"Dark Hour" Commentary--Part I

Welcome back!

By now, many of you have already picked up the last book in The Coming Evil Trilogy. And, if you haven't, why not? Go check it out on Amazon--available in print and Kindle editions!

Today begins my series of commentaries through Dark Hour. I've previously done this with The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross, as it serves as a sort of final farewell to that chapter in the saga. As with those other commentaries, this one is filled with spoilers, so if you haven't read the book yet and you want to be surprised, READ NO FURTHER. But, if you're ready to jump in, then let's go.

Today we're going to talk about the mythology of angels, as they exist in The Coming Evil. From the get-go, I wanted Dark Hour to be important and full of revelations. After all, this was the final installment of the series, so I didn't want to hold anything back. One of the things I really wanted to explore was the concept of angels.

In supernatural fiction, devils often get the spotlight, and I think I've spent a great deal of time showcasing the monsters of the saga and how they operated. But, I wanted to give the angels their time to shine too. After all, we wouldn't have fallen angels without angels, right? In this book I reveal that my angels don't feel love. They don't experience forgiveness for sins--in fact, a single act of rebellion can get them forevermore banished from Heaven. Yikes!

Now, do I believe that any of that is real? Well, I don't know. However, my Biblical basis for this hypothesis can be found in Hebrews chapter one. In it, the writer of Hebrews was trying to persuade those who had converted to Christianity, but were tempted to slide back into the ritualism of Judaism, that Christ is superior to the Law and that His one sacrifice is better than the continual animal sacrifices as done under the old covenant. As part of that argument, the writer went to great lengths to demonstrate how Christ is exceedingly greater than the angels (which were greatly revered by the Hebrews), and one of those comparisons discusses how God called Jesus His Son and bestowed upon Him a place of honor and distinction, while God never once called an angel "son". From that--and how angels serve throughout the Old Testament--we can see that angels are servants. They are "the hired help". Unless I'm mistaken, there is no mention of angels being redeemed by Jesus' work on the Cross. Humans are redeemed. Heck, the Earth will be redeemed. But no mention of angels, except to say that those who sided with Satan will be cast in the lake of fire.

From those passages, I extrapolated the notion that angels are on thin ice. And, why wouldn't they be? Humans only see God through a hazy window. We have moments of inspiration, of true connection, then we quickly lose sight of Heaven. Whether you're a Christian or not, I'm sure there's a moment when you've looked at the person you love, or seen your child discover a flower for the first time, and felt connected to something instinctual and spiritual. And, if we're to consider angels, these are guys that are continually in the presence of God. We only get fleeting glimpses of Truth, but these guys have the full revelation. If THEY sin, how much greater is it? That's apostasy, that's rebellion. That led me to think what it might be like for an angel--in this case Christopher--to be "stationed" on Earth for any given length of time. Earth is teeming with sin and injustice and perversion and selfishness; a far cry from Heaven. How great must an angel's temptation be while on Earth? I mean, we know they can sin. Satan is proof of that, as well as the angels in Genesis 6 who left Heaven so they could "take wives" (i.e. have sex) with human women.

In fact, it was that motivation that led to the Strange Man's fall. He wanted to mate with a woman. He wanted to "love" like the humans do, though without having any real sense of what true love meant, and he was damned as a result.

I remember that hokey Nic Cage movie "City of Angels". How "romantic" it was for the angel to face hell for Meg Ryan. Let's see...eternity of damnation for one night of hot love. Yeah. Not a great tradeoff. I thought the movie was ridiculous and only demonstrated how blind that sort of Hollywood "love is God" pseudo-theology is. So, I did my spin on it. Strange Man is my Nic Cage who leaves Heaven for a girl--and the girl cheats on him. He spirals out of control, slips into madness, and wants to watch the world burn.

It's come as a surprise to some readers to discover that the Strange Man is NOT the devil. That was always the intention, though I didn't mind leaving it ambiguous for a time. But now it's the final chapter, so all is revealed. So often the Big Demon Bad Guy in one of these types of stories is looking to rule the world or have some great big cosmic scheme. The Strange Man, however, is much more petty. He's simply jealous of humans, and delights in watching them suffer. He's a vindictive lover--nothing more. But oh what destruction he causes because he was spurned in love.

The angelic duo of Christopher and Reid were a lot of fun to write. I've already talked about Christopher being inspired by Robert Redford--especially how cool he is in Sneakers--so I wanted his partner to have an equally Sneakers-type vibe. The angel Reid is a very thinly veiled homage to one of my favorite TV shows The Lone Gunmen, most specifically the character of Langly wonderfully played by comedian Dean Haglund.

Originally, there were a lot more scenes involving this dynamic duo in the book, but I ultimately cut them for time. Some of that material--including scenes reflecting more of the brotherly-relationship between Christopher and The Strange Man are still included in my Dark Hour prequel e-novella Lengthening Shadows. I've actually always thought that Christopher and Reid could carry a whole novel on their own, though I don't have any plans for that at the moment. But I would love to see these characters return one day and get even more time in the spotlight. Angels are like the roadies of Heaven, and I always love writing about the "little guy" who keeps things running behind-the-scenes.

Thanks for tuning in. Head over to Part II of our commentary, where we meet the new monster in The Coming Evil mythology!

Also, running for a limited time (two weeks), I'm giving away two signed free copies of Dark Hour on Goodreads. Sign up and register for your chance to win!

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part Five)

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

Here we are at the end of our commentary for Rift Jump. Thanks for tuning in. And don't forget--we're running a Goodreads giveaway! Enter for your chance to win a signed copy of the book, yo!

PART FIVE: FACE THE MUSIC

At last, our hero must face his destiny.

The Strange Man from The Coming Evil Trilogy

This is where our villain, the Maestro, makes his debut. To me, the Maestro has always been a pawn. The Rage is the real enemy. It was difficult writing the Maestro as I wanted to make him very different from the Strange Man (pictured left). Whereas the Strange Man is all about theatrics and delighting in the sound of his own voice, I wanted to make the Maestro completely unimpressed with everything. He's a composer of pain and very serious about his work. Unflappable.

The biggest surprise in this episode is the change we see in Sara. She's kicking some major tail up 'n here! Sara was always meant to evolve into a very tough fighter, but, honestly, I was going to save that for the second (and perhaps final) book in the Rift Jump sequence. But I wanted to give readers a little taste of what they can expect from Sara in the follow-up novel.

So what about this follow-up novel anyway? Tentatively the book is entitled Sara's Song. Whereas Rift Jump was more focused on Michael's internal bout with the Rage, its sequel will be Sara-centric. The entire story is about the pair of them, so it made sense to me that each one got their own book. Together, the two halves make a whole and their story will be complete.

The idea of the multiverse is explained in this section, as Michael comes face to face with Truth. Fellow Splashdown author Travis Perry wrote a very insightful essay on the nature of Chaos equaling the loss of choice. Great stuff.

Michael also faces his inner demon in this section--in this case, a giant sludge monster with his face. Again, like I talked about last week, this totally snuck up on me as a sort of an echo of the junkyard fight scene from Superman III. Also, with this fight, we now begin to see a stronger connection to The Coming Evil Trilogy. Yes, the black goop that Michael  hacks up in this section is the same evil slime that takes over Ray McCormick in Enemies of the Cross. It's sin, in its purest, most concentrated form. Sin creates monsters. It latched on to Ray and drove him mad, and it dwelt inside Michael for his whole life, pushing him towards violence.

