Regardless of one’s need to bleed publicly, extract revenge or simply get published, there are times when the fallout is too great.

I was strongly urged to tell my story as non-fiction, but when one boy attempted suicide and a second succeeded, I chose to write it as fiction “inspired by’ because I couldn’t live with how the true story might impact the boys and young men whose lives were shattered by the events in the story — my youngest son included — and the survivors of the boy who succeeded in taking his own life.

Yet, because I feel a need to share a cautionary tale, I have written a version of the truth that I hope will make a difference in society. It will be to the reader to decide what is real and what is fictional. (No, it’s not about the Catholic Church. Yes, my son knows what I’m writing and is very much for it.)

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is a judgment call when the writer chooses to bare his/her soul. Even though it may be cathartic or sell a lot of books, there are some things that should never be aired in public. Embarrassing your kids is one thing; killing them or their friends is entirely another.