Harry Potter, Good Omens, and The Power of Allegory

I was ten years old when I first heard of Harry Potter.

Prisoner of Azkaban had just come out, and there was an article about the books' success in our Weekly Reader at school. It seemed like their popularity exploded outward from that moment, and soon it seemed that nearly everyone at my private Catholic school was reading them.

I received all three novels for Christmas that year and quickly gobbled them up. Soon after, I began to hear some concerns from parents about the "witchcraft" involved in them. My mother read the books after I did and decided they were safe enough for me, and the school library kept them in stock, and all was well.

Looking back, the Catholic community in which I was raised was somewhat laid-back. We loved God and Jesus and were still able to enjoy popular culture without fear of the devil flying out at us at every turn. To us, stories were just stories, and it didn't matter if there were witches and wizards and house elves in them. (I can't speak for all Catholics; this is just what I saw from the ones I was acquainted with.)

Of course, I still heard stories of parents refusing to allow their children to read Harry Potter because of its "Satanic" nature. Even as a child, I knew that those parents hadn't read a page of Harry Potter themselves, because there was absolutely nothing Satanic whatsoever in them. After all, Voldemort was a bad guy everyone wanted to defeat! Those parents had simply heard rumors of the devil and panicked without taking a look at the truth for themselves.

Now let's fast forward twenty years.

It's 2019. A month ago, the screen adaptation of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett was released upon the world. For those not in the know, Good Omens is the comedic tale of an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon, Crowley, who team up to stop the Apocalypse because they both happen to really love the Earth and don't want it to be destroyed.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, some religious groups took offense.

"Good Omens misrepresents God!" I saw one person worry online. This person had neither read the book nor watched the show, but was referencing the fact that God, the narrator, is portrayed by actress Frances McDormand.

"An angel and a demon could never be friends," another person complained. And, "A demon could never be a good guy. Demons are evil."

Since this is a free country, people of course have the right to object to whatever they want to. However, I prefer taking a more nuanced approach to analyzing fiction. 

Having a woman narrating God's voice doesn't bother me because God is a celestial being, and celestial beings have no gender. I don't mind the fact that an angel and a demon are friends, because Good Omens is a work of fiction. Not once does it ever proclaim itself to be Truth. It's simply a laugh-out-loud story with enough tender moments that made me wish it was much longer than six episodes.

The thing about good stories is that they go so much deeper than surface level. I consider both Harry Potter and Good Omens to be allegories, which Dictionary.com defines as "a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another."

Harry Potter isn't about witches and wizards; it's about courage and bravery and self-sacrifice. It is a hero's tale that shows us that evil, no matter how powerful, can be defeated.

Good Omens isn't about angels, demons, and the end of the world. It's the story of people who love and care about each other despite their differences. It's the perfect example of unconditional love, and it makes me yearn for a world where people sitting on opposite sides of the fence can unite under a common cause, whether they're a witch and a witchfinder, a prostitute and a witchfinder, or a demon and an angel.

Some of Jesus's most effective teachings came in the form of allegories, like the story of the prodigal son, or the story of the good Samaritan, both of which demonstrated spiritual truths without ever coming across as instructional or preachy. And if it worked for Jesus, why can't it work for the rest of us?

On Social Awkwardness

Some years ago, I was in the presence of a group of small children, all of whom looked at me suddenly and chorused, "Awkward!!!"

I was a grown adult at this point in time. I was amazed at their perceptiveness, and unsure of exactly what I'd done that warranted their comment. They were right, though.

I am socially awkward.

And I always have been.

(Yours Truly, circa 2003. My posture is making my eyes twitch.)

Different people probably have differing definitions of what it means to be socially awkward. In my case, I define it as failing to understand certain social cues, not knowing the proper responses to make in certain situations, and doing generally embarrassing things in public and feeling helpless while committing them.

My social awkwardness used to cause me some anxiety because I feared the ridicule of others. I tend to flub my speech when I get nervous--what if they thought I was stupid for bungling up everything I said? What if they tease me for not understanding something was supposed to be a joke? What if they talk behind my back about what a silly, foolish person I am?

What if nobody takes me seriously ever again?


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Does this sound familiar to any of you? Maybe you struggle with social awkwardness, too, and the anxiety that comes with it. Maybe you fear talking on the telephone because you can never figure out the "right" way to interact with people you can't see. Maybe you fear speaking with people face to face because you struggle with body language and misinterpret what people mean.

