Did you know I was a writer? Well, if you didn’t, you do now. I
hope to be published someday, but for now I spin my stories, hone my
craft, and share my heart with you. My friend, Tori, interviewed me for a school assignment, and I thought you might enjoy
reading the result. So, here it is.
Tori: What work of fiction impacted you the most?
Heretic: It’s difficult to say, I’ve read so much fiction and been
impacted by many great stories. But if I had to pick one, I think it’d
be Beauty and the Beast. I first saw it when I was about 4 years old,
and fell in love with the story. Beast’s pain, loneliness, and longing,
Belle’s courage, independence, and love; they captured my imagination as
a child and as I’ve grown and my understanding of love has deepened,
they continue to touch my heart.
T: Why do you write fiction?
H: I think that’s about like asking me why I breathe. I can’t help
it, and I’d likely die if I didn’t. That probably sounds melodramatic,
but it’s not. I honestly feel that I was created to create, and if I’m
not creating, some part of me will shrivel up and die. I write to
capture life and love and truth, to show others the beautiful brokenness
that I see. I write to open new worlds to others with the hope that the
worlds I’ve created will open their eyes to the one we live in.
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| "I honestly feel that I was created to create..." |
T: Why do you read fiction?
H: Fiction is a way of showing truth and life lived out. It puts a
microscope to the beautiful, the painful, and the utterly horrific
things in this world and lets you look at them through the safety of
story, but still makes you think about them.
T: Have you ever gotten feedback from something you wrote impacting another life? If so, elaborate.
H: I have been told that certain scenes made people cry, or that they
were drawn in by my description, but since I’m still working on
completing my first book, the most common feedback I get is, “Finish
this, already.”
T: Do stories you write influence your own life? If so, how?
H: Most definitely. I’m easily the biggest fan of my characters. I
get so wrapped up in their lives, loves, and personal stories that I
hate to tear myself away to do other things (like laundry, cooking,
dishes etc.) I learn so much from them. Sometimes it’s driving home
something I already knew, sometimes it’s reaching a new depth of
understanding, and sometimes it’s a completely unexpected discovery. For
example, the faith displayed by one of my female characters never
ceases to amaze me. She talks about God and just the way she says His
name – it’s awe, reverence, love, and familiarity all wrapped into one.
That’s a level of faith I don’t have (though I hope to). Seeing it in
her has given me a new realization of where I am in my walk, and where
I’d like to be.
Stories compel me. Brokenness and healing, hate and love, guilt and
forgiveness, these are things I love in stories, the things I love about
life, and they show up in the lives of my characters. I don’t shy away
from the ugly things in our world, I face them head on and in doing so I
remind myself (and eventually others) that even in the darkest of
places and the worst of times, there is light, and there is love. God’s
love being the ultimate example.
So, there you have it, a brief look into my mind and heart.
Be blessed,
Call Me Heretic
