The Witches' Cauldron - Now in AUDIOBOOK

Book Four in the "Halos & Horns" series.

Audiobook

The Witches' Cauldron Picking up where To Hell in a Handbasket left off, the fourth installment of the Halos & Horns fantasy series finds the angel Gabriel and the demon Asmodeus fighting for their lives against usurper Baphomet and his demonic horde in his bid to take dominion of Hell; Lucifer brought for judgment before the Fates for the murder of an Eternal; and the witch Samantha Twitch joining forces with her sisters Drusilla and Calliope against the sorceress supreme Morgana le Fay and her Dark Fae minions. Will teen witch Emma regret her decision to stand by the changeling Damien? Can Damien find a way to halt his rapid aging? Will the critically injured Detective Mordecai survive? And if not, will he take the secret of his daughters to the grave? An attack on Nosferatu, Inc.'s Japanese headquarters by the ancient vampiric demons known as the Empusae not only threatens Lady Chiyoko's territory, but will change the young hypnalis Kaya's life forever. Meanwhile, one character must journey back in time to 17th century Salem in search of the secret to defeating Morgana le Fay. But what other secrets does the Salem coven hold? No one is safe. As the Halos & Horns saga draws to its conclusion, who will survive?

Just Published! The Halos & Horns Omnibus – In Color!

Halos and Horns: The Omnibus Edition has just been published in a deluxe paperback edition and I cannot recommend any book more highly than this one. Readers of this blog already know my passion for the Halos and Horns fantasy saga, which I have spent four years crafting. I've often compared this work of episodic fiction to television, likening each chapter to a TV episode, and each book to an entire TV season. Continuing that analogy, Halos and Horns: The Omnibus Edition is the boxed DVD set.

An omnibus is a volume containing several novels previously published separately. That means you can expect it to be a big book. A very big book. Obviously, an omnibus will be a lot heavier than a single book and carry a larger price tag (though cheaper than buying the individual books). Its sheer size can be intimidating. Imagine the complete works of Shakespeare, or Dickens, or whomever your favorite author might be, sandwiched between the covers of a single book. It’s like buying a DVD set of your favorite TV series or movie trilogy. While potentially overwhelming, there’s something magical about that sense of completeness you get by knowing you hold an entire creative work within your hands.

All four books in the saga are included in the omnibus, along with never before published essays on the series, an interview with the author, and a massive Guide to the Halos and Horns Multiverse. The omnibus also includes the novelette, The Pandora Chronicles, a sneak peak at the forthcoming Fangs and Fur fantasy series, a spin-off devoted to the vampires and werewolves of the Halos & Horns multiverse. But what really makes this 904-page book stand out are the 61 stunning illustration that accompany the stories, in breathtaking color.

For the first time, you can read the entire story, from beginning to end, in one book. All the pieces come together as the saga unfolds, the color illustrations vividly bring the characters and settings to life, and the essays and guide take you backstage, behind the scenes, providing essential background for the saga. What’s it about? I’m glad you asked. I proudly present, Halos and Horns: The Omnibus Edition:

There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 5). A naïve angel and amoral demon discover the truth of Shakespeare's words, when a wager between God and the Devil lands them on Earth. In the guise of Las Vegas private eyes "Gabe Horn" and "Lou Cypher", the archangel Gabriel and trickster demon Lucifer embark on personal quests of their own in search of their humanity. Their personal journey is also a physical one, spanning both time and dimensions, through the centuries to Camelot and 17th century Salem, exploring the seven Heavens, the nine levels of Hell, the Dark Dimension of the ancient Dark Gods, Thenesia – an ancient land of swords and sorcery, the somnolent realm of the Dreamscape, the Otherworld – home of the Fae, and the eerie emptiness of Limbo.

Beneath the prosaic veneer of urban life, mortal humans live in blissful ignorance alongside preternatural and supernatural creatures: warlocks and witches, vampires, werewolves, the Fae, kitsune, and creatures whispered of in myths of African, Irish, and Japanese cultures. Seers gaze at the Sands of Time as the golden grains tumble through the mystical hourglass, seeking to divine what the Fates have woven. Through these memorable characters and exotic settings, the author explores the nature of good and evil, free will versus predetermination, man's inhumanity to man, universal versus moral relativism, nature versus nurture, loss of innocence, coming of age, death, love and friendship, the quest for power, individualism, sacrifice, and faith versus doubt, among other literary themes. This Omnibus Edition collects all four volumes in the Halos & Horns fantasy saga, replete with 61 new color illustrations; the "Guide to the Halos & Horns Multiverse" detailing each character, place, and object; previously unpublished essays by the author; and the novelette The Pandora Chronicles, a preview of the forthcoming spin-off trilogy, Fangs & Fur.

