SOME THNGS JUST AREN'T PRETTY

I had the opportunity recently to share a chapter of the novel I am working on with some fellow writers for critical comment. The novel has the working title, The Serpent Underneath, a reference to Lady Macbeth’s line, “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent underneath” (or as Lady Macbeth put it in the original Shakespeare, “under’t”). This is the fifth of my Detective Pantera books. These books are extremely different from my other novels (the Twigs series and Canaries’ Song). To say they are dark in tone would be like saying the sun is a trifle warm on its surface.

I create this darkness on purpose; however, one of those listening to my reading of this very dark chapter (a man rapes and murders a young woman) took offense, saying it was “disgusting.” His word, not mine. It might surprise him, but I agree with him. You see, rape and murder are, by definition, disgusting. To present them in a sugarcoated manner is to minimize the ugliness of someone using a person in such a fashion and then murdering them in a violent way. His sensibilities were offended, and in fact, that’s a good thing. The truth is that my Pantera novels are not for the faint of heart, the squeamish, or those who prefer not to think about the horrors in the world.

I make my antagonists in my Pantera books as evil as I can. I must say that the current one is a devil in human flesh. From what I can tell so far (my characters tell me who they are, not the other way around), he has no socially redeemable values. He is so controlling, that he monitors time down to the second when engaged in, shall we say, a less-than-delightful pursuits. His wife is obviously scared of him, and he lives to kill and take what he wants. Selfishness is, after all, a major ingredient in evil people. This fictional man’s selfishness rises to inhuman levels.

As the title of this blog entry says, some things aren’t pretty. Murder isn’t pretty. Rape isn’t pretty. Any form of human abasement is not pretty.

I would hope that my friend doesn’t think I am anything like my characters, especially the antagonists in my Pantera books. To be honest, I am a caring, loving person who hates seeing any living creature harmed. Okay, maybe mosquitos and ticks and such are not on that list, and a spider that enters my house has declared war, and I will react accordingly, but for the most part, I am offended when anyone suffers mistreatment. There is never a good reason to harm others.

And that is why I am so honest when writing, and that is especially true of my Pantera novels. Many authors have pointed out that if you can’t write honestly, don’t bother to write at all. I live by the creed. My friend was highly offended by what was actually rather tame descriptions. For instance, when I write, I don’t give a blow-by-blow description of any sexual act, consensual or otherwise, and I’ve read much more macabre descriptions of a bloody murder than what was needed in the scene of my book. I give just enough to allow my readers to fill in the blanks for themselves. My friend would never choose to read a book like one of my Pantera novels, so I’ve not lost a reader. What he did was allow me to see that those who understand the ugliness of rape and murder will appreciate how I handled the story in such a way as not to gloss over their repulsiveness. Since it is crime fiction, it will come as no surprise that our devil in human flesh will have his comeuppance in the end. It is that climax of the events that readers continue reading to find out, which allows them to finally feel good about how justice has prevailed and evil has been defeated, at least in this case.

So, to my friend, I say “thank you.” He probably would think I’m being facetious or even sarcastic, but that would be incorrect. I really do appreciate his feedback.