For the Moms

Over 60% of my readership is female. One of my first editorial critiques (pre publication) adored the story, but questioned its audience, and suggested that I retool the story so that Caenith was the hero and focal point and Morigan was the secondary hero and obvious love interest. This was before the surge in feminist and diversity based literature, mind you, right on the cusp of it actually. “People will relate better to traditional high fantasy”, they said. Having not too recently (from that point in time) watched my mother’s nearly indefatigable fight against cancer, I thought: horse shit. My entire life I’ve been mentored and guided by women’s voices—my mother, my grandmother, my editors, my closest friends. And the paternalistic undertone that women couldn’t handle a bit of blood and guts, when really, they’ve been handling it since their first period or when they squeeze watermelon sized squealing humans out of their bodies is again, horse shit.

I went ahead with my plans, not knowing that I was swimming with the current at the time, and here we are. So, this is for you, my moms, sisters, daughters and friends: an excerpt from the final draft of Feast of Darkness, Part I. Yes, I buried the lead, for obvious and suspenseful reasons, but I got the manuscript back this week and I’m already a hundred pages through the draft (just a copy edit). I think we’re on track for September! Thank you for your support, and have a wonderful Mother’s Day. I hope this slice of what’s to come makes it even better.

All my love,

—C

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