Monday, October 11, 2010

One Helluva Home...

I'm often asked why my bios always state that I make my home in "The Seventh Circle of Hell".  Do I, on some sub-conscious level, hate my home and feel like I'm being punished by living here?  No, not at all.  And, if I did, I'd just pick up and leave. :) So, why, you might wonder, do I tell one and all about my Hellish home?

It all has to do with my writing.  For those of you who are new to my freaking fantastic followers list, you should be aware that while I write primarily YA (young adult/teen), my stories are a little on the dark, tragic side.  What can I say?  Misery loves company, and my characters never lack for it.

So why Hell?  And, why the SEVENTH circle? 

Well, first of all, anyone who says that writing is pure Heaven doesn't really know the exquisite agony of fleshing out that all important scene, flogging yourself until you get the words just right and then upon re-reading telling yourself that this is good, but don't you want it to be spectacular?  So, yes...HELL...but, I don't want to be anywhere else.

Now, here is where I give a brief--and hopefully not too boring--lesson in religion...at least, according to Dante's Divine Comedy.  (FYI: I am Catholic, but not all that religious, which is to say that I believe in God, and go to church, at least twice a year--yeah, you guessed it. CHRISTMAS and EASTER.  I have the best of intentions of attending more frequently, but it never seems to work out that way *shrugs*--but I have issues with some ideologies that I will not discuss further because I hate it when people come knocking on my door to spout their own religious beliefs so I WON'T do that to anyone else.) 

Hell has NINE circles and are laid out as follows:
  1. First Circle: Limbo
  2. Second Circle: Lust
  3. Third Circle: Gluttony
  4. Fourth Circle: Avarice & Prodigality  (say what? hehehe...this is the one that Madonna and her song Material Girl belong to.  Basically, it's where the greedy, materialistic bastards all wind up)
  5. Fifth Circle: Warth & Sullenness
  6. Sixth Circle: Heresy
  7. Seventh Circle: Violence (This is said to be the most brutal circle...and well, more on that later)
  8. Eighth Circle: Fraud
  9. Ninth Circle: Treachery (This is the circle for the biggest and baddest of the lot...think Hitler and Stalin...and not to mention the big L...Lucifer is said to be imprisoned here waist deep in ice and weeping tears from his six eyes all the while beating his six wings in a futile attempt at escape)
Now, by telling you all that I--and by that I mean my creative brain--reside in the SEVENTH circle, I'm not confessing to being a serial killer who has like 985 bodies buried in the crawlspace beneath my house.  Hello.  I don't have a crawl space...or a basement for that matter ;)  I kid. I kid.  Eh...maybe.

The Seventh Circle is home to not only those who have committed physically violent acts, but also committed crimes against themselves and their nature.  Which is the heart of my writing.  Suicide.  Drug addiction.  Eating Disorders.  Severe emotional trauma that can only be committed by your own self.  This is the central theme to all my writing. 

Are there happy endings?  Sometimes, but not always.  But, such is the way of life. 

And, that my friends, is the story about my hometown.  How about you all?  Which level of Hell does your writing belong on?  Are you the epitome of LUST or is TREACHERY or WRATH more your thing?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments....that is, if I haven't scared you all off with all this religious mumbo-jumbo-voo-doo talk ;)

5 comments:

  1. I ain't scared of you, but are you sure you don't have any relatives named Lucifer? Just kidding. Sort of.

    No, I am. I love where I live too. But I am relieved to say that I don't live in any of those circles to which you speak. Unless they are the circles of sunshine that sourround me daily. Yes, sometimes I even make myself sick.

    But if I stumble across any person or persons who may have need for the understanding of the circles I promise to send them your way.

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  2. Oh, second circle, definitely. Lust all the way. ;)

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  3. Kelly: I do love where I live. For all it's fire and brimstone, The Seventh Circle is a pretty neat place to call home :)

    Linda: Now, why does that not surprise me? ;)

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  4. I'm with Linda!!! HA! I don't have a crawl space either. Just sayin.

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  5. is there a circle for tiredness? cause that's where i reside.

    and you did scare me a little, but in a good way. i want to read something of yours in the FULL now, not in teaser bits.

    just saying.

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