My two main objectives as a writer 🧐

When I started writing years ago, my main objective was to create compassion and understanding. I wanted people to understand other people's perspectives and situations with less judgment. I felt like people were cold and cruel as a teenager, so my writing allowed me an avenue to potentially make the world a little kinder.

Of course, that was my objective as a teenager when I still was idealistic about the world and thought it could be a little kinder and more compassionate. These days I'm a little less optimistic and focus more on my second objective as a writer, to make people think.

In my books, I bring up various topics and issues in hopes that people consider the opinions of my characters or the general situations they're to see other points of view. I write about criminals, so my characters have a unique perspective on everything. Some of the topics I bring up are indigenous issues, government, Big Pharma, family issues, and many other things throughout my series to encourage different ideas or thoughts. Of course, there are minor topics that deal more with everyday life too.

Since Jorge Hernandez is the protagonist in my books, the views are through his lens and often are blunt, direct, and harsh. He's not one to pussyfoot around, which may feel like a brick on the side of the head, but that's who he is and how he expresses himself.

I'm sure most writers have more simple objectives, such as to entertain people, and I probably should too. Don't get me wrong, that is in there, but as a writer, I've always had to have something more to keep me motivated, and this is it.

How much symbolism is in my books? 🧐

I can't speak for other authors, but the symbolism is a big part of my writing process. Jorge Hernandez brings a whole collection of symbols that relate to the world around me. Whether he's stabbing someone in a fit of rage or telling the Canadian prime minister what to do, my protagonist is demonstrating (in a very literal sense) what many of us think the super-powerful do in the real world. 

Jorge Hernandez's approach to life may seem brutal and exaggerated to those who read my books, but this often represents the more subtle ways that someone in his position may affect the average Canadian. For example, Jorge Hernandez may kill someone (literally) in my books. In the real world, it may be the actions that someone powerful takes that cause death. Let's say they created a product that hurt people or made a decision that had a tragic effect on citizens. 

Not to suggest that there aren't powerful people who murder people, but that's a whole other topic for another day.

Getting back to what I was saying, Jorge Hernandez often takes a very literal approach to what the elites may not as boldly demonstrate in the real world. For example, he openly talks about controlling the government. Although we may not doubt that the super-powerful do control the government, chances are you aren't going to get many of them admitting it. Then again, we are following his character around and are aware of his many private conversations where he talks about things we like to believe is just the arrogance of a dramatic character, but don't we kind of think this happens behind closed doors?  

One of the best examples is my latest title, Psychopaths Rule the World. Although it sounds like a powerful title that may be a tad exaggerated, many people might be inclined to agree. The cover for this book has two men shaking hands with blood dripping off them which says it all, wouldn't you agree?