Dark Faith: Invocations Devotional – LaShawn M. Wanak

LaShawn M. Wanak has stories published in Ideomancer, Escape Pod, and Dark Faith: Invocations. She is a 2011 graduate of Viable Paradise and lives in Wisconsin with her husband, son, and in-laws. She keeps herself sane by knitting and watching anime.

LaShawn is the author of “All This Pure Light Leaking In.”

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Who are you?

My name is LaShawn M. Wanak. I am an African American speculative writer of short stories and poetry. I live in Madison, WI and I’m currently working on a fantasy novel.

Tell us about your story.

My contribution to Dark Faith: Invocations is a story poem about some people who do a séance to call up an angel. Needless to say, they get more than they bargained for.

How does your story tie into the concept of faith?

When I sat down to write the story, I asked myself, “As a Christian, what scares me most about my faith?” I came up with three answers: 1) That I would be blasé about my faith and not take it seriously, 2) That I would lose my faith completely and 3) That my faith would be twisted into something beyond recognition. I find that of the three, I waffle between #1 and #2. I’m pretty sure I’m secure enough in my faith that I won’t resort to cannibalism…but then again, there is the whole communion thing…

Every year Maurice Broaddus throws a convention in honor of himself (Mo*Con). How do you feel about this fact?

Having attended Mo*Con in 2011, I would say that if the con gets filled up this year before I can register, I may have to arrange for some, ahem, unfortunate accidents to free up space. Plus, the food is excellent.

Excerpt from “All This Pure Light Leaking In.”

It was there

among the scattered refugees of plates

fleeing the battle of knives and forks,

it was there one of us

(I don’t remember who)

peered up at the moon

and said,

Let’s hold a séance.

With the sweetness of rum

still warm in my insides

I replied,