Starting from Scratch

SOME of you may already be aware of the tortuous route that my first two novels took from manuscript to publication–twice. I wrote my first novel, Winds of Evil, during the whirlwind November, 2002 challenge called National Novel Writing Month, and edited the 300+ pages in December before sending it out to a publishing startup from California. To my delight, they chose to publish my novel.

The following year, I submitted Armageddon Strain to this same company, and again they expressed keen interest, not only in the book but also in any subsequent novels I might be planning. By the summer of 2005, to my surprise, Winds of Evil and Armageddon Strain been published not once, but twice, by the startup company and by a partnership between that company and a well-known, established Christian house.

Sadly, sales did not match expectations, and by 2006, both companies had declined interest in any books meant to follow in the Laodicea series. They did, however, plan to retain rights to the already published books, Winds of Evil and Armageddon Strain. Needless to say, I was dismayed if not emotionally crushed.

Without rights to the first two books I knew that no other publishing house would even consider taking on either series, but I tried to slog through writing the sequels, because so many wonderful readers had written to me, asking about the follow-up works. As such, Derek and I self-published Signs and Wonders as book 2 of “The Laodicea Chronicles” in 2008.

Now, 4 years later, I have to confess that I simply cannot continue working on these books. They have become like a slow poison in my soul. I hate saying this, because the characters of both Armageddon Strain and “The Laodicea Chronicles” are near and dear to my heart. I’m delighted that so many of you have also grown to love them. That’s why these words are so hard to write, but I simply must do so.

For the past weeks and months, I have tried again and again to finish the final edit on Doctrines of Demons (book 3), but each time I read through the manuscript, I actually become physically ill. This has happened to me over and over during these past few years–each time I try to finish it, I get sick. It’s finally dawned on me, why.

I sometimes cry while working on the books, and my stomach churns, doing acrobatic somersaults–not at all pleasant, I can assure you.

Without getting into details, the breakup with the publishers was painful, but losing rights to the first books was like losing custody of my own babies. I find it hard to continue story lines that someone else lays claim to; which–I think–is why working on the sequels brings me such emotional and even physical pain. Many of you have asked why it’s taking me so long to release the remaining books–now you know why.

I don’t bear any ill will toward my former publishers. They took me on on as an unknown and treated me well. They had every right to choose not to publish the sequels, and since they printed thousands of copies, I can understand why they would retain the rights. I’m not questioning it, I am simply doing the best I can with the situation.

Since it’s so hard for me to write the remaining novels, I am simply walking away from the series.

For those of you who have hung in there with Katy Adamson and Joshua Carpenter, trust me when I tell you that my planned conclusion was in their favor. All would have ended well. Eden, Indiana would have endured many hardships, but the Lord and His children would have triumphed in the end.

Thank you for loving these fictional children of mine and following their exploits as they strove against the evils in Eden, Indiana. Thank you for encouraging me and believing in my writing. Please, forgive me for walking away from the earlier works, but I simply cannot continue.

I leave Eden, Indiana behind but I will soon set my writer’s feet in a new town to find new characters. I’ve no doubt that there, you and I together will discover many dark and sinister plots behind closed doors, underneath slippery stones, and inside old, illuminated families’ closets.

By the time you read this, I will have deleted the files for the Laodicea sequels. and started work on a brand new fiction series.

Here’s to starting from scratch. I love you all.

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Burton’s Dark Shadows Remake: Barnabas Collins with a Beetlejuice twist

Thanks to my Indiana pal, Sherri, who posted this preview to Facebook!

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Horn and Putnam Have a Winner; Simply Put, “Petrus Romanus” is Stunning!

Petrus Romanus is scheduled for an April, 2012 release.

It isn’t every day that I get to preview a book that pulls me in hook, line, and sinker, but Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here has done that and more.

My preview copy runs over 500 tantalizing pages, and each chapter has surprised me. Co-authors Cris Putnam and Tom Horn offer their readers an honest, balanced, and faithful examination of St. Malachy’s famous prophecy and the Catholic Church itself, or perhaps I should say ‘herself’. During their years’ of painstaking research and study, the authors have uncovered literary trails and discovered secret documents and hidden prophecies that rival the plot of a Dan Brown novel.

