An Ironic Threat

The other day I received my very first death threat concerning my writing! It was a unique experience; all of my "normal" friends were horrified, all of my "writing" friends thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Why? Well, in the writing biz, any publicity is good publicity, quite honestly.

It happened on my website (www.raycattie.com), in the Guestbook, back on December 10th, 2009. At 2:32 pm on that bleak and otherwise un-noteworthy gray day, a mysterious surfer with the self-proclaimed pseudonym "Candy Cane" left the following ominous note for review to be published: "...if you publish that messiah helix garbage i'm going to kill you." Of course, I immediately approved it and allowed it to go into the Guestbook.

Why is this a Good Thing, you might be asking yourself? Well, because it prompted me to wonder where the comment came from, as the "Messiah Helix" has yet to be published. Apparently, Ms. (or Mr.) Cane read the synopsis on my "Writings" page. It says:

The more brightly it shines, the darker the shadow it casts. Thus it is that Thomas Brennan finds himself an unwillingly lapsed Catholic, wandering lost in the cold, dark shadows cast by the sexual deprivations of two trusted, well-respected priests who sexually abused a young Brennan on two separate occasions while he was growing up. Brennan now wrestles with his own battered spirituality, desperately trying to assuage the enormous hole in his faith, his trust, his very soul. Brennan's pursuit takes him around the world where, as an archaeologist, he sifts through history in an innate attempt for validation of his faith. When proof is uncovered that authenticates two infamous icons of Christianity: the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo, anticipation abounds, until a third piece of evidence is unearthed— the perfectly preserved, mummified body that was actually responsible for creating the images on the shroud and the sudarium— the body of Jesus Christ! Along the way, we meet the mysterious secret organization— the silent strong arm of the Church— Custodis Veritas, as well as a deeply implanted witness in the FBI's Witness Protection Program who is about to turn state's evidence on a vicious, notorious mafia caporegime known as Vincent "Mr. Delaware" DiChicario. Our story culminates in a warehouse in South Philadelphia, where Brennan meets his fate head on, bullets flying, as he attempts to rescue the woman who helped him to find love and trust again, from the clutches of the nefarious Mr. Delaware. Ironically, it is this trust— skewed by the very person who gave it back to him— that frees him in the end, for sometimes a lie can be the kindest truth of all; sometimes ignorance is truly bliss.

Not the best summary, not the worst. The key part is that it is as yet unpublished. However-- and here's the irony part-- thanks to the attention Ms. (Mr.) Cane drew to it with her (his) cantankerous comment, there are now several publishers interested in talking to me about publishing the novel.

Merry Christmas indeed, Candy Cane.

Lol.