I recently published two very different stories.

One is, as my publisher described it, “a dystopic/eutopic fairy tale”. The other is, again in the words of my publisher, “part psychological thriller, part ghost story.”

This second story dealt with dark themes. My publisher loved it.

The first, Lucy, is a story about a tween-age girl, ten-year-old Lucy, who escapes a war-torn Earth to live on a world inhabited by … you guessed it, peace and love. Andorpha, the new planet she calls home has no word for ‘war’, no word for ‘divorce’ or ‘broken home’. You get my drift.

Now that Lucy’s escaped this terrible Earth, she lives on a world where her big worries are about school, and whether the boy she likes will like her or not. In this world of fur-bearing, loving, born-euphoric people, every day is like Christmas, every night like Christmas Eve.

Lucy must come to terms with the loss of her human parents and accept the love of the fur-bearing Andorphian parents, but life is no longer in danger. There is peace on Earth at last; or at least, peace on Andorpha.

Guess which book my publisher prefers? The dark one. Guess which book readers seem to gravitate to: the violent stories.

While I enjoyed writing A Very Special House, the ghost story, my real message lies within the Lucy books. I’m already working on the second one. I must admit that it’s harder to write on the bright side.

It seems we humans gravitate toward darkness, while singing “Give peace a chance”.

The first Lucy book was relatively easy to write. Lucy’s life was in danger every moment, right up to the moment when she stepped on the space ship that would take her to Andorpha. Once I got her there, however, after the first furry Andorphian hugs, I asked myself: What now?

Luckily, my own imagination teems with visions sweet and lovely. I got some of these visions from authors who wrote about that which was wholesome and lovely. Now I want to pass it on to like-minded readers and publishers. The Lucy  books are how I can communicate these lovely visions.

The question is: Is the world really ready for peace? If readers and publishers alike prefer the dark, edgy story over the pretty and the lovely, then I’d wonder if we’re truly ready, as a race, for peace. Thankfully, I’ve had some great reviews by readers, (not friends or family), who love the lovely.

How about you? Ready to take peace and love for a test drive?