In this section, we also meet Toby, who was originally based on my little brother, Jeff. There's a nine year age difference between my brother and I, but we've always been very close. We like most of the same movies, music, TV, books, video games, etc. A fact about my brother is that Jeff is a video game freak. He has been since he was two years old when I taught him to hold a Nintendo controller. He was cracking the Konami code--on his own--before he could write his own name. He's like that movie "The Wizard", without the autism. Seriously, he was six or seven and I'd take him to arcades with me and watch him wax the floor with guys twice his age on Street Fighter or Tekken. He was--and still is--that good. So, the original Toby--who was named, rather obviously, Jeff--was a pint-sized fighter. The original high school draft of this particular story featured "Jeff" as this eight-year-old street fighter, a kind of living embodiment of Jeff's gaming skills. It was pretty embarrassing, looking back, so I obviously took out the "eight year old street fighter" out of the current version, but I tried to give the character--re-branded "Toby"--a fighter's spirit. We'll see more of that fighter in the sequel, whenever I get around to writing it.


The real-life Jeff is, in a way, also the one to praise (or blame, depending on how you liked the book) for Rift Jump coming to your grubby hands. As I've said, the original Rift Jump stories were just things I wrote once every couple years or so to blow off some creative steam. I never took it very seriously at all. There came a point that I'd all but forgotten about it. It was just a funny little high school memory. But my brother is a writer, as well. For years he's been developing his own contemporary dark fantasy series. A mega-epic that spans generations and chronicles the struggles of good versus evil across, quite ironically, the multiverse. Jeff began writing his multiverse stories totally apart from me or mine. Like I said, we think a lot alike, and his daydreams eventually led him to parallel worlds as well--though in a different direction. When I discovered this, I told him "Hey, I wrote a multiverse story too, once upon a time." I told him about my old Rift Jump stories and told him he should totally have our characters meet. I thought it'd be a hoot. So, a couple years ago, he did just that, resurrecting my old characters and breathing new life into them. As I suspected, it was a riot. Jeff has a keen sense of ridiculous humor and he took my melodramatic characters and, essentially, lampooned them. It was such a thrill seeing my characters in a new light.

But it also got me thinking. Jeff's new take on my characters awakened something in me. I began to question how I would interpret these characters after all this time. I had grown up, and these were a child's characters. How could I take what they were, but put an adult spin on them? After that, my imagination took off. I started writing Rift Jump stories in earnest. Still for fun, and still with no desire to see them published. But it was a wild ride, and I turned out, maybe, 10 new stories in just a couple years. It just kept coming. The more I wrote, the more invested I got in my creations. The more serious they became to me. And, before long, I realized that I was writing a real story. One that I wanted to put out there, on the market, for others to enjoy.

Jeff's own story has gone through many drafts as he's experiencing a similar process with his own stories. He began writing them when he was 12 or so, but as he's grown into his own man, he's revising his stories. Re-crafting them. I've helped a little, but I've also backed off a lot. I think he's got some GREAT ideas and a real sense of drama and excitement. I know how his story ends and it's amazing. I can't wait to see him finish it and then the real adventure begins for him: publishing :p

Thus concludes our commentary for Rift Jump. Thanks for hanging around. I encourage all of you to go out and pick up a copy of the book. We've gone the small press route this time around and it is super hard to get your name out there. So, please, support the book. If nothing else, post and re-post. Let the world know that we're here with a wild ride through alternate timelines and alien worlds! If you're still shaky on whether or not this book is your cup of tea, I invite you to check out this nice (and totally unexpected) review by Jessica Thomas!

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part Four)

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Hey, folks. We're back again for our penultimate installment in the Rift Jump commentary. Before we get started, head over to Goodreads and enter for your chance to win one of two signed copies of Rift Jump! Go! Go now!

Now, onto the commentary. Spoilers below. Be ye warned.

PART THREE: MONSTER

I really liked how this section turned out. This differs quite a bit from the original draft written in the late '90s. It was always a super-hero concept, as I've been a comic book fan for as long as I remember. But, for the rewrite, I decided to add more of a horror element to it.

Ironically enough, the high school angle was downplayed in the original draft, but when I set out to rewrite this, I saw an incredible opportunity to take my angst-ridden teenagers and plop them in the middle of the typical angst-ridden high school setting. Having Sara take to "normality" like a fish to water was a fun turn. Michael's high school experience, here, is a lot like my own. Tuning out teachers and daydreaming while looking out the window, imagining I'm on some faraway adventure. Michael is an outcast and Sara makes friends during home period on her first day. They really couldn't be more different.

This also is the episode that shows a shift in power balance. Sara starts to crave the power that Michael has, while Michael's all emo-ing out in his room, crying because he thinks Sara is going to outgrow him. He's more vulnerable than we've ever seen him and we see how desperately attached he's become to Sara. Unhealthily so, I'd say.

The biggest change in this published version is the addition of my old comic book character Light Sphere! You have no idea how excited I am to see Light Sphere get a chance in the spotlight. He was originally a character I created that had no connection to Rift Jump at all, but I looked at what I had here. Michael is in a super-hero world, I'm in the process of updating an old high school idea--hey, let's dust off another old high school super-hero and they can meet! Better yet, let's have the classic Marvel crossover where they first meet in the street, mistake each other for the enemy, beat the holy crap out of each other, and then team up to fight the bad guy!! :)

I was in ninth grade when I made Light Sphere. Obviously X-Men was the big thing back in the mid-90s with guys like Cable and Wolverine tearing up the comic book stands. I was too lazy to come up with a proper origin story for Light Sphere back then so he was your typical "mutant"--born with powers. But, I wanted to give him a handicap, so I devised this idea that he couldn't use his awesome powers without these souped-up gloves on his hands, otherwise he'd fry off his flesh. Gnarly, yes, but my 14-year-old self thought it was properly dramatic. I remember writing and tracing...er, drawing...a Light Sphere comic and taking it down to Centerfield, the comic and card shop downtown. I went to that place all the time and used to hang my drawings on their walls in exchange for free bags of sour gummy worms. I showed the proprietors--an older couple--my creation and the lady told me that my idea of giving Light Sphere his limitation was "very original". I beamed with pride, picked up some sugary treats, and set out to finish a second issue where Light Sphere joins the "Governmental Mutant Agency". Oh yeah. Well, me being me, when I wrote the modern version of Light Sphere, I kept all of his stuff the same--even right down to working for the government :p What can I say? I'm a stickler for continuity, no matter how lame it is.

Sadly, the comic store burned down not too long afterwards. I don't think Light Sphere had anything to do with it.

Speaking of super-heroes, this brings up the Superman connection. You know, I made Michael invincible when I was 15 because what 15-year-old boy doesn't want to be indestructible and all-powerful? However, I'm sad to say, that I never used that plot point very much. Even in the modern version--in the beginning--I'd have Michael get shot or punched or whatever, but that was it. Kind of a letdown, really. But, I'd start watching some animated Superman movies and I'd see all the incredible damage that Superman took. He'd get thrown through buildings, slapped with a tree, hurtled across continents. I thought, "Man, I'm not putting Michael through enough. He's invincible! Let's kick the crap out of him!" I really started upping the battle scenes in the book, rewriting them to make sure Michael got beat up as much as possible without distracting from the story.

When Keven, my editor, was reading through this, he asked if I was a Superman fan, because there were so many references to Superman. The Hooded Man tells Michael that Sara is his kryptonite, and he's pulling some Superman moves. Aside from being inspired to beat on Michael some more, I hadn't made the mental connection how Superman-esque Michael was. But when Keven said that, something clicked. I thought about how I saw Superman. He's this god-like being, above mortals. And he's got Lois Lane, a frail woman (by comparison to his strength, I mean). I really started applying that to Sara. She views Michael as Superman. He's a god to her, and his strength only exaggerates her weakness. How would that make her feel? Sara, who has felt weak for so long?

Wouldn't she resent that?


In light of Keven's Superman comparison, I made a couple more refernces to Supes to show that Michael was a fan of the character.