                       

Available online from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

The Writing Process Blog Tour

Welcome to a special edition of my blog this week. Author Kanchana Ayyar has invited me to be part of The Writing Process Blog Tour, in which selected authors answer four questions on their blog. Think of it is how a writer might imagine a Passover Seder… sans the matzoh. “Why is this night different from all other nights?” So begin the traditional Four Questions asked at Passover Seders for thousands of years. In a similar vein, today you might ask “Why is this blog different from all of my other blogs?” because I’ll be answering the same four questions being put to many writers today as part of a new tradition – the Writing Process Blog Tour.

Question #1: What are you working on?

These days, writers wear several hats. When I’m wearing my promoter hat, I’m promoting my most recently published books, The Witches Cauldron and Collected Essays of a Reluctant Blogger. But when I put on my production hat, I’m designing the forthcoming deluxe illustrated collection of my four-book fantasy series, The Halos and Horns Omnibus Edition. This is probably the most exciting project I've ever worked on. This massive 900-page book has more than 60 color illustrations, a guide to the Halos and Horns multiverse, the novelette The Pandora Chronicles, and several never before published essays. It’s truly a labor of love and if you buy only one book of mine, this should be it.

Then, when I put on my editor’s hat, I’m doing the final run through on my young adult science fiction novel, The 25^th Hour, which will be released later this year. It’s a fast-paced action-adventure tale. Mackenzie Mortimer’s a typical junior high geek. He’s shy, awkward, a bit clumsy, late with his homework, and always late for class. There’s never enough time to do everything he needs to do; after all, there are only 24 hours in a day. But when Mac finds his grandfather’s pocket watch buried deep inside a trunk, he discovers his days have an extra hour. According to the eccentric inventor’s journal, the watch can add up to 60 minutes to a single day by freezing time around whomever presses its button. When a crisis looms for Mac and his friends, time is running out... but fortunately, Mackenzie Mortimer has few more minutes than anyone else.

Next, I wear my geek hat and meet with Amber Book Company’s programmer to develop a digitized version of my Issues in Internet Law: Society Technology and the Law for colleges and universities worldwide on one of the world’s leading digital textbook platforms. I look forward to being able to announce the details in an upcoming blog post.

I also don my researcher’s hat and ferret out the latest legal and technological issues to include in the next print edition of Issues in Internet Law: Society Technology and the Law.

Finally, I get to put on my writer’s hat, dip my quill into the inkwell, and write a few more chapters in the first volume of Fangs and Fur, which provides readers with an in-depth look at the vampires and werewolves they've met in the Halos & Horns saga. Fangs and Fur: Flashbacks (Book 1 in the series) should be published by Christmas. You can expect to hear me talk more about Fangs and Fur as we get closer to publication date.

Question #2: How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I write both nonfiction and fiction. In my nonfiction, unlike many writers, I take complex topics and express them in easily understood terms. One university professor shared his student’s comment about my book, Issues in Internet Law: Society Technology and the Law,  with me: “I just wanted to say I was dreading the fact I had to read a law book and wouldn’t be able to understand the law talk but I love this book! It’s really easy to understand and great because the Internet is a huge part of my everyday life.” That’s what makes my nonfiction books different. My writing style is designed to convey understanding of the underlying material, not to impress students with how smart the author presumably is.

I also write short stories and sagas. My short stories tend to be concise, insightful, and visceral. I think I bring a more literary writing style to the fantasy genre. My writing has a certain elegance atypical of most tales of vampires and demons. There’s a philosophical aspect to my writing and I explore many literary themes, including the nature of good and evil, free will versus predetermination, man’s inhumanity to man, universal versus moral relativism, nature versus nurture, loss of innocence, coming of age, death, love and friendship, the quest for power, individualism, sacrifice, and faith versus doubt. Also, I respect my readers’ intelligence and I don’t write down to them on a fifth grade reading level. When you read my fiction, you’ll come away having added a few new words to your vocabulary.

Question #3: Why do you write what you do?

Besides having to pay the bills, I truly enjoy writing. Often, I find there a lot of things that need to be said and I’ll wrap these social messages in the context of a fictional story.

Question #4: How does your writing process work?

I was trained as a traditional journalist, so I learned to compose my thoughts before my fingers touch the keyboard and write whatever it is I’m writing in one draft. If I’m writing a short piece, I’ll just do it as stream of consciousness, flowing from my mind onto the screen. However, if I’m writing a multi-book saga, or even a novel, I’ll prepare a general one-page outline of the proposed chapters. Then, I’ll flesh out the outline by creating a separate outline for each individual chapter. These sub outlines will contain a list of the characters appearing in that chapter, the subplots, and sometimes, snatches of dialogue. Once I start writing the chapter, I incorporate much of the outline but I’m also free to deviate from it. When I finish a chapter, I’ll upload it into my Kindle and proof it for errors.

Now, I must pass the author baton to the another writer who will take you on the next leg of the Writing Process Blog Tour.

