Born of Dirt & Dust: Author Shares Hopeful Meaning That Drives Her Characters' Choices

Renee Coloman, author of Born of Dirt & Dust, shares insights about her characters' odd and eerie behaviors.

I'm one of those writers who thinks the last story or chapter or paragraph or sentence written is the best yet. The one that moves the world. The most brilliant of all.

Of course, it's wishful thinking that comes to light when, a week or a few days later, I re-read the content and spot the obvious corrections needed. My "nailed it" balloon deflates, and I roll up my sleeves, energize my typing fingertips with a hot Americano, and get to work revising and restructuring and refining my character's arc.

In my book, Born of Dirt & Dust, I tend to favor the story, Hands That Make A Man. I have a weak spot for wanting to see the best circumstances for young children in which they grow up to feel loved, secure, and happy.

Although the short stories in the book tend to lean towards genre-bending horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and urban tales, I want the best for my characters. I want their burning souls to rise up from the ashes of their smothering circumstances and know their existence matters.

The young boy in Hands That Make A Man adores his father, and when Dad is no longer alive, the boy takes something (I don't want to give it away here) and asks the paramedics to stitch it to his own little-boy body. With his father's stitched body part, the boy feels and understands that, without his father alive by his side, his own life will turn out all right. No matter the emptiness he may feel or the pressure of the environment where he resides, the boy gains confidence and feels that his life will turn out all right.