This section also is a major break-through for Michael. He's only been a hammer all this time, but he's finally starting to understand what being a hero is. I love how all the super-hero/Light Sphere stuff really dove-tailed into Michael's continuing transformation. And, what's more fun, is that it was almost entirely by accident. That's how I know when a story's working.

Since we're on the subject of Superman, my vote for best Superman is Christopher Reeve. My parents took me to see Superman III when it first came out (bad idea, as I was 5 and that robot chick at the end totally scared the poooo out of me). That scene where he battles his evil self in the junkyard, though, is always one of my favorites. Funny that, even today--even in Rift Jump--I'm still echoing that scene of fighting our inner man. Watching Christopher Reeve is still awe-inspiring to me. He makes me believe that a man can fly...



Click here for our final installment!

UPDATE: Jessica Thomas posted quite the positive review of the book over at her blog. A nice surprise to wake up to in the morning. Could I be "the Christian speculative world's Terry Pratchett"?! Go check it out, yo!

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part Three)

Read Part One
Read Part Two

Welcome to the third installment of my commentary for Rift Jump. Yada yada, beware of spoilers, yada yada.

PART THREE: TIES THAT BIND

This section of the book is really where the new material starts to drastically diverge from the original material I wrote in high school. Originally, this episode took place in a near-identical world to Michael's own, leading him to think that he's actually home. His brothers are the same. All the locations are the same. Even the circumstances surrounding his own "death" are the same. The only difference is that--duh, duh, duuuuhh!!!--this NOT his world and the Michael of this world is bad.  

I changed it for two reasons. One reason is that, for a book that deals with "a multiverse of infinite possibility", all the worlds in the original stories looked pretty much identical to our own except they'd have a super hero in them or an alien in them or whatever. It was like the last few seasons of Sliders (great show in the first season--terrible show from there on out), where every world they went to was just the same street (soundstage) with the same hotel, same bar, even some of the same people--just their alternate selves. I needed to shake it up. I'd been dabbling in the idea of doing more Weird Western stuff like my buddy Ed Erdelac (who is AMAZING and you should check out his Merkabah Rider series), so I decided to relocate this story to a Civil War-type world, with a sci-fi twist. But then that also changes things. Michael can no longer think that these are his brothers. I liked that, however, because it puts him in a position where he's lying to them, pretending to be their dead brother, in order so that HE can feel some semblance of family. It's sad, and totally the right character move for Michael.

A special note: To all the steampunk fans who were really hoping I'd go all geek on the hows and whys of these Civil War spacecraft, I'm sorry. It would have been fun--and were this episode an entire novel length, I would have--but, like I said in the last commentary installment, my focus is always on Michael and Sara's emotional journey.

Sara begins to take a bit of a turn in this story. Again, when I originally wrote these stories in high school, I had a very skewed idea of what a woman "should" be. I sort of knew (or thought) that they wanted to be "wooed" and "won"...but I didn't have a whole lot of idea of what to do with them AFTER I "won" them. Movies and books focus so much on getting a woman, and they don't do a lot of showing how to keep a woman. As I grew up, I realized that--shock, gasp--women are a lot like men. They want to feel needed. Special. Important. They want to be a part of the journey of life. They're not trophies to be gained and sat on a shelf in your den. I mean, there are some girls, yeah, who just want to be mooned over and pursued and treated like sacred cows all the time, but that's unhealthy. Treasure your women, menfolk, but include them in your struggles. Bring them into your heart. Trust them with your lives. They're fighters, too.

So that's what Michael is seeing in this section. Sara loved being pursued by him, but she doesn't want to be stuck in the tower for the rest of her life. She wants to feel needed.

With that out of the way, I direct your attention to a pretty controversial move for me:

I have swearing in my book. Gasp!

I know that 99% of the world's population won't even bat an eye at that, but for some of my readers it's going to be a major stumbling block. I want to be accountable for what I write, so I'm gonna take a second to explain my position on this. You may not agree, and that's okay, but I want to be honest and real with you so at least can understand my thinking.

Cursing is one of the last great taboos of the Christian Fiction market. It always amazes me that, no matter how much violence and evisceration I get away with, I throw one "damn" in there and I've suddenly committed an atrocity on the page. This is a pretty complicated topic and many better-articulated writers (such as Mike Duran) have gone on and on about this. People have endlessly debated it and everyone's pretty firm on their stance. I know that some of Rift Jump's readers will--hopefully--be picking this up because they enjoyed my Coming Evil series. The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross were both published within the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) that has REALLY strict rules on what you can and cannot put in their books. For instance, I had to cut one instance of the word "criminy" in The Strange Man because it was a 16th century curse word! 16th Century, folks!! Some CBA publishers won't even let you say "darn" or "shoot" or "frickin'". "Crap" is considered a bad word with some people, as is "butt".

The short answer is this: Rift Jump is not intended to be a "Christian" work--meaning I didn't write it with the Christian Fiction audience in mind. It obviously reflects my own Christian beliefs, but I didn't set out to make this a "Christian" book. What's more, my publisher Splashdown--while a publisher of Christian authors--is NOT in the CBA. The restrictions are much looser because we're not selling to the same types of people who are looking for books at Lifeway. Many people go to buy a CBA book because they know there WON'T be cursing or overt sex or graphic violence. They want their fiction of a cleaner sort, and I have absolutely nothing against that. When it came to taking my 6-year-old daughter to see Brave, you better believe I was scouring the internet, wanting to know what kind of objectionable material she may or may not be exposed to. We need to show discernment. We need to guard ourselves against things that cause us to stumble. I don't believe all fiction needs to have cursing. I don't even believe that all good or "real" or "gritty" fiction needs it. Plenty of wonderful stories don't use it at all. On the other hand, I believe there are plenty of wonderful stories that do use it.

Rift Jump marks my first novel where I've had some cursing. Now, for those of you who haven't read it yet, it's not a whole lot. Certainly not enough to warrant this long explanation. There are no "s" words or "f" words. There were PG rated kids movies in the '80s that had rougher language than this. Nevertheless, I didn't make the decision to have a dash of swear words lightly. Ask Grace, my publisher. I agonized over this, as I knew that it would offend some people or give others the wrong impression about me. I don't condone cursing in real life. Especially, as Christians, I think we ought to be very careful about the words that come out of our mouth, as we're representing Christ. And the Bible says we are called into account for every careless word we say. That's terrifying to me.

But my characters are not representing Christ. The characters in Rift Jump don't start out as Christians. In fact, if we're getting right down to it, they're not even real. They're imaginary figures. But, for the sake of argument, even if they were real, they are lost sinners who have grown up on the streets, or in abusive relationships, or are just plain ignorant of manners. A key moment in "Second Chances" has Michael at the end of his rope. In a moment of complete frustration he complains that he's been "busting his ass" while he doesn't see God doing anything. He's complaining to God. He is completely fed up. Now, I could just have easily have had him say "busting his butt"--though some would think even that was too far. I could have had him say he was "busting his rear" or "hind end". But that shows a level of restraint, doesn't it? This is a teenage boy who has been a child soldier since he was 12. He's coming to God, in all truth, and getting his angry feelings off his chest. For Michael to censor himself would show a deference to God--which is antithesis of this scene. He demands to know why God hasn't answered his prayers. Why God hasn't shown up to make this journey easier. He's not interested in being humble or respectful. He's coming from a place of total anger and selfishness and immaturity. Therefore "ass".

I liken it to cooking. You might have a really bitter spice that is sometimes needed, but too much and it ruins the whole meal. Swearing, I think, CAN be appropriate. Sometimes I think it might even be necessary, to add that little punch of spice. With Rift Jump, I have been very careful to gauge every instance of a swear word I've used. I didn't want to be exploitative about it or flippant about it. It was never my intention to shock you or to "prove myself to the world" that I was a "real" author who liked to cuss. This isn't a declaration that, from now on, you can expect everyone to have a potty mouth in my fiction. You can't (though you can still expect tons of monster mayhem :p). I just felt that, in this particular book, a couple curse words was necessary for the story.