I understand. I've been there.

And you know what?

Things can get better.

At some point, I decided to own my awkwardness. I engage with dozens of people at my in-person events, and once I admitted to others that I am a Socially Awkward Person, things didn't start to seem so bad. I make lighthearted jokes about it: "Bobby Roland is shy and socially awkward, just like his author!" I'll say, which always generates a few chuckles.


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Being socially awkward is just going to be a part of who I am. I don't have much anxiety anymore. If someone has an issue with my lack of savvy social skills, who cares? That's their problem, and I really am trying my best, just like everyone else.

If you are socially awkward too, fear not. I personally believe that any socially awkward person can be Awesomely Awkward. Wear your awkwardness like a crown and make it yours! Plus, the more you get to practice social interaction, the more the wrinkles in your social skills will get ironed out. We may never be perfect--who isn't?--but we can sure as heck do the best with what we've got.

Do you have tips about dealing with social awkwardness? Share them in the comments!

Thirty: A Reflection

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Boy, has it been a looong time since I posted anything here. Over a year! Oh, my poor, neglected blog!

But hey, I've been busy. Like, really, REALLY busy. I've written oodles of short stories, had one accepted into an anthology, finished writing one novel, started writing another one, sent that second one off to my editor, and had roughly five bajillion author events so new readers can enjoy my books.

It's been fun!

Want to know what else is fun? On Thursday, March 28, I turn 30 years old. Actually, it's a bit terrifying, as time has been flying by way too quickly, and I'd just like it to slow down for a while. (Is that too much to ask for?)

Looking back at my twenties, I can see they were all about change. Slow change, but change nevertheless. In some ways, I feel like a butterfly unfurling its new wings as it emerges from its cocoon, feeling the sunlight it hasn't seen since it was a wee caterpillar.

That may sound cheesy, but it's true. When I turned 20, ten years ago now, I was on antidepressants and not all that happy about life due to crippling anxiety that left me completely useless. When a painful, personal tragedy struck me at the age of 21, I sank into a deep melancholy that produced some awfully dark writing on my part.

They say that time heals all wounds, but I'm not entirely sure I believe that. It just makes the wounds farther away than they used to be, enabling me to look at them more objectively. Instead of moping about things I can't change because they already happened, I can look back and say, "That was a very sad thing that happened, but it's done now, and I need to focus on other, more pertinent things before my entire life passes me by."

I don't know if that's a healthy coping mechanism or not. I just make things up as I go.

I feel a lot happier now. I've started writing more comedy and fewer bloodbaths, but I haven't published any of that yet. It's such an enjoyable change of pace, making flat-Earthers get abducted by aliens and distant human outposts get invaded by sentient Canadian geese in spacesuits. (You will read about these things eventually. Have patience, young padawan.)

What else has happened or changed over the past ten years?

I finally got a smartphone.

I stopped being an asshole, mostly.

I adopted a bunch of cats.

I no longer seize up with terror when I pick up the phone. Yay phone calls!

I feel confident and ready to take over the world.

I've improved my eating habits, ditching the chips and alcohol for food that contains actual nutrients. You have no idea what a difference this has made.

In all, I have to say my 20s ended up being mostly good.

And now, onward to my 30s!

Introducing the UK-Only Audiobook Giveaway

Good evening, readers!

If you've been tuning into this blog over the past year, you may have spotted some of my earlier audiobook giveaways. These giveaways were open to residents of the US and UK, yet all of the winners resided in the US! I feel like I'm a fair person, so this time I'm giving away free audiobook copies of Servant, Sacrifice, and Ordinary Souls to TWO lucky winners who reside in the the United Kingdom ONLY.

To enter, send an email to jsbailey@jsbaileywrites.com with Audiobook Giveaway as the subject. I'll choose the lucky winners on the 31st of March!

(Note: Entries from non-UK residents are not valid. The promo codes won't even work outside the UK, so don't think about cheating!) ;)

No New Ideas?

Happy Belated New Year, everyone! I hope 2018 is finding each of you well!

I've already had five author events this month (no, I don't have a lot of free time!). I talk to lots of people at my events, and I happened to have two people at two of these events mention the same concern to me:

That there are no new ideas.

In the first instance, the man who mentioned this to me was worried because he'd always wanted to write a novel, but ended up reading another novel that turned out to be nearly identical to the one he'd been working on. In the second instance, the man who mentioned that there are no new ideas said that his daughter liked to write--I suppose he was concerned for her since all worthwhile ideas seem to have already been taken.

