Character is revealed in action. If you fail those tests, you fail decisively. Think of the ones who stood by while their neighbors were rounded up, the ones who couldn’t see it coming and didn’t object to the rhetoric of hatred when it could have been forestalled at the level of words. The less that one generation does to prevent evil, the more difficult become their children’s challenges.
My parents didn’t preach at me on this point, but they didn’t have to do that. I understood, and certainly I understood when things came to the cusp, that place we now call the Great Change. I came home from a tour of duty excavating mass graves and found that they’d been burning suspected witches alive in the plazas and the parks. In front of the federal courthouse there’s a great smear of char that they cannot or will not scrub away.
***
As I begin revisions on The Shape-shifter’s Tale, I will be posting character interview excerpts for the main cast of the novel. This week’s excerpt comes from the interview with Emma, a forensic pathologist who returns from excavating mass graves abroad to find witch hunts unfolding at home.
Weekend Writing Warriors offers eight-sentence excerpts from a variety of writers; see the other excerpts here.
Publication Update: The Vampire Variations challenge story, now titled In the Laboratory of the Night, will be released in late July from Glass Knife Press. At that time I’ll post a roundup of all the Vampire Variations stories currently available.
E. P. Beaumont 
History leaves scars that won’t let us forget. I love that last line.
Another terrific snippet!
I love the last line too, it conjures up a powerful image.
Definitely have me wondering about the witch hunts. Who is getting rounded up? How are they being suspected? Who is turning in whom? Sounds scary.
Grim but effective and oh-so-real. Another excellent excerpt.
“The less that one generation does to prevent evil, the more difficult become their children’s challenges. …In front of the federal courthouse there’s a great smear of char that they cannot or will not scrub away. ” Two great lines providing a wonderful bit of character for Emma. Nicely done.
Super effective in grabbing the reader’s attention, and a couple of wonderful lines.
Altogether too true.
Powerful excerpt! I like this character! 🙂 Well done!
This was gripping! I like the way you chose to present your eight.