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Notable federal district decision from a week or so ago concerning a student/parent objection to a book that had homoesexual [well, same-sex couple] characters. The court upheld a lower court dismissal of a lawsuit by a family climaing their religious rights were being violated when kids read books involving “positive portrayals of families headed by same-sex parents and same-sex marriage, including the frequently challenged children’s book, King and King.” The court stated that reading the books is not the same as being “indoctrinated” into affirming the choices the book’s characters make, or are evidencing. It’s an interesting challenge and an interesting, and to my mind positive, response with the upshot being “you do not have the right to not be offended”.

The First Circuit rejected the parents’ indoctrination claims. It held that there is no First Amendment free exercise right to be free from any reference in public elementary schools to the existence of families in which the parents are of different gender combinations. It also held that public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, especially when the school does not require that the student agree with or affirm those ideas, or even participate in discussions about them.

You can read the full opinion here and some backstory on the controversy that sparked these claims here and here. Keep in mind that this book challenge happened in Massachusetts, a state where same sex marriages are legal and where a “1993 state law directed school systems to teach about different kinds of families and the harm of prejudice.”

My guest author today is Heather Ingemar

Heather S. Ingemar has loved to play with words since she was little, and it wasn’t long until she started writing her own stories. A musician since the age of five (piano, saxophone, violin, pennywhistle and Irish flute), she completed a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in December of 2006. She and her husband reside on the family cattle ranch, where she takes great delight in thinking up new stories to tell.

Mary: Welcome, Heather. Your latest story, A Slip of Wormwood, has a very intriguing title. Would you tell us a little about it?

Heather: Thank you, Mary, for having me here! "A Slip of Wormwood" is a dark little tale about what happens when sibling rivalries go too far. Dr. Edgar -- he's "Frog" -- has recently lost his brother, Hamilton -- "Toad" -- and is now in charge of taking care of the family estate. Through the course of the story, we find out that Toad was the family favorite and that Frog had terrible jealousy issues, to put it mildly. "Wormwood" details the brothers' relationship, and things quickly become not as they appear. I had a lot of fun writing "Wormwood." It's a delightfully twisted little tale; I think it's my best work yet.
Mary: Sounds very reptilian and the storyline sounds fascinating, Heather. In Darkness Cornered, two of your characters are a mad scientist, and a vampire named King Lear. Where did you come up with the story and the characters?
Heather: I don't know. They just came to me, as most of my stories do.

Mary: Your imagination must be as active as mine! What do you think is your most successful marketing tool? Do you find it more difficult to market e-books?

Heather: I think my most successful marketing tool has been my website. For authors, having a website is crucial in this day of internet searching for information. If a reader can't find you on the web, they immediately think you aren't worth reading, or that you're a small-time fish. Yes, having a website is very important for marketing. As for marketing ebooks, yes it's difficult, well, at least in my area. I live in an area where few people have even heard of ebooks. Many of them who have are very suspicious about them. They're leery. That makes it difficult to market face-to face, because you see in their eyes that they're doubting every word that comes out of your mouth. They may be excited to meet a published person, but they are also more likely to discredit you, write you off because you aren't in print. It makes it hard. In the online community, however, marketing is wonderfully easy! There, people know about ebooks, they like technology. It's a much easier sell online.

Heather Ingemar's website

A Slip of Wormwood is available through Echelon Press, LLC or Fictionwise

On a slow train ride from DC last week, I consumed the Identity Crisis graphic novel in a single, greedy sitting. While it wasn't the greatest literary achievment ever, the book reminded me of the joys of serial storytelling--the suspense of what happens in between episodes, issues, or installents of a story released in real time.

I think all writers should read or watch a serial narrative.

No matter if you are writing blog posts or a novel or daily journalism, your writing could use a healthy dose of an entertaining cliffhanger because-- (click here to continue reading)