I told both of these people the same thing: there AREN'T really any new ideas.

But that's not something to be feared. The important thing to do is to put your own spin on an established idea. Make it yours, and it will feel original to your readers.

For example:

Some number of years ago, I read a short story by Oscar Wilde called "The Canterville Ghost." In this story, a loud and boisterous American family moves into a ghost's estate. The ghost doesn't like it and makes many attempts to scare the family away. Part of it was told from the ghost's point of view, which I thought was so neat that I wrote part of Rage's Echo from the ghost's point of view.

(As a side note, the movie Beetlejuice borrows heavily from Wilde's story, as it's about two ghosts trying to scare away the family who moves into their house.)

Another example is my short story "The Mirror," which appears in Ordinary Souls. If you haven't read "The Mirror" yet, it's about Elena, a wealthy divorcee, who collects antiques and discovers that her "new" antique mirror sometimes chooses to reflect her future self's reflection back at her. Elena begins to fixate on what her future self is doing--who wouldn't?--and then tries to avoid what she sees happening in the mirror.

Enchanted mirrors are by no means an original literary phenomenon! Think of the magic mirror on the wall in Snow White, or the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter, which shows you your heart's deepest desire when you look into it.

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So, don't worry if an idea you love is already "taken." Work with the idea and shape it into something new! Just don't ever plagiarize, because THAT is illegal.

What about you, writers? How have you reworked established ideas and made them your own?

Trapped Inside the Internet

It was September 2005. I was 16 years old, a junior in high school, and I was talking to my good friend Jennifer on the phone in my basement bedroom that was always too cold regardless of the time of year.

I don't remember why we were talking on the phone. I guess that's what we did back then. I don't remember who called who, or what we'd even been talking about at first, but suddenly Jennifer said something to me that would change my life forever:

"So-and-so told me about this website called MySpace." She emphasized the second word, calling it "mySPACE."

She told me a little more about this website I'd never heard of. Intrigued, I visited MySpace and signed up. I discovered that a few other people from school had profiles, and was astounded to see pictures from the recent school dance displayed on people's profiles for anyone to see.

It was beyond my comprehension that someone could put pictures of me and my friends online without my knowledge. It was like this whole little world existed that I hadn't known about. Sure, I'd been lurking online for a few years at that point, mostly hanging out in the forums on the official Star Wars website. (My screen name there was, for some reason, Darth Gurshellewarn, or something like that.) People did not post pictures in the forums. This was entirely new territory for me, and I took to it with overzealous fervor.

One of the photos from my MySpace profile.

Fast forward twelve years.

It's hard to imagine what life would be like today without social media. It's even what I do at work: I manage many social media profiles a day, and when I get home in the evening, I get in my daily word count and then hop on over to my own social media profiles to post things there. I'm generally on social media about eight hours a day.

I've made so many friends online during the past twelve years. I love the opportunities that social media has given me. Without it, I never would have found my publisher, and I wouldn't have been able to meet some very dear author friends at writing conferences.

Despite this, I'm starting to miss the olden days.

I'm starting to miss them BAD.

I sit and try to remember what I did before the dawn of social media. I remember crocheting a lot, and I wrote stories in notebooks, and I scrapbooked my photographs in albums. Of course I had homework, too, which I don't miss at all--but I miss the simplicity of it. I miss the quiet evenings hanging out with my friends, watching movies and writing goofy stories that we'd pass back and forth. I miss a world that lived without daily outrage. I miss a world that was more civil, more polite. Part of me wishes that I could go back in time and revel in the silence.

Of course, I'm not going to ditch social media. I love you all too much! But I think it's time for me to step back a little bit and try to regain some of what I have lost.

Epic Holiday Audiobook Giveaway

2017 has flown by, and once again it is the holiday season! Oh, where has this year gone?

In proper gift-giving fashion, I am giving away free Audible copies of Servant, Sacrifice, and Ordinary Souls to FIVE LUCKY WINNERS. Entries are open to residents of the US and UK only. Each winner will win all three audiobooks.

How do you enter? 

1. Send an email to jsbailey@jsbaileywrites.com stating whether you live in the US or UK so I can send you the correct code if you are one of the winners. Please put AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY in the subject line.

2. Comment on this blog post answering the following question:

What is the best audiobook you have ever listened to?

You MUST complete both steps in order to have a valid entry! The deadline for entry is December 31, 2017. Good luck!