My novel, Righteous Intent, has been years in the making and serves more than one purpose with multiple levels of meaning in which I hope the reader experiences. On a superficial level, Righteous Intent is a good murder mystery laced with government conspiracy, romance, courtroom drama, action and adventure, and a twist of futuristic technology to qualify the novel as "sci-fi lite". The secondary importance behind the writing of Righteous Intent rests in political, social, and spiritual aspects of the novel. Although Righteous Intent takes place in the near future with an advanced technology that allows people to access the Internet and communications via a brain implant chip called the DuoDrite, the story is an allegory for current topics such as the implications and ramifications of "The Patriot Act" and other political ideologies and institutions that risk impeding our civil liberties and freedoms. In addition, other social views and spirituality are explored. Mithcell Hughes begins as a lost man facing certain doom, and to say the least, he lacks any sense of spirituality. Finally, Righteous Intent has provided me with a means to help make the public aware of the visual impairment that my family suffers from day to day. Writing this novel is part of an ongoing quest to help myself and my daughters learn to deal with our inflictions and to help others understand the difficult nature of our challenges.
The story begins back in the early 1990's. I had written a short story for a creative writing class that I had taken several times merely because I enjoyed it. The professor was Dr. Flavin, to whom I have written a dedication to in the first pages of my novel. I remember well that he didn't like science fiction, but I had written a short story for him anyway. For whatever reason, he liked it. I don't know if it was because of the writing or the plot, but he liked it. He said it was focused on characters and relationships, and that's what made it good. I intended on writing something to publish with the that short story being the basis of the work, but I was missing three components. This was a time during the birth of the Interntet, cell phones, DVD's and MP3 players, none of which were mainstream at this time. So, I was missing the technology component I needed to write about. Afterall, I didn't want to make something completely up or do something on aliens, space ships, or ray guns. I wanted whatever technology my novel was based on to have some origin of reality. Secondly, there wasn't that much going on politically in the early 90's, at least not as significant as 911. I have always liked the quote from Benjamin Franklin who said "the man who trades freedom for safety deserves neither". I wanted to use this quote for a basis for this new project, but the times didn't really fit in those days. Finally, I wanted the novel to contain something personal with deeper meaning. Although I have been visually impaired since birth, my onset was yet to happen and my vision was stable in those days. So considering these factors, I felt unispired to write and I decided to sit the the novel project until the inspiration would come.
A few short years later we had web 2.0, war on terrorism and 911, and my onset of Dominant Optic Neuropathy had arrived. This was the perfect mix of ingredients that I had been waiting for to start writing my book, but my work as a special education teacher prevented me from writing. I was busy acquiring degrees, licenses, and certifications which required too much time. In addition, by the year 2000, I had a wife, a three year old daughter, and a one year old daughter. So my time was short, but so was my visual acuity.
I spent the best part of this decade hiding the fact that I had a visual impairment. I attended meetings, classes, and workshops pretending I didn't have a problem. I found clever ways of hiding my problem with driving becoming increasingly difficult. It wasn't soon until my driving privileges were restricted, but I kept my transportation and other ordeals secret. I didn't want anyone to know about my problems for the fear of of losing my job, and appearing less of a man in front of those who I thought respected me. I was afraid and embarrassed to ask for help.
As my wife and I became aware that both of my daughters had the same genetic visual impairment, I began noticing that my daughters were beginning to hide their infliction as well. My oldest daughter, who is a fantastic softball player, began missing the ball. She began having trouble with reading, and so forth. When her problem worsened and she needed to use visual aids in the classroom, she refused to use her equipment afraid of what other children might say to her. She didn't want to be identified as being different and she was afraid and embarrassed, like her father, to ask for help.
I knew I couldn't let my daughter suffer the way that I had done for years. I knew it was time to write my novel and "come out of the closet" so to speak. After a few months of writng and editing, I published Righteous Intent with the hopes to show my daughters what can be accomplished no matter what life challenges one faces. In addition, I want my daughters to see me telling the world that I have a handicap and I'm not afraid to ask for help. Our local newspaper, The Portsmouth Daily Times, published my story focused on my visual impairment in August on 2009, which can posted on my website at www.righteousintent.com. I wanted to be an example for my daughters and show them it is really alright to be different and to have challenges. I didn't want them growing up doing the exact same things that I did to hide my visual impairment.
Finally, once the book was published, it felt good not to have to hide anymore, and I hope my daughters will follow the example that I have set for them. On a final word, I must say that writing my novel was also an exercise in self-therapy. Those who have read Righteous Intent know that the main character, Mithcell Hughes, has Dominant Optic Neuropathy. I wanted to see how my character was going to fair in the novel considering the ordeals he faced in the story. Although he begins the story stripped of any sense of hope, feeling abandoned by his peers, his government, his country, and by God, Mitchell grows through his challenges despite his visual impairment. Mitchell's triumph in the novel has inspired those who have read the novel, and in a sense, has also inspired me. When I have bad days, which I still do, I think about Mitchell Hughes and how he would handle things. I hope my daughters, when they are old enough, will find strength from Mitchell Hughes as well.
It's been a long road from the first draft of the short story to the published version of Righteous Intent, but the road ahead is much longer, especially for my girls. I hope that the work I have accomplished with this novel will inspire my future readers as well.
Brian K. Bays
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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