As I work on The Vanishing of Owen Taylor, I feel like I'm circling around searching for something specific. Like a hawk circles looking for the stray field mouse or gopher or rabbit to have for din-din. And like that hawk, I won't know what it is till the damn thing moves and catches my attention.
This brings to mind the phrase “hawk’s eye,” meaning not only keeping a close watch on things but also having insight into what's happening. Or, like in my case, trying to sense the subtle meaning behind actions being taken by my characters.
And there are meanings...I know there are. I refer to Jake as a wolf throughout the story, as in lone wolf but also one of a pack and the sort of animal that mates for life. He's been disowned by his parents, so he's seeking to form a new pack. He's joined with Antony and brought Matt in. He senses his uncle was doing the same thing -- building a family to take the place of the one he'd lost. People who believed he was sinful and immoral, even as they committed much greater sins.
That brings to mind the hypocrisy of people like the Duggars, who hold themselves up as paragons of virtue while fighting gay rights...and hiding the fact that their oldest son is a pedophile. And the worst part is, they did everything they could to keep it hidden and him out of jail. No...actually the worst part is how the Duggar matriarch argued against a trans-gender non-discrimination bill in Fayetteville by painting gay men as the worst of the worst, while knowing full-well she'd helped her son avoid criminal penalties for raping a number of pre-adolescent girls.
Of course, hers isn't the only example of right-wing-religious hypocrisy. One preacher went so far as to tell a troubled gay teen he should commit suicide because he was going to hell, anyway, only to be caught seeking sex from men on Grindr, himself. It's all so damned ludicrous and soul-destroying, you have to back away from the news just to keep your sanity.
Of course, this is what Jake's going through, in the book. So I guess I'll keep circling to see if something grabs me and then dive down to grab it.
Hope it's a tasty morsel.
And there are meanings...I know there are. I refer to Jake as a wolf throughout the story, as in lone wolf but also one of a pack and the sort of animal that mates for life. He's been disowned by his parents, so he's seeking to form a new pack. He's joined with Antony and brought Matt in. He senses his uncle was doing the same thing -- building a family to take the place of the one he'd lost. People who believed he was sinful and immoral, even as they committed much greater sins.
That brings to mind the hypocrisy of people like the Duggars, who hold themselves up as paragons of virtue while fighting gay rights...and hiding the fact that their oldest son is a pedophile. And the worst part is, they did everything they could to keep it hidden and him out of jail. No...actually the worst part is how the Duggar matriarch argued against a trans-gender non-discrimination bill in Fayetteville by painting gay men as the worst of the worst, while knowing full-well she'd helped her son avoid criminal penalties for raping a number of pre-adolescent girls.
Of course, hers isn't the only example of right-wing-religious hypocrisy. One preacher went so far as to tell a troubled gay teen he should commit suicide because he was going to hell, anyway, only to be caught seeking sex from men on Grindr, himself. It's all so damned ludicrous and soul-destroying, you have to back away from the news just to keep your sanity.
Of course, this is what Jake's going through, in the book. So I guess I'll keep circling to see if something grabs me and then dive down to grab it.
Hope it's a tasty morsel.
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