So, for those Readers who might be offended, I'm asking you to show a little grace to my characters. They're a rough group but they are growing. They are maturing. Give them a little patience. They might surprise you in the end. :)

Behind-the-scenes nuggets:

1--There's a typo in this section. It mentions that Civil War Edward and Seth haven't seen their brother for five years in one instance--but it's really only been a year since their Michael left them. Grrr, I hate typos. Five people read these things in the editing process and no one catches it. My wife glances at it after it's published and points it out. Grrr.

2--I believe this might be the book's first mention of Sara's love for Alan Worth: Space Explorer. To read up on the fascinating true story behind Alan Worth, check out my post here.

Click here to the next installment of our commentary for Rift Jump where we talk about superheroes. Buy the book already, will ya?

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part Two)

Read Part One of our exclusive commentary right shere!

Continuing my commentary on Rift Jump, I--once again--warn you of spoilers below. Read at thine own risk!

PART TWO: SECOND CHANCES

"Second Chances" was the first Rift Jump story I wrote back when I was 15 or so. It is based on the fabled dream that started this entire series and is, really, beat-for-beat exactly like that dream. The original version of "Second Chances" featured in Appendix B is literally what I dreamed that night so long ago, with very little tampering by my young, teenaged self.

But, in this updated and "official" version of "Second Chances", I made a few changes. To see all the major differences, you can read the Appendix B and compare it to the final product, but here are some key differences:

1. Michael slipping into the "In-Between". The concept of the In-Between didn't occur in the original homespun Rift Jump tales until much, much later. When I decided to adapt this "for realsies", I knew that the In-Between would have to be a major mythology foundation. Johnny Frawl's whole explanation about the brick wall and how that represents the multiverse was one of the first additions I made to this section, and it totally jazzed me up. I thought it was a super-neat idea and I had so much fun writing it.

Obviously the Beast in the Void is very Lovecraftian. It's a monster outside of our perception of reality. But, what it is NOT, is Satan.

A little known fact about my books--though they're ultimately about good versus evil, they are NOT about God versus the devil. Even in The Coming Evil, with the Strange Man being a demon--he's a demon with his own agenda. He doesn't represent Satan. He's on his own. I think in most of my works, Satan isn't really a factor at all. Sure he exists, but I've always believed that we give way too much credit to the devil. If our car breaks down, we blame the devil. If an impure thought enters our mind, we blame the devil. I'm sure he's behind many evil things, but he's still just one fallen angel. He can't be everywhere at once. He's not all powerful.

He is not God's equal.

The greater struggle in my work is actually God versus Sin. Sin is what caused the devil to fall in the first place, right? Sin corrupted angelic beings. Sin ruined the world. Sin is what drives Man to commit atrocities. Sin is the real enemy. The devil is only a product of sin. Plus, from a literary standpoint, the war against Sin is something that humans can engage in.

Nothing kills a story like trying to have a bunch of humans tackle the devil in the flesh. I mean, angels are more powerful than people. It's a stacked fight--even if you had the trappings of Christian iconography that's in most horror fiction. But Sin is something we all struggle with. We all battle our own evil impulses. And that's a battle we can WIN--if we choose to turn to God's Light for salvation. It's a battle that every one of us participates in. It's something we all relate to. We can't all relate to characters fighting demonic beings.

Even in The Coming Evil Trilogy, the real battle that my heroes are waging is against sin, not the demons in their town.

2. Michael and the steak knife. This was added VERY late in the game. And it's really a credit to my editor Keven Newsome (who posted a killer YouTube playlist of my soundtrack for Rift Jump). I glossed over a lot of important scenes in the book, trying to plow on through to the next mythological beat. But it was Keven that made me pause and rethink that. I needed to slow things down and show Michael telling Sara what he was. I needed that to be a big moment. But, how do you convince someone that you're an invincible warrior for God from another dimension?

Why, you stab yourself with a steak knife, of course.

3. Mall world explanation. I'm telling you, in my original dream, Michael just shows up in a "mall world". It's absolutely ridiculous, but in my dream it made perfect sense. So, for the book, I really wanted to legitimize it. Why is this world only a mall? I started getting the idea of this being a world with toxic air so everyone is enclosed in cities. Then, each city has its own insular culture. I really didn't go into it a lot--I just wanted some sort of explanation. Which brings me to a fear I have:

I fear that some people will come into Rift Jump expecting some real academic expose on these parallel worlds. They're gonna want to know every detail about culture, about politics, about how these different worlds function. Unfortunately, Michael and Sara don't stick around that long to discover those things. We cover nearly ten worlds in this one book, I think, so we're moving fast. And, to me, the point has never been about the worlds themselves, but about Michael and Sara's personal journey. That through-line is always my focus. The alternate realities are just window dressing.

However, if someone were to come along and write a Rift Jump story that really explores some alien culture, that'd be great. But I liken this book to a DVD "mythology" collection of a TV series. There are many standalone Rift Jump stories between each of these parts, but I'm trying to hit the important "game-changing" episodes.

Behind-the-scenes nuggets:

--My original dream featured parallel dimensions. As soon as I started writing "Second Chances", I wanted to know how other authors had handled the subject. My first (and last) stop was Michael Moorcock's Elric books. I read a couple of those--didn't understand a word of them (:p), but got a taste for the whole "dark fantasy multiverse" thing. Also, Quantum Leap was a huge inspiration to me. I still think that Sam Beckett (as magnificently portrayed by Scott Bakula) is a shining example of what a real man is all about.

--I saw Sara in my dream as well. Ginger hair, parted down the middle, tucked behind her ears. But, when I woke, her face began to fade from my mind's eye. About that time the amazing My So-Called Life was on the air and I latched on to Claire Danes' look (and angst), and used her for an early model of Sara when I needed a quick visual. I mean, look at her! '90s teen misery at its finest!

Ironically enough, later Claire Danes would star in Romeo & Juliet, which I openly admit I cried while watching in the theater. I liken Michael and Sara to Romeo & Juliet. They even have a balcony scene!

Read Part 3 of our commentary where we discuss the taboo--cursing in Christian Fiction!

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part One)

I debated on whether or not I wanted to do a commentary for Rift Jump, but aw, what the heck. Here we are. As the novel Rift Jump is broken down into five parts, I'll do likewise for this commentary, giving each "episode" its due every Monday for the next five weeks. So let's start with the Prologue and Part One: Little Brother.

As usual, be aware that there are HEAVY SPOILERS below. Read at your own risk. Or, better yet, go buy the book, read it, then come back here. I'll be waiting :)

PROLOGUE

Let me say that, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I love this prologue. This section is one of my favorite things that I've written. It's got a very Starship Troopers feel and shows a good man making his brave and final stand. It's full of quiet heroism, bittersweet determination, and unbridled courage. And, while this section features an army of gnarly monsters--they are not my focal point. The point of the prologue is to introduce you to one of many Michael Morrisons that populate the multiverse. I wanted you to get a sense of the pure evil that this guy is capable of. He doesn't say a whole lot, but the way he tears through these guys Darth Maul-style speaks volumes of his skill and cunning. That way, when we switch to a new Michael Morrison in the next section, you have some idea of the terrible things he could accomplish, as well.

Two special behind-the-scenes notes on this section:

1. Yes, there is a big fat typo. "Slashed" is misspelled "sl6ashed" in once instance. Embarrassing, yes. But weird mistakes happen at the last minute in the editorial process. In fact, I think I know the source of this particular mistake. Let me introduce you to her:

This is my two-year-old daughter Dani. Cute, isn't she? Well, don't let that adorable face fool you. She likes to sneak into my Batcave when I'm on a bathroom or snack break, maximize whatever book I'm working on and add her own little edits to them :p I'm just thankful it was only a "6" she got away with and not a "djjfoieafjoeikjnvpoiau" as I've found in some works-in-progress. Now THAT would have been tough to explain.

