I am grateful to those who had criticism and praise during the pre-publication process. It was all helpful. With the early drafts there were two reviewers who had reservations about the title and the offensive nature of three (possibly four) scenes. In the end I acknowledged that the title was a liability no matter how much I thought it suited the story. It was changed. The new title (Seeking the Divine Spark) also says something about the story, but in a different way. My response to the charge of offensive scenes is that I am dealing with attitudes, actions and circumstances that are of their nature sordid. It is the object of satire to bring out the contrast between corrupt behaviour and moral norms, and the hypocrisy of those preaching a standard, ensuring rigidly that their fellow citizens are held to account for failure, and then casually go about transgressing it as if they had special exemption. Nevertheless, I carefully revised those parts of the story, dulling the rawness of the scenes as much for style and subtlety as for the elimination of offensiveness, but without allowing them to lose their impact and role in the satire.

I should add that there is a question of taste or preference playing a role in the reactions of my reviewers. I do not wish to put myself on the same level as Evelyn Waugh, but it is worth mentioning that Waugh experienced the same sort of reaction from members of the Catholic community in the UK to his satires. He said at the time that his critics missed the point. Many respected literary figures agreed with him. Whatever the case with regard to my satire, I have finished a draft of an essay entitled The Christian Novelist: Where are the Limits? in which I make a response to the criticism, drawing on Waugh's experiences in the 1930s.

I am grateful to Dr Paul McKenna who suggested a modification to the ending, which I accepted. Particular thanks to Annie Hamilton (www.singingsilence.com) who spoke of the story's "glittering satire" and whose help has been indispensable in finalising the manuscript.