This topic, along with power scaling, intentional design, interactive dynamics and a few others is something of an obsession of mine. It’s a topic that I’m very passionate about that I’ve held off on writing a piece on because in all honestly, my life is stressful enough without inviting needless animosity, but, let it never be said that Eugene the Author shies away from risk and discourse.
Authenticity of narrative, if I’m being completely honest, is something I feel is lacking in much of the global landscape. To tell that story, I’ll begin with another.
In my time as an independent author, I’ve had the pleasure of being told by Christian publishers that I’m entirely too worldly and something of a disgrace to the faith, and by secular publishers that I’m entirely too Christian and need to shut up about all this God stuff and cater to more easily monetized views of the world.
Personally, I find both perspectives amusing, truly. One of my personal mantras is “authenticity over everything”, which is to say that I will always pass no matter how big the potential payday if I have to compromise the authenticity of my narrative, my characters and my values to get there.
When demoing upcoming paranormal horror mystery Wired for Ruin, I was told by Christians that the story was antagonistic and pandered to modernity. There are sections of the narrative that deal strongly with some of the harm a few of the protagonists suffered at the hands of Christians, and aspects of the narrative that highlight ways that we can, while still holding our values, do a far better job of outreach, empathy and loving one another regardless of views, background, orientation, etcetera.
I also was told “how dare you depict an openly gay couple and not once have a scene where the protagonist tells them it’s wrong to be what they are!”
Now, on the flip side, whether subscribing to a different theism, agnosticism, or atheism, I had secular people tell me “Yeah I’m not reading a book by a Christian/with a Christian lead/that has positive Christian values/that depicts Christianity in a positive light”, and was told the narrative was distracting, weak, divisive, phobic for having Christianity portrayed positively.
Hey, look at that, I’m uniting people!
On the flip side, in my all ages novel series Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel, I’ve been told I shouldn’t talk about God and faith and Nora being a Christian, and told that because I write Nora and Torva’s close bond as platonic that I’m wrong for not evolving it into a romantic one. Then I’m also told I shouldn’t talk about how Christians can do better about how we treat others, or the difficulties of navigating faith in a world that often says you shouldn’t have it.
See the trend?
I told you that story to tell you this one: I would rather go unpublished for the rest of my days (in the mass market; they can’t really stop the indie scene from existing) than to compromise the integrity of my narrative, my characters, my values. And what does that mean?
As has been said time and again in the past, the number one tenet of my studio is “In all things, do no harm”. This means that I will never write a narrative denouncing my faith as having no merit, no place, no purpose, and in fulfilling the fullness of Christ’s command to the Christian I will always ensure that whatever the hurt or pain my stories are addressing, they will not be done in a way meant to harm or to make an individual feel sub-human. Regardless of where we as human beings fall in with one another, if the approach is wrapped in venom it will never bear fruit.
The landscape of the reboot rarely is designed with the intention of providing any degree of respect to the spirit and vision of the artist of origin. You don’t need me to list them, you can draw your own conclusions, but I am of the opinion that whether in my original works or in the opportunity that may one day present itself to work with storied franchises that I’ve loved over my years on this earth, to use the ludicrously easy button of taking a big franchise name guaranteed to have an audience then transform it into something beyond recognition, well…
Not only does that not take much in the way of effort, it’s the height of sacrificing integrity of narrative and respect for the artist who created it for the tradeoff of narrowing choice and guaranteeing an easy payday.
It is to this end that I take pride when a Christian publisher says “This book is great, but do us a favor, we need you to take the lesbian couple out. The gay couple has to go. You need to ease up on holding the Church to task and tone down the supernatural” and in turn I say “Then I’m clearly not the artist for you, thank you for your time.”
And it is likewise with pride that when a Secular publisher says “This book is great, but do us a favor, you need to change the religion. The character can’t talk about Christ. The character can’t be a Christian. And, these two, can you do us a favor, make it more ambiguous? Or just out and out change it?” and in turn I say “Thank you for your interest, but I don’t think this is going to be a good fit.”
Whether in refusing to break up Oliver and Grady in Serpents Slick and Oils Twine or refusing to put together Nora and Torva in Nora and the Eternal Waterwheel, whether in refusing to remove how much Lucas Lane is fed up with fairweather Christians and the at times two-faced nature of his fellows in the faith in In Defense of the Heart or refusing to remove how it is only through her faith that Abra survives her abusive home environment in Tribus Dulce, and whether in refusing to remove the clearcut necessity of belief and faith for Sumiko in Blue Butterfly: Noire or refusing to tone down or alter in any way Cadenza’s complex journey through her identity, orientation and sense of self and place in the world in Gossamer Sin Like a Black Slit Dress, I firmly believe and am committed to the absolute truth that to forsake the integrity of narrative, is to forsake the right to call oneself an artist.
And to sacrifice the respect of said narrative with regard to the spirit of its origin is to in turn sacrifice one’s integrity to the craft.
Artists must be given space to create art; it is not the duty of the artist to conform their vision, but to create the most authentic narrative they can. It is then the duty of the audience to decide whether the art is for them or not, and to respect the artist and one another enough to allow the artist their vision just as the artist respects the audience enough not to feel they are owed forcing others, whether audience or artist, to conform to their art.
In other words, if at the end of the day this humble scribe should just that deeply offend, I respect that you don’t care for my art and invite you, if unable to truly give it a chance, to pursue those artists that better align with your sensibilities and sway.
It is my firm commitment to any and all who read me that I will:
In all things, strive to do no harm
and
In all things, value integrity and authenticity over everything
And I can only hope you will pick up a lovely slice of dark fantasy, or paranormal horror, or supernatural mystery, or urban fantasy, or fantasy romance, and thrill at an adventure that seeks always both to entertain as well as to heal, to grow and to promote healthy discussion and build bridges along the way, and choose for yourself to see with me this journey through its end.
This is Eugene the Author saying I love you, be amazing, you already are.
Blessings,
Eugene the Author
P.S.
Yes, I did just low key reveal a number of projects that will be releasing this year that I’ll be talking more about soon.