Ask the Author: Steve Powell
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Steve Powell
While several readers have mentioned that they are surprised that something along the lines of what happens in Term Limits hasn’t actually happened and others have said they fear someone might use the book as a template for their own illegal agenda, I’m not too worried. First of all, not that many people have read the book. If someone did use it as a template, the authorities wouldn’t have that hard of a time checking out every possible suspect. But more seriously, writers and certainly fiction crime writers can’t and shouldn’t temper their dark thoughts for fear of being imitated. If they did we’d lose characters like Stephen King’s Annie Wilkes (Misery) or Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter (Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs…). If writers did hold back, where would we draw the line? Would we only write and read “nice” things?
A friend of mine once told me that at times fiction can do things that political activism cannot. Fiction can open up and encourage dialogue. Books like John Irving’s The Cider House Rules and Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One are great examples of compelling reads that do just that dealing with issues like abortion and bullying. If my book uses murder to make a credible case for term limits in a hopefully interesting read, I’ve achieved my objective.
A friend of mine once told me that at times fiction can do things that political activism cannot. Fiction can open up and encourage dialogue. Books like John Irving’s The Cider House Rules and Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One are great examples of compelling reads that do just that dealing with issues like abortion and bullying. If my book uses murder to make a credible case for term limits in a hopefully interesting read, I’ve achieved my objective.
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