Two years after Naomi murdered the serial killer and rapist Vernon Proffit, she is attempting to adjust to a quiet life with her wife, Tiffany. But Vernon’s flock is not done with her.
Welcome to the July 12th stop on the blog tour for Prophet’s Lamentation by Robert Creekmore with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.
Author Guest Post
Can men convincingly write women protagonists?
For years, Twitter threads have been festooned with examples of ridiculous passages men have penned about characters who are women. Many of these doozies come from actual traditionally published works. It would be comical if that didn’t mean there weren’t other folks between the author’s keyboard and the printing press intervening in some capacity. Perhaps they do. But, there’s likely a man in authority over them putting the kibosh on their dissent.
I make no secret of the fact that I’m a straight, cis-gender man. Despite this, my protagonist in the Prophet’s Debt trilogy is a gay woman. The thing a lot of people forget is that gender, ethnicity, or sexuality is not your primary identifier. You are a human above all other things. And that is what ties us all together. Does that mean you should write about something in detail that you have absolutely no clue about? Hell no. My characters come from a similar background to my own, they’re almost all from the southeastern United States, North Carolina, and Virginia, specifically. Everything else about them is incidental.
One of the most common, egregious examples of women characters written poorly by men, stems from the author’s obsession with sexualizing the feminine body in their descriptions of a character’s appearance. Bodies exist so that we may live. They are not inherently sexual unless the owner wants them to be. So, on page one, when you’re tempted to discuss your protagonist looking themselves over in the mirror, just hit the backspace key repeatedly and try harder.
The other glaring mistake is the assumption that stereotypes are character traits. Characters in fiction are vehicles used to teach us about our own emotions and those of others, even the worst of us. They’re non-quantifiable, yet completely universal regardless of sexuality, physical appearance, or neurology. That’s what I tap into. How would I as a thinking, feeling creature react if I were in a specific scenario? Then I run with that emotion, adding in what I’ve already developed concerning the character’s personality traits.
By the time the first book of the Prophet’s Debt series was completed, I’d become so ingrained in the process, I often found it difficult to tell where Naomi began and I ended. I hope that if you write, one day you find yourself in the same headspace. If you do, hold onto it as long as you can.
About the Book
Prophet’s Lamentation
by Robert Creekmore
Published 4 July 2023
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
Genre: Thriller
Page Count: 271
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Two years after Naomi murdered the serial killer and rapist Vernon Proffit, she is attempting to adjust to a quiet life with her wife, Tiffany. But Vernon’s flock is not done with her. Under new leadership, their numbers have swollen as they morphed from a single entity into a network of cultists called Apostles of the Cloven Hand.
Naomi has suppressed her abilities since killing Vernon, but she cannot ignore the voices of the young people the new flock tortures and molests. They scream for help in her dreams every night, causing her to question her own sanity.
When she uses her long-dormant abilities to stop an attempted gay-bashing, Naomi’s true identity is exposed. The cult sends an assassin to kill Naomi and her family, forcing them to flee the state while the Apostles move to take everything the family has built.
Naomi fought the cult before and won. But that was before she had her chosen family to worry about. Now, she must choose between hiding on her own to keep her family safe or fighting back to destroy the Apostles. If she hides, the Apostles will continue to victimize those near them. If she fights, her family will be at risk of the same fate they plan for Naomi.
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Excerpt
The hulking Marine, while still holding Nate’s collar, rears back his right hand in a fist. It’s a drunken, profusely telegraphed punch. Before he can land it, Nate quickly jabs the man’s liver with his left fist.
Surprised, and in excruciating pain, the Marine stumbles backward toward his friends. I’m instantly proud of Nate. I taught him that. A proper liver shot is devastating and can take down the largest of opponents. That’s why they’re illegal in boxing.
The other four immediately dogpile Nate and Claude. Herschel puts his right elbow into the throat of the man closest to him, sending the bastard to his knees. Then there is general chaos. Fists and kicks swing wildly. The first Marine I get my hands on, I grab by the collar, and cram my left thumb into his right eye, crushing it into his skull.
“I was going to be a sniper,” he screams.
“Not anymore,” I reply.
Now it’s the three of us against two.
I feel the anger swelling within me. The Earth calls out to my mind, saying, “Naomi, take my energy. Return to your path.”
I resist because we easily pummel the remaining two.
But then, the larger Marine gets back on his feet. He grabs me with both hands and lifts me up against the wall by my shirt.
Nate and Claude are on my right, and Herschel is on my left. As they close in, Herschel sees my left hand glowing bright white.
“Step back,” he screams at both of them!
Knowing exactly what Herschel means, Nate grabs Claude and pulls him away.
I reach up with my glowing white hand and light the man’s entire right arm on fire. Wailing in pain, he falls back. I focus my energy on the wall behind him. The bricks disappear as I bring forth a stone archway that opens up to the night sky I saw in my dream of Frieda. Swiftly, I move toward the man, kicking him in the chest. He falls backward through the passageway. I catch a glimpse of the creature from before as it gallops by on its spindly, dagger-tipped legs. It releases a shriek that echoes out into the alleyway as it grabs the man off his feet with its long dark claws, fleeing with him toward the woods.
I pull my hand away and the portal closes.
The other men flee.
About the Author
Robert Creekmore is from a rural farming community in Eastern North Carolina.
He attended North Carolina State where he studied psychology. While at university, he was active at the student radio station. There, he fell in love with punk rock and its ethos.
Robert acquired several teaching licenses in special education. He was an autism specialist in Raleigh for eight years. He then taught for four years in a small mountain community in western North Carolina.
During his time in the mountains, he lived with his wife Juliana in a remote primitive cabin built in 1875. While there, he grew most of his own food, raised chickens, worked on a cattle farm, as well as participated in subsistence hunting and fishing.
Eventually, the couple moved back to the small farming community where Robert was raised.
Robert’s first novel Afiri, is a science fiction love letter to his childhood hero Carl Sagan. It was nominated for a Manly Wade Wellman award in 2016.
Robert’s second novel is the first in a trilogy of books. Annoyed with the stereotype of the southeastern United States as a monolith of ignorance and hatred, he wanted to bring forth characters from the region who are queer and autistic. They now hold up a disinfecting light to the hatred of the region’s past and to those who still yearn for a return to ways and ideas that should have long ago perished.
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Giveaway Alert!
Robert Creekmore will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| July 10 | It’s Raining Books | July 10 | Kenyan Poet |
| July 11 | Christine Young | July 12 | Westveil Publishing |
| July 13 | Literary Gold | July 14 | The Avid Reader |
| July 17 | Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews | July 18 | Fabulous and Brunette |
| July 19 | The Key Of Love | July 20 | Long and Short Reviews |
| July 21 | Sandra’s Book Club | July 21 | The Pen and Muse Book Reviews |
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Thank you for hosting!
Sounds great, thank you.
I enjoyed the post. Looks really good.
The book details sound like a very good read.
sounds very interesting