IMHO this is my darkest story, and it was something of a turning point for me.
I wanted to write something to counterbalance all the really vile stories out there that seem to be written for people who get a thrill out of imagining inter-racial sex as something transgressive, and who actually get off from reading about the torture and objectification of women, as if they were doing it themselves (rather than imagining the things are happening to them).
Sometimes I worry that in deconstructing that sort of story I got too close to making something that could be misconstrued as supporting those same negative attitudes. That certainly wasn't my intention. As an author, it's almost impossible for me to judge how others are going to read my work, or what they'll take away from it.
If Betrayal is trying to say one thing, it's that the important qualities of human personality are not bounded by lines of race, gender, or perceived entitlement. What makes a person good or bad, cruel or kind, dumb or smart, isn't decided by the colour of their skin, or whether they have an inny or an outie, or whether they were born in a rich country or a poor one.
Perhaps Betrayal is too dark for most people, and too dark for me. After spending a couple of years, or more writing it (here and there) something of the protagonist seeped into me, instilling an aggravated sense of gender injustice. This had the unfortunate side-effect of making me preachy and annoying - for a while at least. I'd like to think I'm getting over it these days. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump may have brought on a relapse.
