just as in Toshar's Q'ntana, it's our stories, our dreams, our imagination and our vision – the voice that expresses them and the wisdom that derives from them – that will change the world.
It has never been more important to tell our stories. Please, tell yours!
When Art Unconsciously Mirrors Reality
In the Q’ntana of The MoonQuest, one of the punishments faced by storytellers and other enemies of the state is execution; their heads are then staked on a “Wall of Traitors.”
I couldn’t know, when the Wall of Traitors first showed up in my story, that a real-life version exists at Singapore’s (perhaps aptly named) Hell’s Museum. In fact, I learned about it only a few weeks ago.
I won’t infringe on the photographer’s copyright by reproducing the image here, but check it out for yourself in this National Geographic article.
As you live the real-life MoonQuest of these times, read the fictional version and be reassured by its message of hope and redemption.
Get a copy of The MoonQuest and its Q’ntana sequels signed to you from this website, or look for them in paperback or ebook from online booksellers worldwide. If you prefer to hear me read The MoonQuest, the audiobook is available on Audible and Apple Books.
Need help telling your stories? My Summer Writes workshop series will not only introduce you to my Muse Stream writing technique but will get you writing, with guided meditations and visualizations designed to get your stories out of you and onto the page — the stories you know…but also the stories you don’t yet know you know. Space is limited, so don’t wait to sign up!
Can’t work Summer Writes into your schedule? My new Mark David Gerson School of Writing has many resources — books, recordings, downloadable courses and more — that you can experience on your own time and at your own pace, as well as breakthrough coaching programs tailored to your individual needs.
However you do it, with my help or on your own, let your voice be heard. It has never been more important to tell your stories.