 Alain Gomez lives in San Diego and has been writing since she was sixteen. She works in the field of music but has continued to pursue her passion for writing as an independent author. Though she generally sticks to writing shorter stories, Alain enjoys experimenting with a variety of genres, including science fiction and fairy tales. Her blog is at http://bookbrouhaha.blogspot.com.

Join Alain next Monday to read her answers to the same four questions, but until then, feel free to read some of my previous posts available from the drop-down menu to the left and be sure to bookmark my blog.

A Letter to the NSA

To: National Security Agency
    Fort Meade, Maryland, USA

Date: Classified

To Whom It May Concern:

My computer crashed last night and I lost all my e-mails. Would you please send me a copy of my e-mails, going back to 1993? Also, some of my e-mails concerned my upcoming book tour for my new novel, The Witches’ Cauldron, and I am uncertain which venues I have spoken with, so if you could check my phone records and let me know, that would be great.

Very truly yours,

Keith B. Darrell

…

Dear Mr. Darrell,

We have uploaded directly to your computer all of your e-mails as far back as 1993, as you requested. We noticed several viruses on your computer and we deleted them for you, and replaced one with our own Trojan that will copy your keystrokes and send back to us everything you type. Just think of us as devoted fans who want to get an early peek at your upcoming books.

One of our NSA staffers came across an e-mail from a dating site you had visited last Friday, at 7:42 p.m. The e-mail had been relegated to your spam folder, but after reviewing it, the NSA staffer thought the young lady might be a good match for you, based on the profile of you we have developed from tracking your Web surfing and purchase history, as well as from listening to hours of audio recordings of your many  phone conversations with your ex-girlfriend. The NSA staffer conducted a thorough review of the young lady’s profile and is certain you would be compatible, so we have moved the e-mail to your in-box.

Please rest assured, we at the NSA are here to serve and protect you. We value your privacy. In fact, we mine it like gold.

Four Years In The Making.... Concludes Today!

The waiting is over!

The Witches' Cauldron, the fourth and final book in the Halos and Horns fantasy series has just been published. As you read this, valiant postmen are lifting heavy cartons of the paperback edition of The Witches' Cauldron and delivering them to a bookstore near you. Amazon and Barnes & Noble's Web sites will have at least one copy available soon, as well. For those who can't wait for the postmen to complete their Herculean task, you can download a copy HERE. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Got your copy loaded onto your Kindle? Good, now here's what you need to know. Pay attention... there'll be a quiz later. The Witches' Cauldron is Book 4 in the Halos & Horns story arc. That means, if you haven't read the first three books, it will be like coming in on the end of a really good movie. So make sure you order or download Paved With Good Intentions (Book 1), And A Child Shall Lead Them (Book 2), and To Hell In A Handbasket (Book 3) before reading The Witches' Cauldron. Honest, you'll thank me. While I think The Witches' Cauldron may be the best fiction I've ever written, it'll make absolutely no sense to you if you don't already know the characters and storylines. (This would be a good spot to slip in Amber Book Company is having a four-book set sale HERE, but that would be a shameless plug, so I won't mention it. You didn't hear it from me.)

I'll post the links when Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the paperback edition in stock, but meantime all four books are available for your Kindle (see links elsewhere on this page). Now, here's the rest of what you need to know:

The conclusion of the Halos & Horns story arc is only the beginning! The next story arc will be called Fangs & Fur and it will spotlight the vampires and werewolves of the Halos & Horns universe. A Halos & Horns audiobook version is planned. For you gamers out there, a Halos & Horns game is in development. Between the two arcs, we will release a novelette, The Pandora Chronicles, which takes place after the events in The Witches' Cauldron. The story is done and the cover art looks fantastic. There are also plans to develop comic books set in the Halos & Horns universe. Speaking of artwork, a limited edition omnibus edition is planned, which will collect the entire saga, with illustrations and annotations.

So what are you waiting for? An invitation? This is it! You are cordially invited to hours of thrilling, dramatic, funny, and poignant, action and adventure with the strangest cast of characters in the most unusual storylines you've ever read.

The Italian Interview: Characters in Novels

I've been sidelined by the need for unexpected surgery, so I've chosen to delay the official launch of "The Witches' Cauldron", the fourth book in the Halos & Horns fantasy saga, until next month when I can more actively promote it. Meanwhile (as we say in fiction), you can pre-order the entire four-volume set at a $10 discount by clicking this link. All proceeds will go to my surgeon, whose scalpel slices deeper than any critic's pen, lol.

Since I am somewhat indisposed, I'm going to cheat this week and return to the Italian interview with a bit of cut and paste magic. Enjoy the exchange, below. I'll be back in May hawking "The Witches' Cauldron", so save up your shekels!

---

Q: Do you purposely write strong female characters?

A: Wow, that’s a good question. I mean, the way you phrased it. Do I set out to write strong female characters? No, I wouldn't say I have a feminist agenda. Many of my characters, like Angelique Ward and Nyx, are deities or supernaturally powered, so they are innately strong, regardless of their gender. And when I say strong, I don’t mean only physically, although I think physical strength enables one to be more assertive in nonphysical encounters.

