Note: Today’s blog post has its genesis in a topic raised on the GoodReads Forum: “Angels and Sex” and a review comment: "An example of taking away the fundamental aspects of a being people know is when the author had the angel (Gabriel) have sex... I'm sorry, but when people think of Heavenly angels, they think of goodness and purity. They don't think of them as having human weaknesses, like sexual temptations."
All good fiction revolves around the human condition. Characters should not be two-dimensional cardboard figures. A writer must humanize his characters to make the readers empathize with them and their struggles. Even if his characters aren’t human.
I begin with the proposition that good and evil are not absolutes. No one is entirely one or the other. There is a sliding scale. Morality can often be a gray area, neither black nor white. Moral relativism suggests standards of right and wrong are products of, and change with, time and culture.
While my characters in the Halos & Horns series, the angel Gabriel and the demon Lucifer, have a predisposition toward good or evil respectively, they grow to question their beliefs and the assumption that their natures must dictate their destinies.
While my characters in the Halos & Horns series, the angel Gabriel and the demon Lucifer, have a predisposition toward good or evil respectively, they grow to question their beliefs and the assumption that their natures must dictate their destinies.
Of course, I weave this into the context of what I hope is an entertaining fantasy series. My goal is to craft stories the reader will enjoy but also cause him or her to think about the underlying philosophical themes long after the book is closed.
At the end of the day, I’m merely a storyteller and the tales are all make-believe.
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