2. This army of monsters was ORIGINALLY going to be black-goo monsters similar to Ray McCormick from Book Two in my The Coming Evil Trilogy--Enemies of the Cross. Yes, Rift Jump and The Coming Evil are related. It's a big multiverse. We'll get to that more another time. But I didn't want to make the connection so blatant, so I created these new creatures. I've got a whole backstory for them, which you will learn all about in the sequel to Rift Jump I've already started writing. As for that army of black goo monsters...well...keep your eyes peeled, heh heh heh ;)

PART ONE: LITTLE BROTHER

So, as you're no doubt well aware of by now (as I seem to talk about it nearly every interview/write-up), I wrote the very first Rift Jump story--Second Chances--back in high school. To read it in all of its terrible glory, see Appendix B of Rift Jump. It was very much a product of my life at that point. I was 15 or so, so I made Michael 17. Oooh, an older man. How cool and mysterious, right? Also, I threw in this little info bit that Michael had been rift jumping for 5 years. I didn't want to make him a rookie, right? Not only that, but I gave him this tortured backstory about how he was a "hitman" before God recruited him for this hero thang. Not only THAT, but he also murdered the Sara Theresea of his world! Oooh, he's a bad man!

It only took me about ten or so years to realize that, if I did my math correctly, then he was all of 12 years old when he was this famed hitman and murdered this girl and recruited by God. Looking back, it was pretty stupid. But, a few years ago when I felt like knocking out a Rift Jump story for old times' sake (before I had any inkling to publish it), I thought, "You know what? Let's not ignore the stupidity of that backstory. Let's meet it head-on. In fact, let's make it make sense. Let's make it awesome." I sat down and wrote the first draft of "Little Brother" as a Book Zero to "Second Chances" one afternoon and really tried to get into the mindset of a twelve-year-old kid who had committed murder. I thought that, surely, Michael had to be some type of sociopath, so I didn't shy away from it. As my wife was reading Rift Jump for the first time last week, she said that Michael seemed like the kind of kid who would take a gun to school and start shooting. And that's right! He IS that kind of kid--if his double from the Prologue is any indication. Michael is capable of heinous evil, and his whole journey in this book is to battle that and become a good man.

Eventually, we see Michael meet his end. He finds God in the desert, wearing a Stetson. At this point, you may wonder "Why put God in a Stetson?" And, at this point, I shrug and say "Why not?" I liked the Western vibe. It made it personable and, if I dare say, a bit iconic. For those keeping score at home, I always imagine God in this book sounding a lot like Liam Neeson :p Patient, but powerful.

Something that was tricky in this section is that it takes place in 1991. Since I wrote the original stories back in 1996, this fits into the "five years thing" and pays homage to those original stories. Only, I didn't want to come out and say in a date stamp "The Year Was 1991". Because, modern novels don't make the distinction that the year is 2012 or whatever the publish date might be. It's 1991 to Michael, so it should be 1991 to the Reader, without me having to break the illusion and tell you such. However, all my mentions of Walkmans REALLY confused my editors who just thought I was woefully behind in the times, so I dropped some  references to Terminator 2 and Guns N' Roses and Straight Outta Compton to help you figure out what year it was. I probably overdid it, but ah well. Michael doesn't stay in '91 for long.

Behind-the-scenes nuggets:

1. Coach Seevers was really one of my teachers in high school. And he looked just like I describe him in the book. He taught history, too, and every year we watched Glory in his class. I think I had him for two classes in one day--so we watched Glory twice. To this day, I still love Glory :) Coach was awesome. He told us that he worked for the government and that, when he was absent from class, it was because the President had called him in on a top-secret black op. He also boasted that he had a gun in his desk drawer and if any of us tried to come at him to mean him harm, he was specially trained to have that gun out, locked, and aimed at our punk heads in .23 seconds, ha ha. He was awesome. I always wondered if he REALLY had a gun in that drawer, but I wouldn't dare peek ;)

2. Other characters such as Johnny Frawl, Edward, and Seth were all based on my friends--though names have been changed to protect the guilty. Back in the day when I first wrote Rift Jump stories, I didn't look very far to find characters to populate my stories.

Click over here for Part 2 of our Rift Jump commentary! Teen lust abounds! In the meantime, in honor of Coach Seevers, my most favorite scene from Glory. Denzel's performance still gets me.

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part V)

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Happy Friday the 13th or, what I call, Jason Voorhees Day! (:p) Here we are--our final installment in the commentary for Enemies of the Cross. By now you should know to beware of spoilers but today's topic covers a HUGE spoiler, so I stress:

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!


...still here?


You sure?


Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Today we tackle a controversial topic. In The Coming Evil, it's already been established that faith (yes, specifically, the Christian faith--this is a "Christian Fiction" book) is the only weapon that will defeat the enemy. In The Strange Man, that was demonstrated by Dras quoting Scripture as a sort of ward, but, as with everything in Enemies, we crank that thought up a couple notches. We've got Isabella quoting verses and this light bursts forth from her--at one point, she literally breathes fire!

When my editor read those passages, he said, "Greg, you have to be careful, or else this is going to look like magic." A valid point I suppose, but my response went something along the lines of "Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" Faith is not "magic"--but then again, isn't it kinda? Isn't real-life faith our connection to a supernatural being? Isn't it by faith that God can accomplish miracles through us, channeling His divine Earth-forming, dead-raising power to achieve His will? "Magic" is an ugly word because people connect it to the occult, but isn't faith a kind of "good magic"? Well, that's a point to debate for another day, and would probably just devolve into worrying over wording, but here's how I look at it. It's two-fold:

The "in-universe" explanation is this: The invisible is being made visible in Greensboro. Demons are appearing in physical form, either bound in leather or as hordes of tiny, hairless gremlins. Sin, itself, is making an appearance as a viscous black goo that consumes people. Doesn't it stand to reason that the things of God would also start manifesting in visible form? This is like the End Days for Greensboro--all the stops have been pulled out and it's a time of miracles and terror. So don't look at it as "magic" (if that offends you), look at it as the unseen being made seen. The veil separating the two worlds has been pushed aside.

The "real world" explanation is this: In spiritual warfare novels like this, we always heap gobs of cool special FX type stuff on the demonic--why can't the holy have just as cool, exciting, and dynamic visuals? If Christians confess that "our God is an awesome God", why can't we show that in the same type of creative ways we show the demonic? My longer answer to my editor went something like "Why does the devil get all the cool stuff? God should have cool special FX too."

I want this trilogy to be a summer blockbuster with lots of effects--but effects on both sides of the spiritual war, hence fire-breathing Christians.

The other heavenly aspect I added to the mythology with Enemies was angels. Yes, Christopher Perdu is an angel. "Perdu" actually means "out of sight"--meaning he was invisible the whole time. That's why you never see him eat, no one talks to him but Hank, and he has to scoot out of people's way when they march in his direction.

Unfortunately, Enemies is coming out after a show called Supernatural and their trenchcoat-clad angel Castiel. I fear folks will think I ripped it off, especially considering I've gushed about that show a time or two on this very blog. But, in fact, the idea for Christopher dates back--like most everything else in The Coming Evil--to 1998. I wrote a short film that I was hoping to shoot (yeah, that didn't happen) called "To Serve and Protect". It featured a quartet of plainclothes angels that operated like cops. They did wire tapping, had cell phones, wore trenchcoats, etc. Again, those were meant to be symbolic representations of what was going on in the heavenlies--in other words, our minds perceived a cell phone, as an analog to some angelic power we couldn't naturally comprehend. At the time, I really liked that script and liked the idea of these "working class" angels, shuffling around on Earth, fighting the battle, but in a quiet, super-spy kind of way.