A lot of their strength comes from who the character is. Sharon is a cop’s daughter, so she doesn't hesitate to draw a gun and shoot when Pandora stalks her. Chiyoko’s strength comes not only from being a vampire, but from her leadership position, as a Nosferatu, Inc. director, and we get a sense of her almost royal lineage. Valentina is a strong-willed, no-nonsense ex-KGB agent. I think the exchange that exemplified the strong female dynamic was the scene where Lilith, the succubus demoness vied against Angelique for the right to kidnap the infant Alaric. Lilith, who was also Adam’s wife before Eve, says “I have stood up to the first man, to angels, to God, and to a plethora of demons. You will not bar my way, Ancient One.” To which, Angelique replies, “I was ancient when you were created as a mate for Adam. I was ancient long before this planet we stand on was formed. You shall not defy me, Lilith.” This isn't a catfight; it’s two lionesses about to tangle. So no, my women characters aren't in the kitchen baking cookies.

Q: Which of your characters would you like to spend time with?

A: They’re all unique, so I think it would be entertaining to spend time with any of them. Watching the angel, Gabriel, and the demon, Lucifer, bicker would be a treat. Ditto for the changeling, Síofra and the emere, Asabi. The vampire Pandora would be fun, in a space cadet sort of way. If I were a kid, I’d hang with Artemus, the boy vampire, and Emma, the teen witch. A wizard like Merlin or Balthazar would be cool. I’d have a ton of questions for Metatron, the aspect of God, but I doubt he’d give me any clear answers I could understand.

Q: Which characters frighten you?

A: All the demons, of course, are scary. Of the vampires, I’d say Warren was the most vicious. Nathaniel Thornhill, the witch-hunter, is probably one of the most evil, sadistic characters in the series, other than Torquemada. Gen. Asad Hashim was human, but absolutely ruthless and murderous. But I think the characteristics that would frighten me the most are unpredictability combined with an unbalanced psyche, so Morgana le Fay and The Morrigan would fall into that category. They’re scary because they are in large part ruled by their emotions and act impulsively, so they might befriend you one minute and behead you the next.

Drusilla Twitch was one of my favorite scary characters to write. Who else could caress Remick’s face with her long, sharp fingernail and make him stiffen and turn pale? And she has these great one-liners. When Remick says he had nothing to do with the Empusae attack, she replies, “I realize that, Mr. Remick. That is why you are still breathing.” Succinct, if not subtle. When the bogarts tell her they’ve heard tales of her sibling’s animosity toward her, she asks if they’ve also heard tales of her kindness and mercy. When they admit they haven’t, she replies “That’s because there are no such tales” before destroying them. Even Morgana found Drusilla’s gnarled fingers crushing her larynx, her long sharp nails biting into her neck, and droplets of Morgana’s blood trickling down her neck within minutes of meeting her, as Drusilla asked, “Tell me who you are and why I might not wish to kill you.” Succinct, but not subtle.

Q: Would you consider yourself a plot-driven writer or a character-driven writer?

A: One of my writing friends and I have this debate all the time. The correct answer is you need both a strong plot and well-defined characters. My position is characterization that reveals the human condition trumps plot. I like to create unique characters with their own characteristics, foibles, and motivations and then place them together in a setting, sit back and take notes as they interact. Usually, the story writes itself from that point on, and I’m more the stenographer than author. That’s not to say they wander mapless throughout the pages without a plot. I draft a skeletal outline of the novel and each chapter, so I know where we’re headed and how we’ll get there.

Dialogue is extremely important. The characters’ words have to reflect who they are. If either of two characters could have made the statement, then the author hasn’t clearly defined his characters. Síofra is a cynical, ancient changeling, while Kaya is a sheltered, naïve, wide-eyed 10-year-old girl. When they converse, Kaya can’t make a cynical comment or appear too worldly. When they meet someone, Kaya is immediately trusting while Síofra is wary. This is who they are, and who they are determines how they will react in a given scenario. If you meet them in the woods, a bubbly Kaya will invite you home for dinner as Síofra casts an untrusting, wary eye on you.

Q: Have you ever regretted killing off a character?

A: I felt a twinge killing off Maudie, because she was such a likable character and I felt she had potential. But I realized some of that potential could be explored in other ways, such as flashbacks.

When it came to killing off a major character toward the end of the Halos and Horns arc, I did ask myself, Do you really want to kill off a major character? The character could have worked indefinitely as a staple to bring the characters into different plots, but in terms of advancing the story, I thought that character’s potential had been nearly depleted. The death created a new dynamic among some existing characters, and as the saga continues into the next arcs, I think it will lead to a healthier, evolving storyline.

Q: Which locale in Halos and Horns would you like to visit?

