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Patricia Reding
a book bubble about
Ephemeral and Fleeting
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author Insight
Enslavement
A writer must address numerous issues face-on, including some quite difficult ones. For me, one of the more challenging issues is to express and to explore, is that of true evil. When I write, I visualize the story in my mind. I step into the shoes of my characters to determine how they might react or what they might say in any given situation. As I get to know my characters better, the writing is made easier. But as one who in her real life tries to avoid true evil, expressing it in writing can prove difficult. The character in this excerpt feels familiar to me in that I've known people who started down one path in life, but who later changed course because the first one proved too difficult, too demanding. It required too much self-sacrifice. Here the character changed his ways and became subject to evil. It was the thing he thought would free him from duty and goodness, but it enslaved him in another way. For me, this feels true. What do you think?
Book Excerpt
Ephemeral and Fleeting
His anger rose, then spurt out like steam escaping a teapot, causing him to shake intensely. He knew he shouldn’t reminisce, shouldn’t dwell on things of old, but sometimes all the self-counsel in the world was for naught.
On his knees, he bowed down until his forehead rested on the floor. He thought about how, as a child, he’d been taught of forgiveness, of pardons, and of mercy. He’d tried that way, had intended to protect it at all costs—had even sworn to do so. It was Ehyeh’s way. But eventually, he rejected it—when the cost became greater than what he wanted to pay.
When Daeva visited him in the darkest hour of his young adulthood and introduced him to a new way, he followed, delighted that the underlord offered an alternative—retribution . . . vengeance. Over the years, thoughts of how to see those goals come to fruition, festered inside. They caused him to gush imprecations. Curiously, those thoughts also offered a unique sense of . . . satisfaction. In truth, he’d grown most talented in the art of malediction—and best of all, he’d found the way to bring life to his own damning curses.
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