John C. West

John C. West is an author, lawyer and consultant. He enjoys writing works of short fiction, such as fables and short stories. His main focus is on works that have a metaphysical component, such as spirituality and organized religion. While not an adherent of any organized religion, he is not an atheist. He is a believer in all religions, but in no religion. He believes in God, but not necessarily what people down here say about Him. He also writes to explore why people do things that many take for granted, and about the powers that people ascribe to inanimate things. His fiction is a thought-provoking look at people, their quirks, and their eccentricities.

For readers and aficionados of literary fiction, "Anopheles, and other fables" is a compilation of origin fables set in Classical Greece. It explains how certain animals and other things came to be, in the manner of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories". It may be conceptualized as when Aesop met Kipling.

"Theological Adventures with Rocco" is a fictionalized diary kept by Earl, an affable Methodist minister who got through divinity school, by believing, not thinking. Rocco is a closeted agnostic, while Earl is blindly faithful. Rocco is troubled by many things metaphysical and seeks guidance from Earl. Sometimes Earl is spot on in his answers to Rocco's questions, but many times Rocco leaves unsatisfied.

The title story in "Heites, Sheites and Itites" is a Romeo and Juliet tale set on an island nation beset with religious strife. This is a collection of seemingly random stories, but each of them focuses on power: either the power of belief, the power that we ascribe to religion, or the power that we ascribe to things. In this collection, belief is not simply belief, and things are not merely things. They have power. However, many cannot appreciate the power, many cannot understand the power, and many do not believe in the power. The power exists for those who endow belief and things with power.