A: I’d love to prowl around Absalonis’ curio shop in Copenhagen and see the range of mystic artifacts he has. Actually, I’d love to return to Copenhagen and prowl around the city. (Laughs). I had some memorable times there in my younger days. The Dreamscape – walking through people’s dreams. That could be fun, or terrifying, especially if I landed in my accountant’s dreams – have you seen Donald Duck in Mathamagic Land? Heaven and Hell, of course. And Camelot. As a child, I wanted to be Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.

The Italian Interview, Part Two

(Continuing the conversation from last time)

Q: Who was you favorite character to write?

A: That’s hard to say; I enjoyed them all. I think which ever one I was writing at the time became my favorite. Of course, it’s always more fun to write the naughtier characters. I found myself more drawn to Lucifer than Gabriel, especially in the beginning. An angel is often presumed, incorrectly if one studies the mythology, to be the personification of perfection. Characterization is best demonstrated by one’s flaws, and perhaps, a story that shows how those flaws are overcome or dealt with. In Gabriel’s case, I had to instill a flaw – doubt. That’s possibly the greatest flaw an angel could have; it threatens the whole fabric of a reality structured on belief.

Lucifer, on the other hand, is the guy born on the wrong side of the tracks. I've always contemplated how fortunate I was to be born in America, a land of wealth and opportunity, and not in Rwanda or Haiti. Where you’re born is the luck of the draw; it’s something you have no control over. Lucifer, was a demon born in Hell but he aspires for a better existence. To obtain that, he has to earn it, raising the nature versus nurture question. Are we who we are because of genetics or our environment? If we change our environment, can we change, through exercise of free will, or is our fate predestined? That’s a theme throughout the series, and not just for Lucifer.

Morgana struck me as a very flawed character. She starts out as a healer and savior and ends as a villainess. Her father was a brute. Her mother died while she was relatively young and she blamed her half-brother Arthur for her death, once she found out his birth was the cause. She becomes consumed with hatred and desirous of revenge against Arthur, Uther, and Merlin. She sleeps with her half-brother, which would send most people into therapy for years, and is overly obsessed with her son, Mordred. She is rejected by Lancelot and her mentor, Nimue and only finds acceptance among the Fae – and even then, probably more from fear than admiration. She’s haunted by nightmarish patchwork visions she doesn't always understand that warp her sense of reality. Is it any wonder she gradually descends from innocence into darkness?

The comic relief characters were a blast to write. Pandora is especially fun because you never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. Both Pandora and Síofra are insouciant characters, but Pandora is lighthearted, a bit of a space cadet. While Pandora approaches life in a carefree, cheerful manner, Síofra is blithely unconcern with anyone other than herself.

Q: Your characters often formed disparate pairings.

A: I found I could achieve both good dialogue and interesting plotting by matching characters with opposite attributes. Teaming up an angel and a demon; pairing the selfish, corrupted changeling Síofra with the innocent, naïve Kaya; or the innocent, naïve white angel Cassiopeia with the more worldly, black emere, Asabi. The level-headed Sharon and the scatter-brained Pandora; the Twitch sisters: Calliope, representing youth and purity, Samantha, representing maternal maturity, and Drusilla, aged and ruthless.

Q: Or Remick and Callaghan. That struck me as an unlikely combination.

A: Literally the Odd Couple. The chauffeur and the tramp. But they worked surprisingly well together.

Q: And in the Middle East, of all places. I noticed you use a variety of locales in the series.

A: Las Vegas serves as the home base, but parts of the book take place in Heaven and Hell. I incorporated global mythologies into the series, including many Japanese legends, so there are scenes in Japan, too. Some of the time travel takes the reader to Camelot, so England is visited, as well.

Q: But not Italy?

A: You can tell your readers that oversight will be corrected in future story arcs. I’m not sure how I would incorporate Italy into the series, but I did have some Roman vampires in the first book and some of the enchantments use pigeon Latin.

Q: Pigeon Latin?

A: It’s been a long time since I studied Latin, so I’m sure my cases were probably flawed, but fortunately few readers will notice. I did have someone correct me on the Hebrew, though. That wasn't entirely my fault. Hebrew is read from right-to-left. I wrote it correctly, but the software program flipped the letters. Fortunately, the proofreader caught it. But it’s very hard to find a proficient Latin proofreader.

Q: (Laughter). That would not be a problem in Italy.

A: (Laughter). In that case, you’re hired.

The Italian Interview, Part One

Halos & Horns has become one of my passions and I never tire of talking about it, or the craft of writing in general. Which is fortunate, because I've given a lengthy interview to an Italian journalist. I've secured permission to print the salient portions dealing with Halos & Horns here, which I shall do over the next two installments of my blog. I don’t know when the full Italian version will appear or how much of what you read here might be edited out. Of course, even after it’s published, I won’t be able to read it, since it’ll be in Italian, lol.

