It’s been a while since I shared. Too long for a dedicated blogger. But since I am not one of those, I guess I’m on time.
The new book is officially under construction. In case you have forgotten, Mel and I are taking on organized religion. You can only tackle one world problems at a time, and we’ve tried racism. Some news on that front, by the way, but I’ll save it.
The working title of the new book is Camp FUNdament. The religion at which we have taken aim is Fundamentarianism. No, it’s not a real one. This is a minefield we’re strolling through. We don’t have a problem with the ‘religious’ part of organized religion – but we want to call out the organizational part.
The camp is a typical summer retreat, such as I enjoyed for years, but with zeal and prayer and conversion added to the swimming and hiking. Cabins are named after virtues, sexes are strictly separated, and campers venture into the nearby town to proselytize and raise funds.
My hero Kyle is in Fortitude, and the other Fortitude dudes don’t approve of his Super Mario sleeping bag. Or his attempt to help the gals in the kitchen. Tomorrow there’ll be mixed swimming. Nothing could possibly go wrong there.
By the way, I understand that Autumn Bird and the Runaway has been removed from some reading lists in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. The Catholic board cites troublesome language. I wonder: did they actually read the book, or just scan it for maybe-trigger words? How you write about real-world issues without naming them I do not know.
It might be fun to be banned in Florida or Texas, but I did not expect this result in Ontario. It is to sigh.