Thomas W. Devine's Blog, page 36
July 4, 2012
Reflecting on Writing about abortion
5.07.12
My novel “A Halo of Strawberries”, centred on the contentious subject of abortion. In the book, a granddaughter commits suicide after having an abortion and a grandfather confronts a number of moral issues as a consequence.
Having experienced real-life paternity, I set out to champion the unborn in their most vulnerable and defenceless stages of life.
Should a woman feel guilty about having an abortion? Pro-choice supporters provide lots of excuses and there are, of course, legal grounds for an abortion. There’s also, undeniably, a lot of social pressure on women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
How a woman feels about an abortion has to be a matter of conscience. All else is part of polarised pro-life/pro-choice rhetoric and often lacking in forgiveness and compassion.
“A Halo of Strawberries” reflects real life compared to the thrillers I’ve written and has touched people’s lives more than I expected, and not just over abortion.
No response to the pro-life views I hold was more poignant, however, than that left for me on a website by a woman or girl who said: “I had one [an abortion] a week ago and I don’t want to live.”
That a mother, as a victim of abortion, may become suicidal, is a premise of “A Halo of Strawberries”.
The saving of life will always be more important to me than the rhetoric of the debate.
My novel “A Halo of Strawberries”, centred on the contentious subject of abortion. In the book, a granddaughter commits suicide after having an abortion and a grandfather confronts a number of moral issues as a consequence.
Having experienced real-life paternity, I set out to champion the unborn in their most vulnerable and defenceless stages of life.
Should a woman feel guilty about having an abortion? Pro-choice supporters provide lots of excuses and there are, of course, legal grounds for an abortion. There’s also, undeniably, a lot of social pressure on women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
How a woman feels about an abortion has to be a matter of conscience. All else is part of polarised pro-life/pro-choice rhetoric and often lacking in forgiveness and compassion.
“A Halo of Strawberries” reflects real life compared to the thrillers I’ve written and has touched people’s lives more than I expected, and not just over abortion.
No response to the pro-life views I hold was more poignant, however, than that left for me on a website by a woman or girl who said: “I had one [an abortion] a week ago and I don’t want to live.”
That a mother, as a victim of abortion, may become suicidal, is a premise of “A Halo of Strawberries”.
The saving of life will always be more important to me than the rhetoric of the debate.
July 3, 2012
Spam
3.7.12
Last month I had my Yahoo email account temporarily highjacked by a smammer who then sent emails in my name to writing colleagues, friends, acquaintances and family members.
It leaves one feeling vulnerable and violated. It's also a nuisance to the email recipients and means I have to assure them individually that it wasn't me.
Fortunately both a colleague and one of my relatives recognised that the language style of the spam mail did not sound like me and alerted me to the problem and solution.
I'd been wondering why my email had been running so slow.
What's most annoying is that my computer defence software did not pick up any intrusion.
Down with spam! It's driven by selfishness, greed and lack of consideration for others!
Last month I had my Yahoo email account temporarily highjacked by a smammer who then sent emails in my name to writing colleagues, friends, acquaintances and family members.
It leaves one feeling vulnerable and violated. It's also a nuisance to the email recipients and means I have to assure them individually that it wasn't me.
Fortunately both a colleague and one of my relatives recognised that the language style of the spam mail did not sound like me and alerted me to the problem and solution.
I'd been wondering why my email had been running so slow.
What's most annoying is that my computer defence software did not pick up any intrusion.
Down with spam! It's driven by selfishness, greed and lack of consideration for others!
June 28, 2012
Book editing - a necessary evil
29.6.12
You may have noticed a recent internet discussion on Linked-In about the quality of writing and the need to keep high standards.
After much editing, I thought I would achieve a high standard in the second edition of my novel "Reversal Point" but, when proofing the pre-publication copy, I started finding things that could be written better.
Does English look one way on the computer and another way on paper?
I seem to recall advice somewhere that you should always do a final edit on paper, which I hadn't.
So what is so linguistically deceptive about the computer screen?
Answers or not, I'm going back to the drawing board, so to speak.
You may have noticed a recent internet discussion on Linked-In about the quality of writing and the need to keep high standards.
After much editing, I thought I would achieve a high standard in the second edition of my novel "Reversal Point" but, when proofing the pre-publication copy, I started finding things that could be written better.
Does English look one way on the computer and another way on paper?
I seem to recall advice somewhere that you should always do a final edit on paper, which I hadn't.
So what is so linguistically deceptive about the computer screen?
Answers or not, I'm going back to the drawing board, so to speak.
The value of life
29.6.12
Since publishing my last novel ("A Halo of Strawberries")* I have a renewed interest in matters to do with abortion. So my eye was immediately caught by The Dominion Post headline (28.6.12): "Unborn baby dies in crash".
It makes a worthy news item but what an irony! The death of one unborn child rates a front page story when, in New Zealand alone, the death by legalised abortion of thousands of unborn children each year is largely ignored.
Humans are full of contradictions, aren't they?
*https://www.createspace.com/3705527
Since publishing my last novel ("A Halo of Strawberries")* I have a renewed interest in matters to do with abortion. So my eye was immediately caught by The Dominion Post headline (28.6.12): "Unborn baby dies in crash".
It makes a worthy news item but what an irony! The death of one unborn child rates a front page story when, in New Zealand alone, the death by legalised abortion of thousands of unborn children each year is largely ignored.
Humans are full of contradictions, aren't they?
*https://www.createspace.com/3705527
