Jeremiah Stone - 4 Book Series

There are actually four books to the ‘Jeremiah Stone’ series. Those books are: Jeremiah Stone, Limbus, Azazel, and Beginnings and were written in this order. However, in the chronological order of the story ‘Beginnings’ comes first.

The story ‘Beginnings’ started as just a teaser trailer for the series which I posted on my first blog sight. As I added more and more to the blog, a true storyline started to develop. Before I knew it, I was seventy-six pages into it and just starting. It was about that time that I pulled all the content from my blog and started putting some serious time into turning it into another book. At that point in time, however, there was no villain. The story hadn’t gotten that far yet, but once I decided to make it a book I knew I needed to develop a true ‘bad guy’ which would challenge Jeremiah to the core. I believe I have done this successfully with a mob pretender named Korsikov. Of course Jeremiah doesn’t really care about Korsikov until push comes to shove, at which time Jeremiah decides to take a little vengeance out on the fellow.

Now if you’ve read Jeremiah Stone (a few have) or all my blog posts concerning Jeremiah Stone, then you may be aware of the fact Jeremiah has died twice. It’s in ‘Beginnings’ where Jeremiah dies for the first time. During this experience he finds himself in purgatory facing judgment, though he barely senses the decision being made, though he is aware something is going on concerning his life and death. Once released from Purgatory and back into the world of the living, he begins to sense the presence of those possessed by either angels or demons, though he doesn’t know exactly what it is yet. He only knows something feels wrong about certain people. This is explained in ‘Jeremiah Stone’ and represents his curse, that when he returns to the living he’s gained knowledge about the truth of the world. This knowledge saves his life.

As I’ve said, though, he’s died twice. It’s shortly after his second death, between ‘Beginnings’ and ‘Jeremiah Stone’, in which his curse of knowledge manifests itself into hearing voices in his head. These voices, however, are actually the angels or demons talking amongst each other over the ether. This is when he decides to seek a bit of revenge on God and the Devil for being cursed as a freak. The object he uses to enact his revenge is one ‘Zygi Wolf’, a medium player in a new world of crime, but just why both God and the Devil want Zygi, Jeremiah has no idea. Realistically though, he doesn’t care as long as they begin to focus their attention on him instead of Mr. Wolf.

Jeremiah Stone - BackCover

In a vengeful quest, Jeremiah Stone kidnaps a member of the mob and incurs the wrath of both God and the Devil. Within days, he’s had to make some hard choices concerning the lives of others, cheated certain death a half dozen times through both luck and skill, and used up almost every favor he’d ever gained. All of which put him in his current position, treading the line of love and hate with the object of his affections caught somewhere in the middle. Life never turns out as planned, he thought frowning internally. So contemplating his situation and realizing he had no choice but to continue, Jeremiah reached into his backpack. Pulling forth a piece of paper, he hands it to NYPD Captain Eric Hallaman.

“What’s this,” Eric asks.

“Consider it my last will and testament,” Jeremiah answers. Then, without waiting for a response, he takes two quick strides and leaps towards the other rooftop leaving the captain alone with his nemesis CIA operative Opus Wright. Halfway across the span between buildings, Jeremiah hears bullets plunk into the ledge behind him while others whiz past his head. Nothing like leaping out of the pan and into the fire, Jeremiah thinks as the night swallows him.

Would it matter if he knew his soul is caught in a divine bet between God and the Devil, both of whom denied him death twice? And its death he desires, he just doesn’t want to go out peacefully.

Jebediah Smith

I literally LOVE this character for the simple reason he is brash and truthful in everything he does. He is also very passionate about a few things; one of them is Jeremiah playing football as a youngster. It’s a story he tells everyone he knows as if it has some monumental meaning. Little does Jebediah know it indeed has a significance even he doesn’t grasp until Jeremiah shows up in his part of the woods in a situation not to Jebediah’s liking.

Now I don’t want to ruin the book ‘Limbus’ by stating too much, but I feel that it takes memorable characters to make a book talk to its reader. I feel as if Jebediah is one of those personalities. The reason I feel this way is I believe each of us has a bit of his crass and scruffy nature within us. Everyone, at some point in time, even if for just a few seconds, would love to be truly honest to a fault without sugar-coating life. Jebediah is just such a person thus enabling us to relate to him on some level.

Beyond the character, Jebediah’s family is also more than is seems as he is related to both the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s from ages past. And though it doesn’t play a huge part in the book, it does give a bit of insight into the character beyond the obvious.

Again I don’t want to give away the story since it is my favorite in the series, but suffice it to say I don’t think I’ve created a more likable person than Jebediah. I hope you feel the same when the story is eventually released into print.

March 3rd

Ok, I know I said I’d go into the character of Jebediah Smith during this blog session, but I’m going to have to hold off for a week. My apologies if you were looking forward to it, but I have news.