This is not merely an attempt to fill blog space while I’m writing novels (although it will give me a bit of breathing space and you something entertaining to read). What I particularly enjoyed about this interview was, unlike many American interviewers who rattle off canned questions (“Who was your greatest influence?”), this interviewer had actually read my books and posed intelligent questions about specific themes, plotting, and characterization. So, I had a chance to talk about something I’m passionate about, and now I get the chance to share that passion with you over the next few installments.

Q: Halos & Horns draws concepts from diverse mythologies. What are the philosophical underpinnings of the themes in the series?

A: You've actually raised two questions there, so let me tackle them in order. I didn't want to write just another vampire and werewolf book, so I combed through the legends and myths of many cultures to bring my characters and creatures to life. Ancient philosophers postulated truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view and no one viewpoint is the sole truth. In that vein, all these myths coexist within the universe I have created. Rather than contradicting each other, they complement one another. In the Halos & Horns universe -- or multiverse, as I like to think of it -- African and Native American legends blend seamlessly with Japanese, Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology, Eastern European supernatural legends, and Judeo-Christian mythos. At one point, I incorporated the Hindu god Chitragupta into the storyline. All of these myths were, or are still, held as religious dogma by substantial populations. The Greek, Roman, and Norse pantheons were the religions of their respective day and taken quite seriously by the populace. Zeus, Jupiter, and Odin were prayed to and worshiped as devoutly and with the same reverence as many do God and Jesus today. So in my saga, they are all given equal weight and veracity; there is no “correct” religion. Instead, all the belief constructs are part of a greater scheme.

Q: So today’s religions are tomorrow’s mythologies. Would you say moral relativism was one of your major themes?

A: That’s definitely a theme explored in the series. On the most basic level, at the outset I toy with the themes of good and evil by introducing an angel and a demon as my primary protagonists. “What is good, and what is evil?” is a theme I've addressed in several of my works, especially my flash fiction series, A Matter of Perspective. Here, I focused on the concepts of predetermination versus free will. Does one choose to be good or evil, or is that choice already made for him? It’s like the nature versus nurture argument. Can a demon change his stripes and choose a different path or is he destined from birth to remain an embodiment of evil? Can an angel, who has known only the most idyllic of environments and has never been exposed to temptation, be considered inherently “good” or is he merely a naïve and sheltered being? How will an angel change when removed from paradise and placed in an earthly world of human imperfection and sin, and his belief system – all he has been led to believe is true – is challenged, or indeed, refuted?

Societal norms dictate right and wrong as absolutes, whereas moral relativism holds morality is relative, not universal. What one culture deems appropriate another might consider abhorrent. The ancient Greeks cremated their dead, while some Indians ate their dead to absorb the deceased’s attributes. The Greeks would have been horrified by such cannibalism and branded the Indians as savages, while the Indians would have viewed the Greeks’ burning of the dead as sacrilege. It’s all relative. My vampires and other supernatural creatures live both in the modern world -- where murder is aberrant and sinful -- and within a preternatural society that sees nothing wrong with killing people to survive on their blood. By any definition, the vampire is a serial killer. Does that make every vampiric character evil? If you or I killed on a daily basis, we’d likely be considered evil, but what if we killed for food? Do we become evil by eating a hamburger? Or is it a matter of moral relativism?

Q: But how do you portray that dichotomy in a fantasy tale?

A: One way I illustrated that moral ambivalence was a scene in which a vampire character, faced with a mortal loved one bleeding to death, is simultaneously appalled by, and attracted to, the gushing blood.

Q: The character is horrified by the impending death of a loved one, yet viscerally stimulated by the blood?

A: Exactly. Those vampires who chose to interact with humans, retaining old bonds from their pre-vampire days or forming new ties with “breathers”, must reconcile emotional attachments to their food. Some vampires, like the ancient Artemus and the cold-hearted Valentina, have completely severed their ties to humanity and view humans as food. But it’s a lot tougher for newer vampires like Sharon, who still have living relatives and human friends, to rationalize what they must do to survive. In the chapter Secrets Unburied, Sharon reflects on the people whose blood she’s stolen and those she’s sucked the life out of, saying, “ I've done things I know Dad would look down on.” In The Pandora Chronicles, Pandora exclaims, “My family… my friends… no one is safe around me. You've turned me into a monster!” There is a huge chasm separating the societal norms of humans and those of vampires.

Q: What was the most difficult part of the series for you to write?

