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Lightly Toasted Title's Mission
Here we all are, existing at the same time, billions of stories continuing or finishing or maybe even just beginning. And it’s fun to picture it all with a little bit of magick. Some escapism here, some hard hitting truths there. Maybe whimsy is the armor that gets us through the depths.
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Kit's Why​
I have one of the most hyperactive imaginations, well, imaginable, but my best ideas always stem from the roots of something real. Whether it be an experience or a fear or a feeling too big and complicated not to personify into something fantastical, I have used my imagination to give life to what would otherwise stay clanging around inside of me. But that’s what can make fiction feel so real; that’s what can give a story a pulse.
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I am not afraid to bear the heaviness in my soul on page so that someone else out there going through something similar can feel seen and heard and deeply understood. I want people who see the sunrise because their anxiety won’t let them sleep to feel like they can be a warrior. I want people who have been in relationships that have torn them to shreds to feel like they are worthy of safe and unconditional love. I want people who are lost and confused and completely uncertain to feel like their stories are worth telling too.
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Fantasy doesn’t always have to be a place where our problems don’t exist; it can also be a fun way to face them, to feel less alone, to feel like, for just a moment, magick is real. ​
Rae's Why
I've been writing in some capacity for as long as I can remember. In journals, composition notebooks, my school's google drive, and many other places that weren't built for longevity. I even wrote thousands of words of fan fiction in my phone's notes app and then copy and pasted it into Kik messenger for my friend to read. All along, I was working up towards writing something bigger. I loved diving into worlds with new characters and shaping them into something interesting. Something people wanted more of.
As an avid reader as well, I remember being gripped by a book to the point that I would sit and read during recess, ignoring my peers for the company of words. So many of those stories were about similar main characters, and I always yearned to read stories that felt like they featured me: a young, queer girl with a loud mouth and even louder opinions.
Seeking myself in the pages brought me right back to my writing roots and a desire to create worlds where people like me existed and were the heroes. Add in a dash of magick and a healthy dose of monsters, and I found myself right at home in Fallkirk.