“Loss is inadmissible…”

Someone told me these words are ‘profound’. My vanity would like to take credit, but I wonder if I have the right to write them. Death has claimed no one close to me… yet.

A Voracious Grief is about how the darkness of sorrow can swallow a person whole if they let it. It’s about escapism. It was born out of intrigue and conviction.

First, an old tale I stumbled upon in script form intrigued me. During high school, I read The Veldt by Ray Bradbury; a short story about two children whose nursery is a marvelous piece of technology that makes anything they can imagine come to life. Brother and sister are so pleased with their room that they no longer need friends, teachers or parents, and spend all their time in it. The story has a tragic, horrifying end, as you can probably imagine. It’s the kind of story that gave me a delightful shiver, and one which I will never forget.

A Voracious Grief is about a brother and sister and a Room, as well. I hope readers of my retelling will experience the same sort of chilling suspense as I enjoyed while reading Bradbury’s.

Second, my story is inspired by personal conviction. While I may not have lost someone close to me, I have experienced other sorts of loss. I’ve walked through deep darkness; depression, self-loathing, fear. I may not know death, but I know suffering intimately. This story is an exploration of how sorrow touches various parts of a person and how people deal with grief differently. I hope I’ll be able to infuse it with the darker human emotions all people share and shed some light on why we suffer.

I can’t go into much detail about AVG without giving the suspense away, so, suffice it to say—I’m writing a book you won’t want to put down, and afterwards, one you’ll long remember.