A: I think the hardest part was trying to write about evil without describing it. Readers come to the series with a sanitized version of evil gleaned from media and popular culture: the bad guys tie damsels to railroad tracks, rob banks, and shoot people. That’s not true evil. The problem is, real evil is offensive to most normal people. They don’t want to be exposed to it and, rather than deriving pleasure from reading about it, they are turned off and repelled by it. Nazis make great movie villains, but films never show Dr. Mengele’s horrific, torturous experiments on people or some of the more gruesome aspects of the torture chambers of the Spanish Inquisition. I recently saw a documentary on the horrors being perpetrated today in the Congo: in the first 10 minutes, I watched a fleeing child sliced in half by a machete and a father ordered to rape his daughter. When he refused, his captors poked out his eyes and demanded his sons rape their sister. Afterwards, they gang-raped the girl, sliced off her hands, and cut out her tongue. These remorseless villains were, incredibly, the least “evil” presented in the one-hour documentary. I found it difficult to watch the entire display of man’s inhumanity to man, but I forced myself to, so I might have a true understanding of the depths of evil. I persevered through the next hour by reminding myself all I had to do was watch it; these victims had to live it.

Q: What you describe is grisly and inhumane.

A: Yes, and therein lies the dilemma. No one wants to envision true horrors. If you force your readers to confront them, you risk alienating and losing your readership. I was approached by one reader who told me what a sick and perverted person I was for dreaming up the torture devices owned by the witch hunter Nathaniel Thornhill in the chapter, Heaven Can Be Hotter Than Hell. I had to explain I had not been creative enough to dream them up and that they had been real devices used during the Spanish Inquisition, sanctioned by the Catholic Church.

Q: There’s that moral relativism again.

A: I guess so. Torture isn't perverse and evil if Jack Bauer, George W. Bush, or the Catholic Church does it, but writing about it makes an author depraved and profane. When it came time to write one of the final chapters, where Gabriel confronts the ultimate embodiment of true evil, the demon Torquemada, I had to balance writing an antagonist as abhorrent as possible yet keeping the sensitivities of my readers in mind. That was a difficult writing exercise.

The 200th Post - Where's Keith?

Perceptive perusers of this periodical will have perceived a paucity of posts of late. OK, enough alliteration. I haven't been posting as much lately, so on the occasion of this, my 200th post, let me tell you what I've been up to instead.

I've finished The Witches' Cauldron, the fourth book in the Halos & Horns fantasy saga and am looking forward to the eBook coming out in late April and the paperback the following month. I've completed the first chapter of Fangs & Fur, the second arc in the series. This arc will focus on the vampires and werewolves introduced in Halos & Horns. The first chapter, The Pandora Chronicles, reveals Pandora's origin and the secret of the psychic bond she shares with Sharon Mordecai. We also learn how Pandora and Sharon became vampires and how old Pandora really is. It's a poignant and exciting flashback populated by gangsters and vampires.

I've also begun work on my long-promised Young Adult novel, The 25th Hour. Mackenzie Mortimer is a typical junior high geek. He’s shy, awkward, a bit clumsy, doesn’t finish his homework and is always late for class. There’s never enough time to do everything he needs to do; after all, there are only 24 hours in a day. But when Mac finds his grandfather’s pocket watch buried inside a trunk, he discovers his days have an extra hour. According to the eccentric inventor’s journal, the pocket watch can add up to 60 minutes to a single day by freezing time around whoever holds it and presses its stem. At first, Mac uses the watch for childish pranks on friends, revenge on the school bully, and to spy on his crush, Vanessa, daughter of the wealthiest man in town. But when deranged teens show up at school with rifles, Mac realizes every second is one tick of the clock away from his class halls becoming a kill zone. Mac saves the day, but discovers using the watch takes its toll on the holder: each extra hour is subtracted from the holder’s lifespan. He resolves to dispose of it so neither he nor anyone else will ever be at risk from it. Just as he finally builds up the nerve to ask Vanessa on a date, she is kidnapped in front of him. The kidnappers give Mac their ransom demand to relay to Vanessa’s father – one million dollars in cash, in 24 hours. Vanessa’s father refuses, saying paying the ransom will only encourage more kidnap attempts. As the only witness, Mac pieces together the clues to track down the kidnappers. Should he tell the police what he has deduced and hope they take a teenager’s detective work seriously; risk a police shootout that could leave Vanessa wounded or killed; or retrieve the pocket watch and lose another hour of his life? Time is running out… but fortunately, Mackenzie Mortimer has few more minutes than anyone else.

Additionally, I've been compiling material for Cub, my nonfiction book filled with celebrity interviews and photographs. I expect to be working on this project throughout 2014. Additionally, I'm researching new material for inclusion in the next edition of Issues In Internet Law: Society, Technology, and the Law. I've written a number of new short stories that I anticipate will be released in a paperback collection in late 2013 or 2014.

I'm about four chapters into my science fiction time travel novel, Justin Tyme. In a desperate bid to stop the government from shutting down the overbudgetted time travel program, the headstrong, young assistant scientist sends himself back in time to prove the project is viable. Unfortunately, the project crew hasn't solved the problem of bringing chrononauts back yet. Fearful Tyme might inadvertently change history, the Defense Secretary orders his own agent be sent after Tyme. Elizabeth Madison, a 26-year-old historian and martial arts expert, is under secret orders from the secretary: if Justin Tyme attempts to change history through some well-intentioned act fraught with inconceivable consequences, Madison must dissuade him if possible; interfere with his attempts to do so; or, as a last resort, terminate him. They're a time traveling team, where he's the brains, she's the brawn, and their survival may depend on each other... if she isn't forced to kill him first.

