Shady Lady

Author Essay

It’s that time of year again. Spring has arrived fully, and that means there will be a new Corine novel out soon. I love the season because it means renewal and rebirth. It’s a time for new beginnings. Unfortunately, Corine has too much baggage for a fresh start to be feasible or plausible yet the most compelling characters are shaped that way, I think. I’m always drawn to complex protagonists, who are layered in shades of gray. I find it fascinating when characters are compelled to make bad choices for the greater good, and I’ve explored that theme in Shady Lady. How far is too far? Where should one draw the line when fighting for survival? And is it possible to be a good person if you consistently make dark choices? Corine struggles with many of these questions in book three, and I don’t provide easy answers for her. It’s a theme that intrigues me, for obvious reasons. Self-preservation is hardwired into us. It’s hard to imagine a point where you stop and say, “No, this is too far. I won’t do this, even if I die.” Because that line blurs with each step down a dark path. Bad things don’t seem so awful anymore, depending on what you’ve already one. It becomes easier to rationalize and justify. With each wicked deed, it grows harder to cling to old values. The stakes increase even more when the life you’re trying to save belongs to someone you love. People will do impossible, unreasonable things for love; this has been proven time and again. Yet morality is almost cyclical, isn’t it? I mean, there are people who are so inflexible, so rigid in their codes of personal honor that they would let the whole world burn rather than tarnish one principle. Even though they call it goodness, that seems almost like evil to me. And there are people who will do terrible things to save someone they care about. The difference then lies in the intention, and you know what they say about those. What do you think? Does the end justify the means? Is outcome all that matters? Or do certain actions speak for themselves without regard for what one hoped to achieve by doing them? – Ann Aguirre