Martha's Last Moments

Just finished writing the Flight 93 scene.

While United normally flies the 757 (the aircraft used as Flight 93) with five flight attendants - and Flight 93, in fact, had five attendants - I decided that adding a sixth, Martha, in first class with the purser would work just as well, with the other four attendants covering the rather large economy cabin.

It disturbed me so much to even think about Martha's last moments, much less actually put them down in writing. Martha's senseless death upset Sarah for months; now, it's upsetting me, not at Arabs, but at fanatic Muslims - and fanatic believers of Christianity, Hinduism, and other religions. As Christian fanatics continue on their destruction of America using the events of September 11th as an excuse, I find myself wishing that the 3,000 American deaths that day - including the 40 real-life passengers and crew of Flight 93 - will not be in vain.

The scene, as written now, will not be shared with anyone. However, a slightly modified scene will be made available to Sarah in the finished novel, in the form of a newspaper report.

I used the hijackers' homophobia, and Martha's masculine appearance, as the jumping point for them taking over the plane - and killing Martha early on. (She's already dead by the time the hijackers raid the cockpit.) Again, it really bothered me writing the scene - and thinking about the Muslim homophobia.

I must repeat myself here: religion, in my books, is supposed to enrich people's lives, and radical Islam and Christianity, which have caused millions of deaths historically, and thousands on and after September 11th, have failed to do so.