"Tell our stories." — Mary Dezember

Author of stories and poetry as portals to possibilities.

I

Readers ask:

What motivated me to write Wild Conviction, my socially conscious, historical, epic adventure novel.

Some note that Wild Conviction is a story of strong personalities who stand against racism, sexism, ageism, greed, suppression, and oppression.

My answer is:

The main characters of Wild Conviction—

In particular my outspoken and headstrong protagonist,

The young woman Twilight Adams—

Walked into my life and said,

“Tell our stories.”

Even though my main characters are completely fictional, to me it’s as if

They were real people hidden by history,

With a story waiting to be told.

There are people whose motivation is

To do the right thing,

Who are introspective,

Who want to see their frailties and hypocrisy,

Who want to grow in understanding and humaneness,

Who want to freeze the greed machine,

Who want the world to be fair and kind and just

So that our days can be something to treasure,

So that life can be more than survival.

Twilight is one such individual.

She’s been in my life for years

Saying:

“I will not be complacent about injustice.

I want to be heard.

I will be heard.

It’s who I am.”

See my YouTube video version of this post— click here: “Tell Our Stories” Why I Wrote Wild Conviction.

II

I could never understand how anyone at any time for even one fraction of a second—and in this country—could believe that slavery was ok.

I still don’t understand it. I know I never will.

Because of America’s historical pro-slavery beliefs and legalities, my experiences in life still today, due to my European American lineage, are different, often painfully so, than those experiences of my friends of color, of anyone of color.

I do not understand or condone rationalizations based on skin-tone, lineage, heritage, culture, sex, age, abilities, and economics. Such rationalizations lead to marginalization, suppression and oppression.

It was within this framework of dismay about my own country—the land of freedom and equality founded on “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”—that Twilight, with some of her friends, walked into my life and said:

“Tell our stories.”