Unlike many of Brown’s books, Petrus Romanus is not a slapdash roll-out meant to take advantage of our plunge toward the world’s December 21, 2012 appointment, but rather it is a delicate dissection intended for scholarly scrutiny, and each chapter is filled with deep history and careful citations.

But don’t be alarmed. While scholars will dig deeply into each nook and cranny of the text and bibliography, you and I can easily access and appreciate the exciting history, biography, and prophecies surrounding the church that calls itself ‘universal’. More importantly, this book will help prepare all of us for the final phase of the great war between good and evil: Daniel’s 70th week.

As we enter into the final months and weeks of 2012, it is quite possible that the you and I will witness the ascendance of Malachy’s final pope. Has he already been chosen? Very possibly. Will he take the name of the man the church claims as her founding apostle–that of Peter, also known as Simon, called Cephas by Christ?

Read this book to prepare yourself, for soon, we will all know the truth. And when you’re finished–read it again.

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Tragic history of dark spiritual influences in mid-19th century South Africa

Nongqawuse (left) claimed to have heard from three spirits

Today’s issue of American Thinker hosts an excellent essay by Rael Jean Isaac, where she compares the cattle killing cult of the Xhosa tribe to the ‘tree hugging’ culture of global warming. The comparison is a fair one, but it’s the background story of the Xhosa that most fascinated me. I’d never before heard of this self-destructive prophecy, so to learn more, I did a little online sleuthing. (There’s a great article here).

It appears that the cult began in the post-British invasion period when the tribe’s cattle started to die off in large numbers. Convinced that the cattle had caught the illness from the animals belonging to the white settlers, the Xhosa farmers willingly followed the commandments of three spirits who allegedly spoke to a girl named Nongqawuse. These spirits promised a return to the golden age of pre-Settlers if only the Xhosa would kill all their cattle. Having obeyed, and seeing no change, the farmers heard the spirits tell them to kill all their animals and even destroy their grain. Needless to say, the tribe suffered near extinction due to famine!

Some believe it was the girl’s uncle, Sarhili, who was the true origin of these ‘prophecies’, and the coincidental death of a British general in the Crimean War, but the promised victory over the whites never materialized. Instead, the Xhosa resorted to cannibalism (allegedly), and those who survived became indentured to the British settlers. Richard Price’s book, Making Empire, claims as many as 400,000 cattle and 40,000 Xhosa people died during this disturbing, and spiritually influenced period.

(American Thinker) — Beginning in 1856, the Xhosa tribe in today’s South Africa destroyed its own economy. They killed an estimated half-million of their own cattle (which they ordinarily treated with great care and respect), ceased planting crops, and destroyed their grain stores. By the end of 1857, between thirty and fifty thousand Xhosa had starved to death — a third to a half of the population. The British herded survivors of the once-powerful tribe into labor camps, and white settlers took much of their land, as reported by Richard Landes in Heaven on Earth: The Varieties of the Millennial Experience.

The Xhosa had acted on the prophecy of a fifteen-year-old girl who promised that if they destroyed all they had and purified themselves of “witchcraft” (including evil inclinations and selfishness), the world before the white invaders came would be restored. The British oppressors would flee, and the Xhosa ancestors would return, bringing with them an even greater abundance of cattle and grain.

via Articles: Global Warming and National Suicide.

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Unbelievable: Apple’s inflated stock prices just keep rising

Say what? Apple stock jumped 47% on the year? The year’s not yet 3 months along! Who’s got money enough to load it at $600 per share? Call me crazy, but I’m betting Apple stock starts nosediving soon. For those who bought during the lean years (when Apple was practically a penny stock–before the iMacs), think about getting out now. The world economy can’t support a stock like this, not can it continue to buying Apple’s products for much longer.

(Reuters) – As Apple’s stock leaps to successive highs, it’s intriguing to look back every couple of weeks just to see how far the tech giant has come.

Shares of the iPad and iPhone maker eclipsed the $600 barrier for the first time on Thursday, only about a month after first topping $500.

via Apple continues to defy gravity as stock hits $600 | Reuters.

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