Finally, I'm working on a new urban fantasy novel featuring Esme Trout, an amoral succubus who feeds off the life essence of humans. It replenishes her strength and vitality, heals her injuries, and preserves her eternal youth. However, her meals sometimes leave loose ends to resolve.

In a somewhat ironic side note, during the time I've been posting less, my blog’s readership has increased, with older posts getting lots of new hits. Perhaps readers like the new "less is more approach". Or maybe they need their daily fix and are willing to scrounge among the archives for reruns. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of gaining more readers by writing less ;)

A Halloween Treat: What to Read at The Witching Hour

What better reading material for Halloween than witches, vampires, werewolves, and demons? Now is the perfect time to start reading my Halos and Horns saga, before the final volume in the four-book arc is published in 2013. The story takes place in a magic-filled, supernatural reality and is told in episodic fiction. Each chapter is a complete tale, like a TV episode, but read in context with the other chapters, a larger story unfolds, making each book like a TV show season. The first four books form a complete story arc, introducing readers to the "Halos & Horns" universe.

Book One, Paved With Good Intentions, introduces some of the main characters: Gabriel, an archangel; Lucifer, a trickster demon; Samantha Twitch, a secretary and witch; Mordred, a warlock and illegitimate son of Morgana le Fay and King Arthur; Detective Mordecai, a hardboiled Las Vegas cop; Kennedy, a hooker with a heart; Sharon, a Jewish vampire (crosses don't bother her) and her vampiric entourage: scatterbrained BFF Pandora; claustrophobic and clumsy Claude, who eschews coffins as too confining; eternally 10-year-old vampire Artemus; and cold-blooded ex-KGB operative Valentina. We wrap up with a "Who's your daddy?" cliffhanger.

Book Two, And A Child Shall Lead Them, unveils the secret existence of the Dark Gods and their ominous plans to return to our realm. Heaven and Hell must join forces in an attempt to prevent the Dark Gods' return. One result of the Dark Gods creating a breach between our dimension and theirs is the release of Lilith, a powerful, child-killing demoness. Along the way, we meet Kita, a kitsune (Japanese fox spirit), several hypnalises (women who turn into man-eating snakes); and visit a lot of unusual places: the Dreamscape (a realm of dreams); Thenesia (an ancient land of barbarians, wizards, and kings); the 1940s; England, Japan, the Middle East, and even Heaven. We wrap up with the most shocking cliffhanger ever written. Really.

Book Three, To Hell In A Handbasket, delves into the backgrounds of some of the major characters. We meet Samantha's sisters, two witches who share a secret connection with her; see Gabriel and Lucifer's unlikely career changes; discover a startling secret about the Mordecai family; follow the adventures of two strange little girls in Japan, one a despicable changeling and the other a hypnalis; attend a trial by a tribe of Gypsy werewolves; learn the untold origin of the sorceress Morgana le Fay; embark on the prelude to a war between the Light and Dark Fae; meet Paige Turner, author of the dreadful "Nightfall" vampire novels, who has been targeted by the savage Empusae, flame-haired vampiric demons and, apparently, pissed off literary critics who complain "Real Vampires Don't Twinkle"; follow Lucifer's political ascension and Gabriel's moral ascension through Hell; and watch Detective Mordecai confronted with an impossible choice. We wrap up with a murder, a kidnapping, a bloodthirsty rebellion, and a shocking ending (admittedly, nothing could match Book Two's cliffhanger, but this comes close).

Book Four, The Witches' Cauldron, begins with the death of a major character, and ties up subplots involving those strange little girls in Japan; the deadly Empusae; the Mordecai family and its secrets; the dysfunctional Twitch sisters and their secret; Morgana's journey from innocent little girl to Fae and sorceress, to Dark Fae, and finally to evil mistress of malevolence; teen witch Emma's arrival in 17th century Salem; Gabriel and Asmodeus' showdown with the demon usurper Baphomet’s legions; Lucifer's judgment by a tribunal of the Fates; a funeral and a wedding; and the fates of Morgana le Fay, Damien, Emma, Samantha, Drusilla, Calliope, Lucifer, and Gabriel. Hint: some of them aren't going to make it to the next arc.

In 2014, it's on to "Fangs & Fur", the second arc, which delves deeper into our world of vampires and werewolves. The first tale focuses on ditzy vamp Pandora, revealing her origins and the truth behind her "psychic bond" with Sharon (disclosed way back in Paved With Good Intentions). It's all connected; each arc is part of one big universe and each chapter of this episodic fiction is a jigsaw piece of the puzzle. The series is, at times, humorous, poignant, adventurous, dramatic, and action-filled. The first three books are available in softcover and on Kindle.