When Enemies came around, I knew I wanted to bring angels into the mythology, so I created Christopher very much in the same mold as the "To Serve and Protect" angels. In fact, I'd go so far to say that they all know each other :)

My inspiration for Christopher beyond that goes back to my old favorite The Twilight Zone. In the episode "Nothing in the Dark", Robert Redford appears as a nice young man with an angelic secret.

I love Robert Redford. The Way We Were is a perfect movie and Sneakers is one of my favorites. He's got such an easy-going, suave, natural quality about him. So, not-very-subtly, that's why everyone comments that Christopher looks like Robert Redford :p

We'll be seeing even more of the heaven-side of the spiritual war going on in Greensboro in The Coming Evil, Book Three!

But, for now, this concludes our commentary for Enemies of the Cross. Some of you might be saying "What? That's it?" Alas, I could write a seemingly endless array of commentaries on all the themes and elements of Enemies. I think there's a lot to this book that's worth discovering--but part of the fun is discovering for yourself. I'd love to hear your thoughts about what you uncovered in this book: what themes or characters or ideas spoke to you?

Nevertheless, if you still have burning behind-the-scenes questions you need to know, feel free to visit our comment section and I will do my best to answer! Or perhaps you've yet to read the book, but now your interest in piqued. The book is available at your local bookstore as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and Nook!

Thanks for reading our commentary. We'll reconvene when The Coming Evil, Book Three: Dark Hour takes over the world! In the meantime, I leave you with a fond Friday the 13th farewell. Here's the teaser trailer for Jason Takes Manhattan. A wonderfully terrible film, but this trailer was my very first exposure to that lovable hockey-mask wearing lug--and it scared the crap out of me!

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part IV)

Part I
Part II
Part III

SPOILERS BELOW

Welcome back to the penultimate installment of our Enemies of the Cross commentary!

Today we discuss the black goo.

After reading the previous installment of our commentary, you might be thinking that I just totally ripped off the X-Files by having a secret conspiracy covering up a mysterious outbreak of mutating black goo. Not so! That's actually an amazing coincidence.

The origins of the black goo predate The Coming Evil entirely and was inspired by a surprising source.

Back in the early '90s, I was big into Spider-Man comics. One character that really jumped out at me was the villain Venom. For those who haven't read a comic, Venom is actually an alien symbiotic goop-thing that bonds with some poor dolt and corrupts his mind. I remember reading a comic where Spider-Man is attached to this thing (actually, to be fair, I think it was Carnage--Venom's eviler twin or something, but it's the same idea). This sticky goop was whispering to Spidey to "Kill. Kill. KILL!"

Flash forward to that Sunday in church and the pastor's talking about "the flesh" that we struggle with, meaning our own evil desires. Our base impulses. We struggle against "The Old Man"--our old selfish ways of thinking before we come to Christ. The way he kept describing "The Flesh", it almost sounded like this separate, sentient entity. With Venom still fresh on my mind, I juxtaposed the two and considered being covered in this second skin--a flesh--that whispers in your ear to cut loose and do all the things you don't figure you're supposed to do as a "good little Christian".


Since I was but a wee tot, the werewolf has been my favorite monster. The Incredible Hulk was my favorite hero. Both deal with the duality of man--our evil impulses and that other Voice that urges us to do good.

I really liked my Venom-as-sin concept and years later even used it as an example in teaching Sunday School classes to our Youth Group :p When The Coming Evil finally came about, I realized I wanted to introduce more types of monsters into this series--but not just traditional monsters. I wanted whole new breeds of creatures that are unique to this series. Thus, we have what happened to Ray McCormick.

The goo is simply sin in its purest form, corrupting everything, telling us to do terrible things. It's something we all struggle with. Jeff's feelings in this book are so personal to me. I have a terrible temper that I keep bottled up inside and it comes out at strange times and I'm instantly ashamed. Like Jeff, I can relate to having a beast inside, wanting to be loosed. Perhaps that's why I've always identified with the Wolf-Man and the Hulk. I understand the duality of man all too well.

In the struggle, though, I think we find some incredible stories.

I've grown so fond of the "sin goo" concept, that it's become a factor in my larger mythology. We'll certainly deal with it some more in the concluding chapter of The Coming Evil Trilogy, but--much to my surprise--it's already crept up in one other story. I love the battle of good versus evil--and what greater battle is there than what wages in the heart of Man?

Tomorrow will be the last installment in our commentary, where we'll explore angels, fire-breathing Christians, and the power of God! In the meantime, how about checking out this great review for the book over at A Flame in the Dark!

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part III)

Part I
Part II

SPOILERS BELOW!

It was the summer of 1998, I believe. By request of my friends, I entered the theater to see a movie that would have a massive impact on me.

Behold:



Of course I knew what X-Files was. Everyone in the '90s "knew" what X-Files was, but I'd only seen a handful of episodes. I understood the premise, but didn't know anything about Skinner or the Lone Gunmen (I have since been enlightened). I didn't want to watch the movie because I was for sure I'd be lost--but I went anyway. And I had a spectacular time.

"Trust No One", conspiracies at the highest level of government, eyes everywhere watching you, even your closest ally could be against you--exciting! I loved the moody paranoia.

It was this atmosphere that would eventually seep its way into The Coming Evil mythology in the form of the Committee.

The Committee didn't appear in the earliest drafts of the story. They actually originated in a short-lived sequel concept I had that would have taken place after the entire trilogy. Originally, the Strange Man would have shoe-horned his way into Greensboro. For the sequel I had this idea that one of my surviving cast would move to another town and, lo, the Strange Man is there too.

Yeah, it wasn't very original. It was a fairly dreadful script. But the twist for that script was, what if the Church simply stepped aside and allowed the Strange Man to enter? I thought that was a powerful statement on how the Church concedes on so many battles and compromises so many convictions, that we--by our inaction--allow Evil to march in and take over. I trashed that script, but liked the idea of the Church essentially inviting the Strange Man. It struck me, "Why save this for later? Let's just use it in the trilogy!"


I don't think I was purposefully channeling the X-Files when I wrote them. But, that amazing day in 1998 when I had my mind blown by the movie (and what an incredible score and soundtrack!), crept into my writing. It wasn't until my wife looked at me and said, "You do know you just wrote the X-Files." that it became clear what I was doing. Oh. Well, okay. After that, I just embraced it.

One draft saw even more betrayal--I had briefly considered Jeff's own father, Jack, being a member of the Committee, but quickly ditched that. There is so much corruption in Greensboro, including within Jeff's own heart, that I wanted to keep someone as the beacon of light in town. I needed that person to be Jack.

When reading Book One, some people commented on things they saw as logic flaws. "How come the deputies nearly beat Dras to death over a suspicion? Isn't that overreacting a bit?" "How come the Rave Scene is still open, even though the sheriff declared a curfew?"

Well, the answer is simply: The Committee. It's my hope that people will re-read Book One in light of the Committee's involvement, paying special attention to the scenes with Leonard Fergus. The scene where he witnesses the gremlins passing down his street (and the particular words he says) were always designed to retroactively hold new meaning now that Readers know the truth of Fergus' alliances at that point.

I've come to understand that the entirety of The Coming Evil Trilogy is about youth. Book One was about being a young kid just beginning to mature (as evidenced by Dras). Enemies of the Cross is about adolescence. The loss of innocence. The beginning of rebellion against the status quo. When we're small children, we think that adults know everything and can always be trusted--when we become adults ourselves, starting with our teenage years most times, we begin to think no one has any idea what they're doing. We're all just struggling to carve out our path.

That's ultimately what the Committee represents: the mistakes of the previous generation and a charge to Youth to decide how they are going to do things differently...and seeing if they can stay to that path.

