Why does everybody seem to have it in for the nun/church? I thought I had written her quite clearly as a gentle, sympathetic character. Was it that I didn’t describe the pamphlet? Had I had the characters I would have described that it was not a condemnatory tract but one about God’s love.

It’s not the nun that’s the problem per se. It’s that she’s a member of the same community that, in this storyline, is slut shaming and is making a hard decision even harder. Her compassion and good will is set against the people who stand outside the medical centre and take pictures of immature girls in order to abuse them.

That a good person comes to represent a corrupt and dehumanising world view is ironic, which makes good fiction.

The recent spate of gay shaming and bullying that have led to the suicide and murder of gay individuals was my inspiration for my chapter. People that go out of their way to bully people into actions against their will are the villains of this piece. Not the girl and not the nun, though the girl and nun have become proxies for both.

Definitely a ficly less about a story or writing and more about the meta-discussion and difference of opinion between the authors. No problem with that, just making an observation. Quite the contentious subject started all the way back there by Robert Quick.

Reality nit-pick, though I liked that you closed the loop keeping any other author…I mean court from overturning your version, by the time even the first appeal got to trial the baby would have already been born as opposed to growing within her belly during the whole arduous process. It’s a nice narrative turn, and I see where you were going with it, but it doesn’t work cause it’s so inconsistent with reality.

Mea culpa…I’ll see what I can do about changing it to be more consistent.

I must admit I left out the step I had in mind where the court found her not guilty due to extenuating circumstances, and skipped to the the bit I found interesting.

I had no idea that my story would instigate such passion. It’s so weird how quickly things spiraled into places I’d not thought of. Good job to everyone involved though.

Yeah this really has grown out of the backyard and into the rose bush.