Celtic Cogitations
Posted Tue, 09/27/11
In constructing the Press & Media Information area of my new web site design, I added a bit about the whys and wherefores of Celtic Remnants. The "Q & A" page sheds some light on the origins of the story, and what inspired me to write it in the first place.
Because it portrays a female terrorist taking charge of various situations, which is hardly common even today, I felt clarifying certain story points in Celtic Remnants was important.
Here's a few highlights from the Celtic Remnants Q & A:
Why did you choose to make the central character - a woman - the terrorist, rather than portraying a man in the same position?
It's all too typical, isn't it? People assume only a man can feel so strongly about his political convictions that he resorts to terrorism to get his message across. Wrong. Women feel just as passionately about issues that matter to them, so why not put a female in charge of a militant group? Even from the start, I never considered putting a man as the focal character in Celtic Remnants.
It was always going to be about the woman, one way or another.
Of course there's more:
When a man stays true to his convictions, he's admired for his integrity. However, if a woman follows her heart into the heat of a battle, she is viewed as tough, bitchy or unladylike. Do you find that to be true?
Unfortunately, social perceptions of strong women are still unfairly skewed. Perhaps all the warped ideals will change in a future generation, but I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime. Yet that doesn't mean I have to accept them as they are now. Frankly, I have no use for men who expect women to act a certain way just so they can feel "masculine" about themselves. It's a ridiculous waste of time, and it's a game I've always refused to play. My views will probably render me an old woman living alone with a bunch of cats, but so be it. I rather like being alone, anyway.
And:
You portray Ava Egan - the female terrorist - as having emotional conflict over her "work" and her love for David Lancaster, the Englishman.
Well, she's a human being, isn't she? If her family members hadn't been deliberately killed by British soldiers, her life would have taken a very different path. In Ava's mind, her choices were taken from her because she had to avenge her family. After awhile, it also became about the injustices suffered by the Irish as a whole, and not just her family.
She doesn't like killing or torturing people or setting off explosions, but her rage and sense of injustice drives her forward. There's no other way for her.
To read the "Q & A" in it's entirety, click here.
Tags: Celtic Remnants