Writers write, readers read.
Those who rate, censor, bowdlerize, ban, or burn are cells of a societal cancer that fears any thought not already strangled, embalmed, and buried by their dogma. They seek to intimidate creators, to impose hesitation in communicating, and to blinker artistic vision.
Free speech and open discourse are indispensable. To stifle them is not acceptable.
Those who don’t want blunt language or unflinching graphic situations should probably find something else to read, but please know it’s never my intention to hurt vulnerable readers.
Nonfiction cites found fact. Fiction hunts truth, a subjective meaning that is made, not found. When a reader and a story meet, a collaborative reality is born.
Trigger warnings aren’t just for guns, poisons, or electrical devices. If you choose to read my work I hope you like it. It’s written for its own sake. It’s not hobbled, targeted, or weaponized, nor addressed to any select few. All I do is bring it into existence so it, too, can live awhile. Reading keeps it alive, discussing it lets it reach wider and deeper truths.
I hope you’ll give all fiction a fair chance to touch humanity’s heights and depths.
