In your Nyxia triad your protagonist is... â€� Scott Reintgen Q&A

Gideon Penny asked Scott Reintgen:

In your Nyxia triad your protagonist is involved in immoral acts and scenes. Why did you involve these scenes and moments in your book? In my opinion it never fails to lessen the quality of a protagonist and story when the culmination of their romantic subplot is an act of immorality. What is your truthful view on this in writing, and also, what would you say would be the true, greatest zenith of love in stories?

Scott Reintgen I find this question interesting. You are not the first to mention this, or to take issue with the actions of my fictional characters. Respectfully, I always find this hang-up to be rather telling. You are referring to the moment where Emmett makes out with a character in the first book. What's curious about your comment is the assumption of immorality. That scene is a fade to black. All that's on the page is Emmett and that character making out. No actual sex is written into that scene--and yet your mind is the one that took it to that end point. Do you find that curious? That your assumption was sex? Most of the students I've talked to don't read that into that particular scene. It is adults, who tend to hyper-fixate on sexuality as 'immoral' who are the ones who jump to that as the 'truth' of the scene.

I also find it interesting that the common bone that adults have to pick with this story... are the 1-2 scenes with sexuality. It results in about 90% of the complaints I've heard about this series... but no one messages me about the attempted murder in this book. I don't get upsetting emails about the portrayal of corporate greed, or the lies told in the story. No one complains about the brutality. Isn't that also... immoral? By the standard you're using? And if it is, how many books have you read with those same 'immoral' events and do you also complain to the authors about those stories? If not... doesn't it feel like a strange double-standard? To only complain about stories with sexuality in them? Perhaps you're focusing too much on one facet of a story and it's not the story that's lessening in quality, but rather the reading you're bringing to it?

All in all, my goal is to write a realistic and interesting story. If you were to put 10 teenagers on a ship for a year-long journey... I suspect there would be crushes. There would be making out. More than likely, there would also be sex. I don't think that the sex would be rampant--because if my experience as a high school student is a worthwhile anecdote, there was a wide range of students. Some who had sex all the time. Some who did, but only with someone they'd dated for many years. And then some who didn't at all. That's realistic. That's the world we live in. I could have written a sterile story where the characters do not engage sexually in any way... but would that be real? Or would it be untruthful?

It isn't my job to tell young readers how to feel about the topic of sex. I will likely get to talk to my own children about the subject. I take that role very seriously and can't wait to speak with them about that topic, if they would like to talk about it. But my only duty in writing Nyxia (and other stories) is to write a realistic and interesting book. Considering this story has sold nearly 500,000 copies around the world, been translated into 7 languages, and sold in 20 countries... I'd say... it's doing its job. I am sorry you think less of it because there are a grand total of 1,500 words dedicated to the physical interactions of the characters.... but there are about 175,000 words dedicated to a story about ten teenagers who find strength in one another. Who connect in ways they never expected, and stand shoulder to shoulder to face an oppressive company that is abusing its power. That's the real story of Nyxia. If you arrived at some other communicated truth, I suspect it's what you were already bringing to the story. I wish you well. Enjoy the rest of the series. Or enjoy another book. I hope you find happiness in whatever you read next.

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