Wrestling with real life and the lives of my characters is an interesting political, social and psychological experience. The massive spread of conspiracy theories via social media in the past fifteen years, the election of the Trumps and Morrisons in so-called democratic governments, the rise of fascists, the cult of the individual are grist to the mill for writing. We have always lived in a world divided between the exceptionally wealthy (and often powerful) and everyone else. There is really only ONE ‘conspiracy’ that operates – how the powerful rich manipulate everyone else so they retain their wealth and power. And let’s be honest – it’s not a conspiracy: it’s blatantly obvious. Plenty of studies show that in Australia, for example, ten percent of our population controls half the country’s wealth, and one percent of the population has nearly fifty times the wealth of sixty percent of the population: (example reports: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australians-are-the-fourth-richest-people-in-the-world-so-how-is-60-per-cent-of-the-population-living-in/kpwzndngn
and
https://mccrindle.com.au/article/topic/demographics/australias-household-income-and-wealth-distribution-2/).
​The gap between the exceptionally wealthy and those struggling to pay mortgages etc is massive. But the wealthy, with Government complicity, are left alone because enough middle-class Australians have enough comfort not to complain too loudly. The rich and the governments ensure sufficient ‘bread and circuses’ satiate the masses. Ironically, Australia’s average middle class individual is still in the world’s top ten percent of wealthy people!
 
After that, the little conspiracies are those perpetrated by the ambitious and selfish – those members of the comfortable middle class who do whatever they have to do to leap across the chasm from ‘well-off/comfortable’ to wealthy. Hardly anyone bridges that gap.
 
Behind all of this economic and social inequality is one simple human flaw – greed – frequently expressed in individualism and the demand for individual freedom. “I want what I want and no one else should be allowed to stop me. I shouldn’t have to pay taxes to support others. Government should not interfere with my ambitions and needs. Users of things should pay and non-users shouldn’t have to pay. I shouldn’t have to follow regulations I didn’t create. Why should I obey a government I didn’t vote for?” The list is almost endless of the complaints and cries for the rights of the individual over the basic needs of the community. And the same people who call the majority of Australians ‘sheep’ are themselves ‘sheep’ as well, caught in apparently alternative ideological frameworks that still play into the hands of greedy people seeking power for themselves. The conspiracists are, themselves, victims of conspiracies.

Yesterday, I wandered across to the Adelaide Oz Comic Con. I haven’t been to a writing convention for ages, and the last time I went to this one I came home with Aragorn’s sword. Yesterday, though, I caught up with a colleague – Emerson Ward – artist, and we chatted and hopefully we’ve made some plans.
 
Comic Cons are amazing. Apart from the creators of awesome characters and stories and stunning comic art, I’m always blown away by the commitment and passion of the cos-play people who bring their favourite characters to life. What greater compliment to a creator than to see their work replicated irl (in real life)?
 
Yesterday reminded me that professional writing is far from an isolated lifestyle because of readers. Readers make writing live. Their passion gives authenticity and meaning to a writer’s work. And that means writers need publishing outlets to reach their readers. Those outlets for the lucky few are the big publishing houses. For a few more, the smaller publishing houses become valuable conduits between them and their readers. And then there are the self-publishing companies that provide outlets for millions more. Readers need writers. Writers need readers.
 
Of course, there is writing for therapeutic outcomes – the action of writing only for yourself so that you can explore yourself and your life without judgement.
 
I have no idea how much creators make from the booths they set up at the conventions. It must demand significant cost – booth hire, enough product to sell, shipping if the convention is interstate. I am going to look into it and Emerson and I talked about sharing a booth in 2024, showcasing his art and my writing. And that issue – how can an unknown make any meaningful money out of writing – can be a topic for the next blog.
 
Well, this page has black marks over it. Now I can open a different one.