March 7, 2009
I presume that some day there might be a person I have never met who has read a book I have published and seeks me out on the internet. Or perhaps someone will stumble upon my website through any number of means without knowing me personally. With that possibility in the back of my mind, I have always been hesitant to be political or potentially offensive in what I publish on the internet. Unfortunately, this will always limit how much I can publish. That restriction would eternally hamper me. Therefore I decided that I should go ahead and publish any kind of essays I might happen to write, but to include this disclaimer:
Whatever my political, philosophical, or areligious views might be, I do not use my novel-writing as a polemic platform, intending to argue those views. (The Redemption Saga is in fact religious in a way that I am distinctly not.) I try my very best to separate my personal views from my writing, as doing anything less would ill-serve the stories I try to tell. Every character deserves the truth about himself portrayed, and allowing myself to use him for my own ends would be dishonest and ultimately spoil the art I am trying to create. Obviously there are things that will creep in without my being aware of it, but if I detect that this has happened and it is not appropriate to the truth of character or story, I will excise such things without ruth1.
I do not want a potential reader to be turned away from my books because of something I published on this website, but I do want a place where I can write the kinds of essays that are scrabbling around in the back of my head. There is one on morality that I am certain would be controversial—and even that I will try to temper as best as I can so that it is not offensive. A writer writes, as the saying goes, and desires to be read, and hence my use of this forum. Any and all comments and critiques are welcome so long as they are civil. Vitriol will be ignored.
As a caveat, I want to say that my thoughts are ever-evolving, as I try to continually learn and reconsider all my conceptions of the world. There are certain things that I can't imagine would change (like the idea that killing a human being for any reason is utterly repugnant), but even those are subject to reconsideration, usually to the effect that they are strengthened. What I mean is that I reserve the right to change my mind, and anything I proffer here might be an ephemeral point of view. Healthy and academic discussion is welcome, though I do not promise to respond to anything.
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