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Also, umm… on the heels of the Kit reveal… XD (Oh gosh I’m also kinda nervous about this)

You know when characters develop without asking you first? Well, that happened again, with Calliope specifically.

A day or two ago, I realized Cal is very likely queer (I think bi as well but I’m not positive). I left that idea where it was and thought about it and prayed about it some more. It hasn’t gone away, it has rather become stronger, and elaborated.

So, a rant about Cal incoming XD

I’ve known Cal has always felt like an outsider for some reason, and I also realized she has a bad relationship with most of her family, except her sister. I wasn’t quite sure why though. Originally I thought it was because she went off to study something her parents weren’t absolutely convinced would be useful and necessary. However, that isn’t quite enough of a reason for them to be so completely estranged.

So, the idea of Cal being queer occurred to me. (Two of my Christian writer friends actually pointed it out as well) Originally, I wasn’t very on board with the idea, because writing it from a biblical perspective that is neither celebrating it nor harshly condemning her is going to be hard. 

However, I’ve been praying about it and the idea keeps persisting. (Also being a Christian writer is inherently hard XD)

I think Cal and her family are Christian, but when Cal was seeking support from her family and her church, she was judged and completely rejected for it and ended up leaving, very hurt and disillusioned. I don’t know to what degree she still believes, but I know she’s not currently part of any church or community and kind of avoids it. However, I think she knows her current life is empty to some degree and wants to go back, but she’s also terrified.

I think she ended up telling her family because she was caught between living a lie and feeling like she was deceiving everyone and possibly being rejected. I think she hoped for help from her family and church, and she ended up not getting it.

As far as I know, a large part of her character arc will involve Malcolm (Who you’ve seen mentioned) because he’s a very strong Christian, so it’s a kind of back and forth for how both of them deal with the situation.

Besides that, the most important theme of Murder of Swans is not belonging and rejection. Each of the characters has something that causes them to be different to a certain degree. Neurotype, disability, origin/race, class, and now, queer characters as well. I almost feel that I’ll be deliberately avoiding an entire side of the problem if I decide to exclude that side of Cal.

However. This is a sticky subject, to say the least. It’s hard for a Christian to tackle since there’s just so much gray territory between ‘how should a Christian writer deal with this differently from a secular author’ and how exactly it should be shown.

So, I’m asking for y’all’s opinion on this one. I want to leave Cal in and see where it goes, but I really don’t know what I’m doing XD I’m figuring this out and praying about it as I go.

Basically, what are y’all’s opinions on this? Should I leave her in? What are your perspectives on this?

Until I hear from y’all, I’ll just be writing Cal without touching on this side, but it’s pretty unavoidable if we get to the worst regrets part. XD

I look forward to hearing from y’all!

@calidris

@this-is-not-an-alien

@e-n-leonard

@inkhorn

@jared-williams

@emily-waldorf

@irishcelticredflowercrown

(I think that’s everyone…)