Like many of the kids I write about, I once was a runaway myself—and a few (but not all) of the other writers in the series also come from troubled backgrounds. That early experience influences my fiction, no doubt, but I don't think it's necessary to come from such a background in order to write a good Bordertown tale. To me, running away to Bordertown is as much a metaphorical act as an actual one. These tales aren't just for kids who have literally run away from home, but also for every kid, every person, who runs away from a difficult or constrictive past to build a different kind of life in some new place. Some of us run away to college . . . or we run away to a distant city or state . . . or we run away from a safe, secure career path to follow our passions or artistic muse. We run away from places we don't belong, or from families we have never fit into. We run away to find ourselves, or to find others like ourselves, or to find a place where we finally truly belong. And that kind of running away from home—the everyday, metaphorical kind—can be just as hard, lonely, and disorienting as crossing the Nevernever to Bordertown . . . particularly when you're in your teens, or early twenties, and your resources (both inner and outer) are still limited. I want to tell stories for young people who are making that journey, or contemplating making that journey. Stories in which friendship, community, and art is the magic that lights the way. she founded)
~ Terri Windling
