I have a new short story called The Return over at Hex Publisher's Words ezine. This story comes with a trigger warning. It's one of the more aggressive stories I've ever done, and I imagine many will find it offensive. Whether it matters or not, however, let me say that it's not my intention to be offensive, or insensitive, or derogatory. "The Return" likely risks being read as an anti-Christian, or more specifically anti-Catholic in its sentiments. But that's not where my heart is at all. While I'm not a Christian, I was certainly raised one--a bit Southern Baptist, a bit Methodist. And while many, many, many Christians drive me up the wall, their antics don't sabotage any fundamental truths might lay claim to. As to whether those truths are in fact true, I don't know.
As for myself as a writer, I have a few personal rules, and one of them is to pursue a story's premise to its fullest extent, no matter where it leads and no matter if it makes the story unpublishable. "The Return" is case of my thinking what Lolita would be like if authored by William S. Burroughs, with a hearty mashup of both The Exorcist and the movie Spotlight. So pedophilia, pedophiles, and man's fallen state are major themes here. But the larger risk is the portrayal(s) of Christ and how he returns to walk the Earth in physical form. Those readers who grant me their time and follow the story to the end might feel highly affronted. I can only accept their criticism, whether delivered in a harsh rebuke or an annoyed rolling of the eyes, and thank them for the time they spent, and hope they didn't feel it was entirely wasted.
As for myself as a writer, I have a few personal rules, and one of them is to pursue a story's premise to its fullest extent, no matter where it leads and no matter if it makes the story unpublishable. "The Return" is case of my thinking what Lolita would be like if authored by William S. Burroughs, with a hearty mashup of both The Exorcist and the movie Spotlight. So pedophilia, pedophiles, and man's fallen state are major themes here. But the larger risk is the portrayal(s) of Christ and how he returns to walk the Earth in physical form. Those readers who grant me their time and follow the story to the end might feel highly affronted. I can only accept their criticism, whether delivered in a harsh rebuke or an annoyed rolling of the eyes, and thank them for the time they spent, and hope they didn't feel it was entirely wasted.
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