BookExpo America is fast approaching. There are so many authors to meet and discover. Pavarti K. Tyler, below, is one of those authors. Her new book Shadow on the Wall was recently released. Today she is stopping by with a guest post. Come back tomorrow for news on her book signing.
How a Unitarian
from Jersey writes about a Muslim Superhero
Have you ever gotten that feeling in the back of your head
that there's something not quite right about the way you think? I've always daydreamed about things others
have considered impossible or ridiculous.
I'm the loon who decided statistically
charting
various vampires' awesomeness
was a good idea.
So when the suggestion was made that someone needed to write
about a Middle Eastern superhero my imagination went into overdrive. Of course we need a Middle Eastern
superhero! Others have tackled this
topic to great success, like Dr. Naif of the99.org,
what’s different here is that I am not from the Middle East.
I sat down and started writing and a character named Recai
Osman appeared on the pages before me.
With green eyes and red beard, Recai stood in the middle of a windblown
desert, daring me to take the challenge.
And cue the theme
to Beyond Thunderdome.
A problem soon presented itself. It's impossible to discuss the Middle East in
any meaningful way without bringing religion into the conversation, and while
I've studied Islam, I am not a Muslim.
I'm not Jewish either. In fact,
I'm about as far from the religious spectrum of the Middle East as you could
get. I'm a Unitarian Universalist.
UUism is based on the idea that we all have the right to our
own path to Truth. For some that Truth
is God, for some it's not. What connects
us within the UU church is the belief that the search is valuable and that
there is benefit to having a supportive and respectful community with whom to
share that search. (You can read more about our principles here: Our Unitarian Universalist Principles)
For me, the importance of an individual’s expression of
faith within a community is huge. I
believe in God. Because of this, I often
find myself listening to the fundamentalist rhetoric of all religions with a
frustrated sigh. Why does someone have
to be wrong in order for another to be right?
It was with this in mind that I thought about Recai. What makes a good man? What makes a good Muslim? And in a society in which religion is such a
prominent part of day-to-day life, what would be the shape of evil?
Recai is a faithful man; he's erred and he's sinned, but his
belief in Allah and in humanity is solid.
Underneath his layers of confusion and self-doubt is a good man. His day-to-day life has been isolated from
the city he lives in: Elih, Turkey (Google it for a good giggle). What would
happen if a flawed man was forced to confront real evil, real sin? Could he rise to the occasion?
Islam and Judaism run throughout Shadow on the Wall. Some
of the phrases and cultural idioms may be unfamiliar to Western readers, but I
hope that you will see a little of yourself in the characters. The issues they
face are written at high stakes, but the questions posed are ones we must all
answer. Who am I? What do I stand for? Although Shadow on the Wall has
supernatural elements, I like to think heroes exist in life, and I like to
think that religion can fuel the good in people. Perhaps we're all capable of great things.
Author Bio:
Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number
cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After
graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant
Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway.
Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry as a
freelance accountant for several international law firms. She now operates her
own accounting firm in the Washington DC area, where she lives with her
husband, two daughters and two terrible dogs. When not preparing taxes, she is
busy working at Novel Publicity and penning her next novel.
My blog is all ages: http://www,fightingmonkeypress.com
My tumblr is 18+ only: http://pavartidevi.tumblr.com/
My Fan Page needs your likes: https://www.facebook.com/#!/FMPress
My Twitter likes friends: http://twitter.com/#!/PavartiKTyler
My Google+ is random: https://plus.google.com/?gpinv=JFSVnKSj7Uk:FdjR-3NCJW8#me/posts
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