NK Chocolate Chat with Lolita Files ( continued )
And yes , many men who are homophobic are often running from their own desires that plague them on some level . No way would that kind of thing be entertained by “ good ” society in a rural place like Downtown , Tennessee during the time period they lived . Grace and Walter ’ s father Benny was a tortured man in many ways .
NK : Man , I was soooo hoping ( C ) made it . Then when that happened , it made me brace myself for everything else . More like Game of Thrones . The reader didn ’ t know who was going to meet the end next — and how .
Lolita Files : When I started watching “ Game of Thrones ,” I realized that I ’ d done a rather condensed version of that with “ Child of God ,” lol . You never knew what horror lurked around a corner for a character , and just when you hoped someone got away or broke free from whatever societal , psychological , or external chains that bound them ... well .
NK : That hair scene was dynamic . I felt it coming before old girl picked up the weapon .
Lolita Files : That scene blew me away as well . There were several scenes I wrote in “ Child of God ” where I stepped back afterwards and kind of paced and breathed because I had no idea where they came from , especially so vividly . I felt like I was channeling something . Again , going back to me believing that book used me .
NK : I believe that . That mental block was a slow wind until — BAM !!!
Reader , Antionette Gates : Was it the development of each character and their life hard ? What gave you the idea for the underlying theme ?
Lolita Files : I know this sounds woo-woo , but those characters developed themselves . I had a general idea for one or two of them , but they were just general ideas , nothing fleshed out . The characters in that book told me who they were , not the other way around . I ’ d sit down at my laptop and go where they led me . They took me to some dark corners . More than a few times , I was appalled . But I stayed with them . I couldn ’ t believe how troubled that family was . With every word I typed , I seriously wondered how things were going to work out . When it didn ’ t for some whom I deeply cared about , I was stricken