In our fourth installment we'll explore the origins of the mysterious black goo!

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part II)

Read Part I

SPOILERS BELOW

In our second installment, we meet Danny Carpenter--the new addition to our cast.

Ideally, I always saw Danny as played by Norman Reedus. In a lot of ways, Danny is a sort of Dras v2.0--which is subconsciously why Jeff wants to help him. He's a dreg of society, a fool, someone that everyone has counted out, and nobody would suspect he'd ever rise to a heroic occasion.

But Danny proves them all wrong.

I've known a lot of Dannys in my life. Drug addicts that have struggled with their demons and have bouts of tremendous faith and courage and decency. Sometimes they have stayed the path, other times they've fallen back into their addictions. I've known them to hit their wives, neglect their children, break their father's heart--but I've also seen them care for the innocent, stand up for the rejects, and fight for their beliefs. I've never known them to just be "bad people", but rather conflicted people. I think they can be capable of great things if given the chance, and that's what Danny represents.

He is not a good guy. He's a drug dealer, a wife beater, and general blight on the face of society. But Jeff befriends him and, through that friendship, Danny begins to want to change.

I took a little bit of flak for The Strange Man with Dras. Dras spent the earlier part of the book as a drunk (though I never envisioned him an alcoholic--just a young partyer) and layabout. Some saw his mid-book turnaround to devil smasher unconvincing. Some said "There's no way he'd turn into a good guy so fast." Well, to that I say "phooey". First off, Dras had a solid Christian upbringing. He strayed from that in his young adulthood, but he had that foundation to return to.

Danny had that upbringing to a lesser extent (being partly raised by his grandma), but I've seen his kind of change happen in real life. I've seen a hardcore drug dealer turn their life around in a single night. Yes, the shadows of their old life linger and they struggle with it for the rest of their lives, but they can change. They do change. It can happen.

Plus, in both the cases of Dras and Danny, I think people discredit their experiences in the book. They are learning that flesh and blood demons are real and in their world and butchering innocent people. I don't care what kind of addictions they suffer from or what kind of attitude they have--most people are going to respond to that. They're going to want to fight that. Fear and righteous anger are strong motivators for change.

What I love most about Danny is that he spends most of the book living more honorably than Jeff--the pastor! Ultimately, that's what Danny is there to show. That we Christians can get so caught up in ourselves and our self-righteousness that we behave shamefully, while "heathens" like Danny Carpenter are actually responding in more Christ-like ways. I've been shamed in my own life by those whom I thought were "not as good" as I was. Also, there are plenty of stories in the Bible of pagans behaving more godly in a situation than some of God's own people. Each time that teaches a lesson and keeps us humble.

Danny inspires us to not count out those we deem as unworthy, but to search our own hearts to see how we have failed, ourselves. All need forgiveness. All need Christ.

In our next installment, we'll peel back the curtain and learn more about those shadowy figures working towards Greensboro's destruction: The Committee!!

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part I)

Well, folks, it's that time again. Book Two of The Coming Evil Trilogy--Enemies of the Cross--has been in stores for a couple months now! Do you have your copy yet? By now some of you have already read it and have, hopefully, been entertained and surprised by the direction the series has taken in its second installment.

Like we did for the last book, I'm going to walk you through the commentary for Enemies of the Cross. However, unlike last time, we're not taking a blow-by-blow account of what's going on in every chapter. Instead I'm going to be covering certain topics that are introduced in Enemies.

As always, MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. Read at your own risk.

First up--the thing that I was sure was bound to excite, confuse, and disappoint people: Dras is alive!

And he's not in the book...

It was always my intention to have this "double fake out". Only a few readers seemed to doubt whether or not Dras actually died at the end of The Strange Man. I purposefully left it vague, but didn't want to leave you all hanging for long. So, in the prologue for Enemies, we quickly inform you that he lived. No doubt some readers are thinking "Yay! Dras is back! On with the story!" while others are thinking "Aw, man, he's alive? What a cop-out." So, I took the middle road--he's alive...and then we promptly remove him from the story, save for that prologue. In fact, he doesn't have a single line of dialogue.

So what gives?

I watch a lot of horror movie sequels. And, time and time again, I discover that the stars of the previous installments are nowhere to be seen in their sequels. Sometimes the hero or heroine has moved, sometimes they died off camera (or sometimes they die in the opening minutes). Some of the supporting cast might still be lingering around, but the hero has moved on to bigger and better things. Usually it can be tracked back to the stars of the originals wanting more money than the studio is willing or able to pay. So those characters are written out of the story and some minor character is given the spotlight instead. Usually when that happens, it's disappointing. But sometimes--just sometimes--it can work.

I like writing with complications. I like setting handicaps for myself to see how I can get out of it. In a novel, I know I don't have to worry about actors' salaries and could have had Dras be all over that book. But, since this was always intended to be a horror movie franchise, I decided to follow the horror movie tropes and put myself in a bind--how do I tell this story without my main character? Suddenly the task fell to the first book's supporting characters. Who are they? Can they carry a whole story? When I wrote the initial script-draft of Enemies over ten years ago, I had a blast writing it. I discovered so much about my "B-listers" as the supporting cast took on a life of its own. It was very rewarding to continue the mythology without Dras, just to see if I could. Did I succeed? Well, I think I did, but I guess ultimately that's up to the individual Reader's judgment :p

As the years (and the drafts) have gone by, I've seen that it's essential to tell Enemies without Dras. He was the glue holding this family together--a fact the characters didn't really understand until Dras was gone. Also, Dras chose to stay and fight the Strange Man in order to save Rosalyn--it's what cost him his freedom and nearly his life. To have Dras pop up in this book and carry on the story seemed to demean his journey in the first book. For The Strange Man to be an effective story, Dras had to die...if only for a time.

If you've read the Book 3 excerpt at the end of Enemies, you already know that Dras' story is not finished yet. There's more for him to do and it will be interesting to re-insert him into the story after the supporting cast has taken center stage and grown so much. What will their relationships look like?

More importantly, what will Dras do when he finds out what happened to Rosalyn?

Head over to Part II where we meet our newest addition to the trilogy!

"The Strange Man" Commentary (Part IV)

Here we are at the end! For those who have stuck with our commentary, thanks for tuning in. I realize many might not get much out of my reflective ramblings, but I like to get my thoughts out, nonetheless.

If you've yet to read the others parts, here are the links:

Part I
Part II
Part III

Page 233--The Strange Man reveals a bit more of his motivation here: He hates humanity. A lot of times when I've seen demons or classic villains in movies and books, they want to rule the world or be worshiped or whatever. But the Strange Man is not so conceited. He just hates people. They disgust him. I’m not the biggest fan of humanity myself, at times. All it takes is about ten minutes reading the comments section on any number of news articles on Yahoo and you see how much hate and bitterness and ego and ugliness is out there. In church, I’ve often heard a lot of blame being placed on the devil for the evil in the world, but I think a lot of it is just people. The Strange Man, like all devils, was an angel once. It was his job to look out for these “selfish, arrogant people”, watching them kill each other and shake an angry, defiant fist at God. He’s experienced their hate and has become corrupted by it. Now he’s the embodiment of man’s cruelty, turned back on them. Poetic justice?

Page 238--Dras talking with Hank over the CB is new to the Realms Edition. After having inserted more of Deputy Dane Adams into the story, and building up his relationship with Hank, I really felt Hank needed a moment to learn that his friend had died. Bring some closure to that arc.

Page 243--New scene. Again, trying to build up Jeff and Isabella as part of the main cast.

