Scourge of the Righteous Haddock

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Sweetgum bark that could be distilled into a genteel purple or black ink. Seven kinds of berries that could produce 30 different shades of ink depending on how you mixed them. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account.

Notify me of new comments via email. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: Email required Address never made public. Return to top of page. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. Maybe a publisher would contact me and insist on republishing it. An independent bookstore would ask to carry it. Nothing earth-shattering, just some indication that my book existed somewhere beyond my own imagination. A friend from the gym finished it the other day and we discussed the ending while we did our cool down exercises.

It might not sound like much, but it was ridiculously thrilling and touching for me to get to talk to someone who read my book. From this image, I can draw two conclusions: Matt is reading my book.

And Matt is reading my book at a bar. Books are meant to be read everywhere and especially anywhere a reader is most comfortable. While I was deliriously happy at my book release party and consider it one of the best nights of my life, the fact of signing books was not something I had considered. At one point, there was a line of more than a dozen people curving around the garden of the cafe waiting for me to sign their books.

Of course, I knew pretty much all the people there, and in fact many of them had contributed significantly to the book—artwork, cover design, moral support, editing. The mere fact of being discovered taking the book signings seriously might indicate I thought I deserved to sign books, that I was somehow important enough. So while I might not have had as much time or creative energy to write the kind of message that I really wanted, I stand by this piece of advice.

Charlotte is imaginative, resourceful, talented, grounded, responsible, kind, and memorable. But the stories … if you could listen to this post rather than read it you would have heard a happy sigh, because the stories are incredible. And my delighted surprise only enhanced my enjoyment. No packaging could have matched or prepared me for the wonder f those stories. Part of me wishes I could remember the other things I wrote.

Another part of me is very grateful that I can not, because I imagine it would cause no small degree of embarrassment to have a more extensive record of my brief flirtation with celebrity.

Scourge of the Righteous Haddock

One thing is certain though: The obvious question is what repressed desires or identity am I expressing with my gay protagonists? Which is sort of a silly question. No one asks JK Rowling whether she has some subconscious desire to be a boy.

Did Tolstoy secretly long to be a woman when he wrote Anna Karenina? Is the sole purpose of the author to create characters that are shadows of ourselves or who we would like to be? But there also has to be an element of ambition, of reaching beyond your own limited experiences and trying to discover and examine more of the world and humanity. I was looking for a way to distinguish my protagonist from the young adult heroines I already knew and loved. But none of them were gay. In fact, of the hundreds and quite possibly thousands of books I have read, I had to struggle to come up with a handful of novels featuring gay protagonists, or even characters.

There may be a couple more lurking around my brain, hovering shyly on the periphery, refusing to announce their presence. And two of those were assigned in an English course about gender and identity.

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So I selfishly wanted to differentiate my protagonist. But once I realized how rare she would be, I also wanted to fill a glaring void. They helped shape and guide me. How would it have felt to cast about for a heroine, or even character, who reflected who I was, and not find her?

I had Jo March. And Anne with an E. Growing up is dramatic. So Emily was gay. She was also sweet and shy and talented and determined and gutsy. Then came Rhea, my protagonist in Vestal. My decision to make Rhea a lesbian was primarily a practical one. The story works much better that way. Certain plot points—how could a vestal virgin come into close enough contact with a man to violate her oath of chastity?

Which set me to wondering: Am I alone in feeling that this is an underrepresented demographic in literature? Maybe the impetus to flood bookshelves with gay protagonists is some kind of misplaced do-gooder nonsense. So I put out a Facebook call for avid readers willing to answer a handful of questions.

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The sixteen people who responded to my call answered five questions. Because most of the people I polled could recall reading even fewer gay protagonists than I could.

These are readers who reported consuming 3. Almost everyone seemed apologetic about the number of books they read each month, and expressed a desire to read more. And most of this is conjecture anyhow. A very common theme among the responses was an inability to remember any gay protagonists, but they chalked that up to a faulty memory rather than an absence of gay characters.

They must be out there. Which is a fair point, except that romance is sort of an underlying theme in just about everything—book, movie, show—and across just about every genre. So, do you consciously divide characters into gay or straight columns as you read? But you remember details and plot points that distinguish the straight characters from the gay.

I suppose that fact alone is pretty problematic. If a character in a book I read is gay, that means about the same thing to me as the color of his hair. It allows me to know the character better, but no more than that. Same with women protagonists. I can like their books fine, but they seldom make my favorites lists. I like sad books for some reason.

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Basically, my job is sad mostly so I tend to gravitate to those. While I understand that Baldwin was writing during a time and literary movement in which homosexuality was highly frowned upon, I was disappointed the sexual confusion and overall weakness of David, the protagonist. He is constantly feeling shame and guilt for his homosexual feelings, especially when his lover is put on trial for homosexuality and sentenced to be executed so glad anti-homosexuality laws are now unconstitutional.

I think you should aim for at least one strong gay protagonist who is a role model. Since I mostly read historical non-fiction, any gay characters were real-life characters, and their circumstances are normally described pretty objectively.

Some books had minor characters that were gay. Men, that I recall. Its not something I pay attention to or am hyperaware of. It was common in the 80s and 90s to head to Lesbian and Gay bookstores in big cities when one was wanting to learn more about being gay.

Excerpt from Chapter One of Scourge of the Righteous Haddock

Other books have had lead characters who develop loving, often sexual, relationships with same gender people, even though they are not called gay. No other ones that stood out to me or made any sort of lasting impression. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Apr 24, Colin Rigley rated it really liked it. The story expertly weaves a hefty collection of unique characters that live in a universe steeped in religious and social satire.

Though this book is billed as a young adult novel, it has the depth and intense symbolism that will engage older readers, as well. Despite intricately crafted prose, the playful writing style might put off some readers with its use of anachronistic sl "Scourge of the Righteous Haddock" creates a wonderfully bizarre and whimsical world in which you want to lose yourself. Despite intricately crafted prose, the playful writing style might put off some readers with its use of anachronistic slang at time. And despite a relatively modest page count, "Scourge" asks a lot of its reader, introducing dozens of characters, plots, sub-plots.

This is not a book for a casual weekend read, but it rewards readers who pay attention to the subtle jabs at religion, homophobia, and environmental destruction that help mold the world. Overall, this is a book that will remain divisive among many readers, and likely offend those who gloss over the subtext of its broader message. But "Scourge" is the type of novel that will leave you reflecting on it long after you've finished reading. Aug 18, Miranda rated it really liked it. This is a curious and whimsical novel that accomplishes what every good piece of art should: While being a sarcastic and light read on one level, it also probes into many social, philosophical, and religious questions with an intensity that belies its seemingly innocuous surface.

It should be read with a mind that is both open and discerning, and I would advise parents to carry on significant dialogue with their children about it should they choose to read it. Elizabeth rated it it was ok Dec 04, Ryan rated it really liked it Oct 03, Adriana Catanzarite rated it really liked it Jun 29, Pauline allen rated it it was ok Oct 31, Charl ie es rated it liked it May 26, Cameron marked it as to-read Aug 26,

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