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The Self-Righteousness of Religion
The Gift follows a gay young man who is cast out of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and his mom’s home and life, who embraces the life of a cowboy while learning to accept himself. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
When I started writing, I had no preconceived ideas or outline for what this story would be. I began with a simple premise of a gay male character named Butch and intended to write a gay western/romance novel, but as I wrote and that character took shape, the story just traveled down the path it wanted to go.
I felt this novel’s supporting characters were intriguing and well-developed. Who was your favorite character to write for?
My favorite character is Butch. He and I share many similarities in temperament and history. But I also really enjoyed writing the villain in this narrative. Dick Stinchfield had so many flaws, but I also wanted to depict him as human. That character was enjoyable to create.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I didn’t know it when I started writing, but after the characters and narrative took shape, it was clear that I was writing three themes into this novel. All three are themes of contrast: black vs white, good vs bad, beauty vs ugliness.
Intolerance, racism, genderism, sexism, and homophobia are all ugly, and I wanted to contrast them against the self-righteousness of religion.
Gay men don’t all match the stereotype. Today, that wouldn’t surprise anyone, but at the time when this story takes place, it was inconceivable that a masculine cowboy could be gay.
There is a tremendous beauty in the landscape and solitude of the rural American West, but at the time when this story takes place, it was often accompanied by a strong rejection of people who were different. My favorite line to write came from a resident who had absolute confidence in his faith and community – “the good people around here won’t put up with any of those in this town. Dick was the only one, as far as we know, and good riddance to him.” At that time, there was a tremendous level of hate coming from a place of so much beauty.
What is the next book that you’re working on and when can your fans expect it out?
The next novel I am working on is a fictional story of a single mother who has traveled across the country in search of her father. It is still several years away from being ready for release.
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Seeking comfort in the isolation of the western landscape, young single mother Pansy Blackwell brings her son Butch to the Siskiyou Mountains. Fully engulfed in the Jehovah’ s Witnesses assurances for a soon-to-arrive end of the world, Pansy raises her son to conform to the constrictive requirements of their religion. But as Butch discovers the wonders of the world around him with an endlessly patient and kindhearted rancher, he embraces the cowboy culture and struggles to live as his authentic self.
In the late 20th Century, rural communities in America were often hostile to the rising-awareness of LGBT people, and Butch is soon cast aside by his church for homosexuality. In The Gift, Scott Terry crafts a memorable and historically-accurate tale of religious extremism and the struggle for acceptance, before the truth of those times are swept under the forgotten rug of history.
The Gift
Scott Terry’s novel The Gift is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story that takes readers to Farnsworth, California, in the late 1960s—early 1970s. Pansy is a little girl who has seen more abuse and trauma than one should. When her father murders her mother, she goes to live with her Uncle in Salt Lake. At eighteen, she is looking for something more in life and meets Ace, a young man struggling against his identity and beliefs. Pansy is determined to marry Ace and move to Fresno, California, where they can start a new life together. When things do not go as planned, she ends up pregnant in Fresno alone. She is taken in hand by the Jehovah’s Witnesses where she finds a new sense of purpose and dedicates her life to the service of the Truth.
Seven years later, Pansy makes a decision that will forever alter the course of her life and that of her son, William. They move to the Siskiyou Mountains, and it is here that William meets the man who will become a surrogate father to him. The first cracks that appear in Pansy’s well planned and laid out life is when her son changes his name to Butch, a real cowboy name. This is the turning point for Butch, where he starts to struggle with his mother’s views on the world and Religion, the conservative view the mountain country, and his own self-identy.
The Gift is Butch’s story of trying balance the expectations of his church and mother with discovering and accepting his true authentic self. Butch tries to follow the teachings of his church but when he is caught kissing a boy, the church and his own mom turn on him, casting him out untill he repents for his sins and returns to a Godly way of living. Living in a place that shuns anyone different, especially those that identify as LGBT causes him to isolate himself and push aside the one man that he falls in love with. Butch’s life is one of secrecy in the mountains, meeting men in secret, while those in the city embrace the roaring 70s and live authentically in the public. He claims he is just a simple cowboy and is happy living alone, and that he doesn’t need the world to know about his business. But underneath it all, readers can see the struggle, the frustrations, and how his own pride keeps him from finding the happiness others keep telling him he deserves. There is a touching moment near the end after his mother calls him and tells him his father is dead and that he is “just like his father” that we get to see how the isolation of being gay in this time and place has hit him.
Scott Terry has given readers a story that accurately portrays the bigotry of the late 60s and early 70s, especially from the perspective of small town communities. He also sheds light on religious extremism that uses fear and isolation to get members to conform to their way of life. Butch’s story is one of survival, self-discovery, and acceptance. While written about a period in the past, The Gift is still relevant today and is an excellent choice for LGBTQ+ readers struggling to find their way and accept who they are, or anyone who enjoys family dramas.
Pages: 294 | ASIN : B0DV9Y68SS
LITERARY TITAN 