Writing Jeremiah Stone

The idea for Jeremiah Stone was driven by several things, the first of which was the need to get published. If you’ve read my ‘Why Jeremiah Stone’ entry, then you know I was told by an agent that getting a single book published was far easier than a series of nine books, especially for an unknown writer. The agent’s remark prompted me to start thinking of a single-book storyline. This was a bit of a challenge for me because my other series (Shadow Gods) all began with a single character, and as I wrote the story grew around him. Jeremiah stone was quite the opposite.

My initial thought was to go to back to the traditional storyline found in all the books I read as a youth. I disliked the repetitive nature of those stories, but it is the standard, so I delved to conform. Once I made that decision, coming up with the story only took a few days, though not the details. Those came later, after the main character was decided.

As always, I wanted to create a controversial character, someone that blurred the lines between good and evil. My basis for this goes all the way back to a college philosophy class in which the professor asked us to define good and evil. After giving the concept some thought, I came up with this response: ‘Good and evil are defined by the morays of the society in which you exist. Something considered good one place may be the most heinous of acts someplace else.’ Taking this into account, I wanted a character who knew the difference between good and evil, but was not motivated to abide by those societal standards. In fact, he wouldn’t be compelled to do anything except what he desired to do, though knowing full well the consequences of his actions.

With this is mind, I tried to figure out two things: ‘Why would he be this way?’ and  ‘What would his job be?’

To answer the first question, I thought of ‘The Book of Job’ from the Bible in which God and the Devil tortured a man’s life to find out if it would affect his faith. My modern day twist on it was to have a similar bet between the two, but instead of directly affecting the characters life, the two would allow the character to develop un-influenced based on a ‘gift’ each of them gave the single soul. Thus God gave belief since it’s the anchor of faith, whereas the Devil removed the soul’s morals. From these ‘gifts’, Jeremiah was born with the ability to do anything he believed in, but without the moral signposts to guide his actions. And with that defined, discovering that Jeremiah Stone would be an enforcer in the mafia/mob was an easy step to make.

Now let’s consider the ability Jeremiah Stone developed. With the last name of Stone and an overbearing father who lived through his son’s sports, Jeremiah believed his father when he was told to ‘float like a butterfly and sting like a bee’. In sports that translated to run like a cheetah and hit like a rhino. The only way Jeremiah could do that was to alter his weight (or density). Yet there is so much more to Jeremiah’s ability. Because of his belief in himself, he has the ability to alter those around him in everything he does, as long as he believes it himself. If he thinks he’s going to fail or has any doubt whatsoever, then he’s just like you and I, (or worse).

Throughout the series, there are times when Jeremiah doubts himself, but every time he does he tries to blank those thoughts and remain positive, as we all should. He is the ultimate personification of the self-fulfilling destiny. He believes and therefore it happens. And he makes other people believe in him also, which is why some character’s go against their better judgment to help Jeremiah. It’s all because they are caught under Jeremiah’s spell, at least when he’s around. Once separated, once Jeremiah has completed his task, the person’s beliefs revert back to their own.

Of course initially, Jeremiah only knows of his one ability, which is altering his weight.  He has yet to discover his other talents.