Page 249--The second “witnessing” attempt. This is another scene I agonized over. Worked and re-worked and re-worked for years. I originally wrote this scene coming out of a very evangelical culture in the Christian film industry. Every movie had a “money shot” where someone laid down the gospel--the “altar call” scene. The whole movie practically built upon that moment--unfortunately oftentimes at the expense of character, plot, good writing, etc. Someone shares the gospel, someone gets saved, and everything is wrapped up in a nice bow. Part of the thing I wanted to do back then with The Strange Man was show that “Hey. We can tell the gospel, but have all the other stuff too.” I wanted the message in there, sure, but also good characters and plots, excitement, etc, and to also turn the “gospel scene” on its ear--where it’s not a neat and tidy conclusion. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered how vehemently some Christian writers are against this kind of scene period. They would say that this is a trademark of bad writing and that this is the reason “Christian Fiction” is not taken seriously by the literary world. But I felt that this was a vital scene to the characters. This is a big moment for Dras because he finally gets it now. Things like “God” aren’t just stale old dogma he’s been passed down in church--they are things that he’s experienced for himself and, now, he’s sharing that from his heart.

But there are ways of doing this kind of “gospel” scene and there are ways not to do it. I’ve struggled with how to do this scene correctly. In the past, no matter how many times I wrote this scene, it felt like I was hitting pause on the story, turning to the audience with a twinkle in my eye and saying, “Now, kids, let me tell you about Jesus.” Unfortunately, that’s how it reads in the Xulon edition. In the beginning I was so afraid of getting it “right”, of saying everything the Reader needed to know to understand the gospel--that’s the Bible teacher in me. Plus, as I said in the last part, the Bible is the foundation to my fictional mythology, too, so where's the line between "preaching" and just explaining the rules of my fictional world?

Originally, this conversation with Dras turned into a whole sermon--pages and pages worth (though I trimmed it a bit for the Xulon Edish)--and, soon, it wasn’t genuine to Dras anymore. It sort of stayed in the “canned gospel” approach that failed Dras the last time. When I sat down to write the Realms Edition I KNEW this scene was the first on my list of things to rework. I felt extra-sure when my editor--a CBA editor--told me the scene was too preachy and unrealistic! So, I scrapped most of this scene. More than that, I scrapped my old way of looking at things. This scene wasn’t about saying the right things for the Reader. This is Dras and Rosalyn’s lives on the line here. I focused on my characters--on Dras. After everything he’d been through in this story, what did he need to say to Rosalyn? I wrote this scene from the heart--Dras’ heart--to Rosalyn. The scene is about ten times shorter than its original incarnation and, dare I say, ten times better. Does it still come off as preachy? Well, I guess that depends on the Reader. But I tried. Whattya gonna do? It is what it is.

Page 253--Rosalyn asks Dras, in essence, “If God’s so great, why is my dad dead?” I added this for the Realms Edition because it suddenly struck me that of course she’d ask this. And, of course, Dras doesn’t have an answer. In my own life, I think I’ve tried too hard to answer all the tough life questions for people, thinking that, if I do, these people will come to a faith in Christ. But it’s called “faith” because we don’t have all the answers. Some people aren’t okay with that. Rosalyn isn’t, but what can Dras possibly say in defense against her tragedy? It’s a messy question with no easy answer and I’m proud of myself for not trying to answer it here. I would have ten years ago. I would have spent ten pages trying to convince Rosalyn why God is still good, even when bad things happen. But, now I know better. Sometimes God has to defend Himself and I’ve got to trust Him to do that in His own time and His own way.

What I like about this scene, is that Rosalyn still rejects what Dras is saying, which, to me, drives home the message of this book. This is not a conversion scene! This isn't a book about Rosalyn “accepting Christ” in the end. Dras hopes that happens, of course--it’s her only salvation against the Strange Man. But the more important battle, to me, was Dras claiming his faith. A part of that meant sharing it, yes, but it’s the act of sharing it that was important, not the result. Some people think this book ends on a cliffhanger because we don’t know what happens to Rosalyn--and, sure, it is designed to leave you ready for Book Two--but I think Dras’ sacrifice here is a solid ending to his story in this book. He’s learned a lesson. He’s become a man, at long last. Will it make the difference for Rosalyn? Well, only time (and the sequels) will tell.

Page 260--Some readers have expressed confusion over Dras’ eventual fate. Is he dead? Is he alive? I thought it was pretty clear, myself.

Page 261--Thus begins the new ending for the Realms Edition. One of the first things my editor at Realms pointed out was that the Xulon Edition just stopped. No real ending. Of course I answered “But there’s two more parts to the trilogy!!”, but my editor said, very kindly and patiently, “Greg, you’re gonna tick people off if you don’t give them a satisfying conclusion in this book.” This was my attempt to remedy that. I gave Rosalyn and the Strange Man a kind of “final battle” here, but again had to be careful not to ruin things to come. I had to hold back and allow for a type of victory, but still keep the threat and the tragedy alive. It was difficult, but I really like this confrontation with Rosalyn and the Strange Man. Again, she’s not “accepting Christianity”, just choosing her love for Dras over the Strange Man’s lure.

Book Two picks up about fifteen minutes after The Strange Man ends.

Page 263--"The Hour" is capitalized on purpose. And what an ominous purpose it be. Ooooohhhh...

Page 263--Another new scene. Another hard one to write. This was a further move to “wrap up” Dras’ journey, by having him reflect on what he’s done, what he’s been through, and wondering what will happen next. I like ending this with him talking to his father. I find it fitting that, at the end, Dras was finally Jack Weldon’s son.

Page 265--Epilogue. This is from the Xulon Edition and serves as a setup for the direction the series will take in Book Two. Looks like the bad guy won this round. We can only hope things fair better for our heroes in Enemies of the Cross: The Coming Evil Trilogy, Book Two (tentatively scheduled for release Winter 2012 from Realms Fiction)!

Page 266--“To Be Continued...” Cheesy, right? Old-fashioned? It’s no secret that I love the Back to the Future Trilogy and this is my direct tribute (rip-off?) to the “To Be Continued...” first glimpsed at the end of the first BTTF movie on VHS. When I first saw that, I was like “What? To Be Continued? You mean, there’s more?! YES!” These days “TBC...” is sort of a groan-inducer, I imagine, but I was excited to include it. And, yes, you can be sure the other two installments will follow suit with BTTF, with a “To Be Concluded...” at the end of Book Two and an accomplished “The End” that wraps up the trilogy :p

Page 267--“Among the Dead”. This is commentary for another day, but I will say that I’m really happy to see this short story included in the publication. I view it as The Coming Evil Book Zero, really. It was a dream of mine to see the story of The Coming Evil expand past the trilogy into short stories, comics, sequels, prequels, sidequels, whatever I could get my hands on. The day I sat down to write Among the Dead I was feeling discouraged and so bogged down with the trilogy. I wanted to just cut loose and write a totally separate adventure with these characters just for fun. I cranked out this story in an afternoon and I had such a blast. I can’t even describe it to you. I think I even cried a little. It was so liberating. I didn’t think too hard about anything or what it “meant”. I just wrote something for the heck of it. This was such a powerful moment for me as it was my first inkling that these characters had more life in them that just a single trilogy. They felt real, with lives that extended beyond their battle with the Strange Man. Now, on the blog below the trailers to your right, there are a number of short stories for your reading pleasure (they’re free, yo!), chronicling Dras and Rosalyn’s life before the events of Book One, but Among the Dead will always be the first. It’ll always be special.

That concludes our commentary for The Strange Man. If you’ve managed to sit through my entire rambling, congratulations! You win a cookie! Seriously, you who have bought the book and enjoyed it...it’s meant the world to me.

Thanks for listening, and be sure to keep it tuned here for more updates, short fiction, and interviews. See you back again for (possibly) another commentary when Enemies of the Cross, Book Two of The Coming Evil Trilogy, hits stores and the Strange Man’s war with the faithful of Greensboro really begins.

It only gets crazier from here.