Welcome to the Realm!

As memory serves, it all begins somewhere in 2008. Motivated mostly by boredom and some sort of creative bug, I began to compose my thoughts on the time-travel trope in contemporary science fiction stories. I posted this to my personal Facebook notes page, and it was an instant hit.

Oh, the ideas I posted in that initial offering weren’t exactly original, but the humor and cadence of my writing caught the attention of a few friends, and with some insistent prodding, I created my first blog, entitled Topher’s Ramblings. The name “Topher” at that time was a play on my name “Christopher,” and until then, I had gone by the name Chris. Topher, however, became a sort of sarcastic, overly-confident alter-ego. Writing as Topher gave me a profound sense of joy. I even joined social media sites with the initial idea to advertise my little corner of the Interwebz. (And, if I’m being completely honest, I was hoping my writing would get me laid. The Power of Love? No, Huey, try the Power of Words.)

The new blog was launched. I have a rather unique perspective on “Life, The Universe, and Everything” and it came through in my writing. I’d post about random things like science or a funny thing that happened that day and a few friends and family loved it. All was going moderately well until the unthinkable happened: I lost my big sister to breast Cancer.

I’m not going to recount the emotions that I felt, except to say that the air being sucked out of my lungs was not, in this case, a metaphor. It was an experience unlike anything I have felt before or since, and it changed who I was- and am today- as a person. Once I finally summoned my thoughts together, I composed the best piece of writing I have ever written, called The Call Heard Around My World, in which I recounted the morning I got the phone call. It was written from grief. It was written with all due wrenching of my gut. It came directly from the heart. It spoke directly to every reader who had experienced loss. I was my magnum opus, and all it took was losing a family member. The taste is still bitter all these many years later.

I wish more than anything I could repost that entry here. Unfortunately, sometime later, the site that hosted that old blog (which had now been rechristened Wizard of Blog) went to digital Valhalla, and all of my old posts were lost forever. I didn’t learn from Jesus, y’all. Jesus saves.  For a long time I felt heartbroken, having lost an important piece of myself. My memories, my heart, my humor seemed to all go up in a flash, and I fell out of writing.

...until now. Welcome to the Realm. I’m Topher, your guide to the World of Words. I’m going to try to flex these rusty old writing muscles again, to hopefully entertain, perhaps enlighten, and definitely tug at your heartstrings, Dear Reader. (Do you mind if I call you Reader? Personalizing these things with your individual name isn’t easy, yo. And if your heartstrings aren’t occasionally tugged, you have no heart, and there’s nothing medical science can do for you.)

I sincerely hope Topher’s Realm can live up to my own expectations. I hope you enjoy it as well. Together, we’re going to take a wonderful journey through my mind. Drugs may help, but I’m not a medical expert. Use only as directed, and your experience may vary.

From the bottom of the wellspring that is my heart,

Topher

p.s. For aspiring writers out there, such as younger me, writing can totally get you laid.