By Thomas Kies
This week has been a very good week…mostly. It’s a new day in America, vaccines are rolling out (although, it’s a rocky road to be sure), and my publisher has told me that there’s good news afoot with the re-release of my first book, RANDOM ROAD. More to come on that.
Cool stuff.
The one tiny fly in a big tub of ointment was a letter I received through the mail on Inauguration Day. While I was watching the new President take the oath of office on my computer, one of my staffers handed me a letter with my name on it.
I opened it and found a two-page letter in lovely handwriting from someone in Columbus, Ohio.
The letter read: “I bought your book DARKNESS LANE from a library book sale. Before reading it I checked out RANDOM ROAD so I could read your series in order. But as it turns out, I’m not going to read them at all. I want to tell you why. It might not matter to you—but maybe you can learn from this or at least become aware of it.”
In essence, the letter writer objected to this passage on the very first page of my first book. In it, my protagonist, Geneva Chase, a crime journalist, is explaining to the reader a little bit about who she is. The passage reads, “My name’s been on the byline of hundreds of stories over the last twenty years, in four newspapers, three magazines, a half dozen websites, and, for a very short, shame-filled stint, Fox News.”
The letter writer told me that he/she watches Fox News (along with other media by the way) and voted for President Trump.
He/she went on to say, “One tiny little action I can take (a peaceful protest if you will) against those who are not my respecting my side is to not read your book. Those words, “Shame-filled stint at Fox” wounded me. I get slammed even in a mystery book? I wonder why you felt the need to include a swipe like that. Did you think it sound cool?”
Well, yeah. I know it felt kind of cool when I wrote it.
But you know, I never explained why Geneva was ashamed of her time at Fox. She was a heavy drinker in those days. Who knows what she might have done? And there was a lot of sexual harassment going on in that company in those days. Or so I’ve read.
The letter writer continued, “Thankfully there are many other books for me to read. Oh my goodness! I’m starting to feel bad about this. Like I might be hurting your feelings. Probably not. I hope not.”
No, my feelings weren’t hurt. I’ve been slammed much harder than this. Writers have to have a thick skin.
The writer went on to say, “The vast majority of Fox watchers are good, smart, interesting, tolerant, freedom loving people. We are not racists; we are not rubes. We think for ourselves. We deserve respect.
“That’s it. I’m not including my name etc. “Our Side” tends to lay low as it can be dangerous to say the wrong thing.”
These are dangerous times we are all living in.
I try not to get too political when I’m writing a mystery. But Geneva Chase is a snarky smart-ass. It’s in her nature to be insulting. That’s why she’s so much fun to write. She gets to say things I can’t.
To my letter writer from Columbus, Ohio. Sorry if you felt insulted. RANDOM ROAD wasn’t written with that intent in mind.
