Glass Angels
Well, two posts in one day! But, I couldn’t wait to share this. My story, “Glass Angels” is live at Perpetual Magazine. That happened much faster than I expected since I just received the acceptance email today! That was some speedy posting, Russell!
If you prefer to read the stories without any spoilers, I would suggest heading over there now and coming back afterward to finish the rest of the blog entry.
“Glass Angels” has been in my submission rotation for quite a while. I originally wrote it as part of my creative thesis for my master’s degree. It was one of five short stories included in the thesis along with a nonfiction preface. Of the five, this was definitely my favorite.
Sadly, it had difficulty finding a home. The Christian magazines I sent it to found it too controversial, but the literary/mainstream markets I tried seemed to find it too “Christian.”
“Glass Angels” is the story of James, a Baptist minister, and his son, Tom, who comes out of the closet. One of my rejection emails said the story fails to represent either Christians or members of the gay community accurately. That rejection was a little crushing, actually. Luckily, I had my faithful Writer’s Inkers to bolster me. Virginia gets a special thanks for this one, as it turns out she had an experience very similar to what Tom faces in this story, and she assured me that, despite what the rejection letter said, the moment did ring true.
It was a hard story to write. I’ve had plenty of experience with conservative Christians, but not so much with the other side. However, I think it was a story that needed to be told. Coming out is a complex issue — there are so many feelings involved. No one will come out of that unscathed. And, ultimately, the two points of view are so diametrically opposed that there’s really no happy ending in sight. What can you do when the bonds of family and the bonds of faith conflict so strongly? And if you have felt oppressed your whole life, how can you take anything less that full acceptance?
The other aspect of this story that got surprising responses from editors and critiques was the zealots. The comment I got about them most often was that they weren’t believable. I will state here, for the record, that most of that came straight out of my own experiences. There is nothing stranger (or more unbelievable), I suppose, than real life! I have left the Palace Theater in downtown Fort Worth several times to find zealots in homespun clothing proselytizing outside — not because of a movie or anything, but just because. The interaction at the beginning of the story is very similar to one that I personally witnessed. And I also saw with my own eyes a child wearing a sign with flames on it and the same caption as the one in the story. That image will haunt me forever.
But, this is a writing blog, not a religious blog, so we’ll move on from that now…
Related to writing, my favorite thing about this story is the title, which is strange, because titles are normally hard for me. But I love how “Glass Angels” applies on so many levels. Of course, there are the angels in the stained glass, but if you look at James and Tom from each other’s point of view, they can also be considered glass angels in the sense of glass shattering when it falls from a pedestal.
And on that note, I think that’s about all I have to say about this story. Read it, and if you like it, let me know!
3 Comments so far
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I loved your story. The subject is, of course, a difficult one to deal with and I think you captured the emotion and raw gut feelings that coming out of the closet evokes. I found the mother to be an interesting character and very much in keeping with reality. She was an insider to Tom and also supportive to the struggles that James was going through. I too have seen the zealots outside the theater you spoke of and felt sorry for them. I understand that they think they will change people’s minds but all they wind up doing is turning unchurched people off with their approach. Now I want to know more about this family and how they work out the chasm between them. I believe they need more time to come to some middle ground they can all live with.
Thanks so much, Anna. I appreciate the comments. It really was a hard story to write because of the emotions there, so hearing that people liked it is extra special. I do hope that James and Tom can find a middle ground somewhere, but I suspect that you’re right and it will take time.
[...] for me to write, actually, and I just hope that I did the emotions of that moment justice — here is my post about writing that story, if you’re [...]