Story Behind The Story- Stolen Honor

Many of the stories I write are centered around perceived injustices I see in the world around me.  As everyone knows, I felt that Michael Vick's sentence for dog fighting was a joke- he never served a single day in jail for the actual animal cruelty, it was all for gambling- and "Dogs of War" was born.  My way of finding some semblance of justice in a world where too often justice seems an intangible, impossible concept.

Another such situation, though not as severe, became newsworthy about two years ago when a pair of men, in unrelated cases, pretended to be ex-military.  Now these men would claim that what they did was no big deal- they weren't trying to get employment or make money based on their lies.  They will say it's no different than pretending to be a doctor or a lawyer or a movie star to pick up women.  Play acting, they call it.  No one gets hurt.  And according to the law, they are right!  If they aren't falsifying their history in an attempt to gain money or employment, it's not illegal.  It's a free speech issue.


And, as much as it pains me to say it, these men are right.  Their first amendment rights give them the right to say whatever they like, pretend to be whatever they want, as long as they are not mis-representing themselves for financial gain.  It burns me.  It really does.  You want to lie about your job to pick up women or gain some general popularity, go ahead.  Say you're a doctor or layer or movie star.

But don't you dare lie about being a soldier.  Don;t you dare besmirch their honor and sacrifice.

Such an act is not illegal.  And it shouldn't be, for the sake of all of our freedoms.  But that doesn't make it morally right.  And in "Stolen Honor", I explore what happens when a conman lies to the wrong person about his military service.

"Stolen Honor" is just one of the eleven excellent stories that are found in Pandora's Children The Complete Nightmares Book 2.

Story Behind The Story- Four Corners

The story behind "Four Corners" is actually quite simple.  Anyone who has read my bio knows that I spent four years living in New Orleans, perhaps the most haunted city in  America, if not the world.  That being said, there is no actual history behind the events of Four Corners that I know of, but New Orleans being what it is, I wouldn't be surprised if an actual story existed somewhere.

During my Freshman year in college, in 1995, I heard rumors of an intersection somewhere deep in the French Quarter (no one knew exactly where), where four one-way signs emptied into a single intersection.  We could never find that intersection, though we did search for it.  Of course, the question of why such an intersection existed and why it had never been fixed did crop up, but no one could explain it.  Maybe if we had actually been able to find it, we would have questioned its existence a little more persistently.

Anyway, "Four Corners" is a short story, under 3,000 words, about this intersection.  There is no fact in this story and no basis in actual history or mythology, either.  Everything you read is a product of my own sickened mind, from the location of the intersection itself to what lurks there.

I have been asked on several occasions if I had any plans on expanding the story, on actually exploring the history and mythology of the intersection.  Part of me is intrigued at the prospect, curious as to what I may find if did.  The other part of me loves the short, simple, blunt nature of tale as it is, though; a disturbing little life that makes you sit back and think long after you're done reading it.  Sure, part of you wants to know exactly what is going on, but another part of you is perfectly content to just chew away at what you have just read, enjoying the mystery.

So there it is is, my first installment of Story Behind The Story.

"Four Corners" can be found in Pandora's Children: The Complete Nightmares Book 2, or for free in Pandora's Children: Dark Interludes.  Please, take a peek and let me know what you think!