It’s been a crazy, fun summer–prepping for and teaching at Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp, painting baseboards, doors, and rooms at my daughter and son-in-law’s new house, babysitting my grandson and grandpuppy for the big move, playing pickle ball, attending rock and jazz concerts and strawberry festivals, and more. Despite this, I’ve still managed to work on The Runner and The Renegade–the last two books in The Devil Particle Series.
But the work hasn’t been easy. The biggest obstacle has been creating a world without evil–a utopia. The no wars-no murder-no crime-no malicious intent part was easy (though defining evil has been a little tricky).
The hardest part was deciding how people would act if there wasn’t any evil, Would they have freedom of choice? Would they be affected in other ways? What, if anything, would they sacrifice in order to maintain this utopian world?
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
The utopia in Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1973 short story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is astounding. Nothing but bliss and happiness, until, between the ages of 8-12, citizens learn the truth: to maintain this perfect world, a nine-year-old child has to be imprisoned in filth, darkness, and despair. Most citizens are horrified when they learn this truth but soon believe this is a necessary evil. Others can’t stomach it, and they walk away.
Is it worth the sacrifice?
Is it worth the sacrifice is a central question in Le Guin’s short story. Taking it a step further, how can the citizens of Omelas enjoy their lives knowing the child is suffering?
Similarly, in The Devil Particle, citizens believe a teenager must sacrifice him or herself to become the vessel to contain all the world’s evil in order to save everyone from annihilation and (possibly) create a perfect world. Teenagers volunteer to enter the Vessel Trials to prove their worth. They’re willing and eager to become the vessel to save humanity. Freely volunteering to take on evil certainly seems more palatable than forcing Le Guin’s poor child to suffer. But what becomes of the citizens in The Devil Particle if there is no evil?
A World Without Evil
I’d worked through many different scenarios for how the lack of evil would affect people. I researched philosophic and religious texts and debated the issue with my editor and writing colleagues. I even wrote about this in a previous email. Finally, I decided I was over-complicating things and decided to concentrate on one central theme–without evil there is no freedom of choice.
I’ve tweaked The Runner to establish this world and the central theme, and I like where it’s taking the story. It’ll have more of an effect in the fourth book, The Renegade. Life it going to be so much harder for the hero Jaelyn Bellamy.
ARC Readers
In the next several weeks, I’ll finish a complete revision of The Renegade and will send it to my critical readers. With their feedback, I’ll make the (hopefully) final changes in both books and get them published next year.
Which means I’ll need ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) readers! If you’ve read The Devil Particle and The Vessel and would like free digital copies of the last two books in return for your honest reviews on Amazon, let me know. I’ll add you to my ARC list.
If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, get your copies through my brand new book shop (least expensive), a local bookstore (Mystery to Me Books in Madison, Daydream Believer Books & Gifts in Lake Mills, or Studio Moonfall in Kenosha), or on Amazon. Then let me know and I’ll add you to the ARC list.
Okay, back to editing the books!
