I asked the first beta readers of “The Elect Stories,” a handful of questions about themes that stood out to them. I expected to hear things like “good vs. evil” and hoped to hear things like “fate vs. free will,” because those themes are both genre standards and very much intended. If those ideas were coming across at the very least, I figured I’d be in pretty good shape for a first draft of my swashbuckling Fantasy yarn. That’s not how the beta readers responded, though. They saw themes of grief, the responsibilities of parenthood, and the paralyzing fear that comes with getting a second chance at life in middle age. I must admit, that put me on my heels for a minute. “The Elect Stories” has been a passion project that I have worked on intermittently over a span of my life that included raising two sons, losing my brother, and starting my life anew at age 47. Through all of those times, I found writing to be an escape. I had thought, however, that writing was running away from the difficulties of my life. Turns out, the writing was just another way to experience, understand, and process them.
