Interview With a Sinner follows a professional mourner who meets a demi-goddess who is looking for someone to interview about humanity in their quest to create a new civilization. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Growing up Christian, I have heard so many interesting philosophical debates about the nature of worship and questioning why a benevolent Creator would allow awful circumstances to plague the innocent. So I started thinking how I would do any better while still granting people free will to act as disorderly as they want. It became a headache to ponder. All my random musings and speculations took form in Marigold, who could be a curious interviewer to some degenerates in this story. It wouldn’t have been interesting if she questioned saintly or righteous individuals, after all. They might have all the answers. Scoundrels like us have to be creative with our conjectures.

What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?

Morality, definitely. It can be boring to follow virtuous people we would like to be, and despise villains who represent everything we detest in society. But great fiction can provoke you to sympathize with the worst or even feel they’re relatable. Nothing was harder for me than to write the scenes of Hollace with her sexual temptations, but it was an exercise in showing the humanity of even the most shameful and perverse, and that her guilt pushed her to otherwise be as helpful and caring as possible for the outcasts. People who are horrible to each other can become friends, and deadly rivalries can sometimes dip into playful banter.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

It was essential for me to introduce as many theological concepts as possible for the debates. From Judgment to reincarnation, to what happens to the morally erratic if the world ends and they have to be sent to either Heaven or Hell. Also the rationale behind atheism or those who are content being agnostic. The book was never meant to pick a side or even truly confirm if Marigold is what she claims to be. Life itself is ambiguous and that was the theme behind every single question arising.

I found this novel to be a cutting piece of satire. What is one thing that you hope readers take away from your novel?

Artistic endeavors are a big part. That some aggrandize the idea of violence, death, or suicide for the sake of art, and I’m hoping this book kind of deflates that notion and makes apparent that such things in real life are gruesome, messy, and never convey an “artistic message.” Like how the snuff filmmakers brag their production company transcends the mere butchering of people, even though that’s the gist of it. We tend to insert superfluous ideas and meanings into our undertakings to pretend they’re something grander than they are, especially if our deeds are reprehensible. To rationalize a killing, there was an understandable motive. To justify discrimination, there’s a ridiculous “moralistic” excuse. There’s an illusion of “destiny.” Sometimes people who spout about their destiny are the scariest to me.

Thank you so much for your time and exploration of my debut novel.

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Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2024/07/28/a-curious-interviewer/