Now I knew my story ‘Jeremiah Stone’ was supposed to come out sometime in the February-March timeframe, but I found out recently that March 3^rd is my release date. Needless to say, a smile crosses my face because this news somehow cements the fact I’m be published. Just what this means (ie number of publishing houses, pricing, etc) in have no idea which causes me to laugh at myself slightly. Of course I’m always laughing at myself slightly because I never imagined this ever happening if though I’ve wanted to be published for years now.

To me, it’s almost a surreal achievement, a life goal I never suspected to accomplish.

Now here’s the funny part; I haven’t even received the first edits back yet, which means when I do I have to ‘accept/deny’ the changes within a couple of days before sending it back. This will not be easy! Also, since this is the first book to be edited in detail (besides by myself and a friend of mine), I suspect there will be thousands of changes (after all the book is 100,000 words long).

The other note that crosses my mind is how much of the story will actually be changing. Will it be grammatical or content, or a lot or a little of both. On top of that, there are 4 scenes I’m debating on keeping or expanding or flat out removing because of ‘adult’ content and I wonder if they will be considered out-of-place or necessary for the story.

Either way, through it all, I guess I will find out soon enough.

Beyond all of the edits and back-and-forth between the publisher and myself, I will need something from the few who have read Jeremiah Stone already, and this is a review (hopefully a good one). I’d also like to know if the edits (changes) make the story better, worse, or simply easier to read. I’m counting on you for this.

Realistically, though, I’m holding my breath wondering which day the edits will show up in my in-box. Pins and needles, people. PINS AND NEEDLES. LOL

Objects In Mirror Are Larger Than They Appear

So I’ve become a bit bloggy lately, which is to say I’ve been reading and writing a little of each for a couple of reasons. First, I need to improve on my writing skills and every little bit helps. Second, since I have a book coming out shortly I need to promote it in many different ways with blogging being one of them. And last, its good to read a good piece of writing to keep your mind fresh and diversified. After all, if you don’t read and only write than how do you know if a- its good and b- if your reaching your audience. With this in mind I’ve read a few blogs, but nothing struck me as odd as the last few.

Now I digress with a short story. During a point in my life I lived in Germany and drove a Volvo or Mercedes (both of which are used as taxis over there so it’s like driving a Ford here, except they last longer). Anyway, the edges of the mirrors of European cars are rounded so the driver has a better view of their blind spots, just as some American cars do now. What I find funny about this is there is no warning on the mirrors of the European vehicles, unlike American cars. Why is that?

The answer is – drum roll please – Lawyers! At some point in time somebody switched lanes thinking the lane was clear because the car in the mirror was tiny only to find they took off the other guy’s front-quarter panel.

‘But officer, he looked like he was way behind me when I switched lanes.’

Now mix in one attorney and you have a recipe for a MAJOR lawsuit simply because there was an idiot behind the wheel.

The problem I have is its gotten so much worse. There are warnings on everything now, some of which I agree with, but some I find down right asinine. For instance, again in Europe, the warning label on a pack of cigarettes simply says DEATH or CANCER in big bold letters. I agree with that and I even agree with the warning label on American cigarettes even though you need a magnifying glass to read it. What I disagree with is the warning at the beginning of movies (on DVD) that post the opinions or actions within do not reflect the view of BLAH,BLAH,BLAH production company or any of its employees. I mean REALLY!!!

Is someone really going to watch a science fiction movie where the impossible happens and then file a lawsuit that it can’t be real or take one of the actor’s viewpoints (often out of context) and use it against the production company or any of its employees. The answer is someone already has because there wouldn’t be a warning otherwise.

I could go on and probably offend a few people about how sue-happy our society has gotten because somebody thinks they should have what someone else does and not work for it. But I won’t.

The real reason I bring this up is I have a book coming out shortly where the story is based on the ‘Book of Job’, so it has a religious connection. This reference, however, is just a supporting point  why one character is the way he is and does not reflect any other views the author (me) has. So, my question is, do I have to put a warning on the cover stating the religious references are only to support the plot and are not meant to elevate or degrade any religion, deity, demi-god, pagan, atheist, or other religions view held by any of the book’s readers or non-readers.

Of course this is all in jest, but please don’t sue me. Now please remain seated as I return you to your regular blog posts. LOL

Opus Wright

Near the end of the first book of Jeremiah Stone a character is introduced with only a small part, however, in books ‘Limbus’ and ‘Azazel’ this person takes on a major role. This person is CIA operative/sharp shooter/assassin Opus Wright, a cold, calculating killer whose obsession with death (especially the fact death can be cheated) leads him towards Jeremiah Stone.

In ‘Jeremiah Stone’, Hades (the primary bad dude) gets frustrated by Jeremiah’s unpredictability and in turn seeks out Opus hoping the man straight-forward methods can provide the advantage Hades needs. Opus, on the other hand, thinks Hades is the incarnation of Death, a perception Hades encourages, and by doing Hades’ bidding Opus believes Hades will own him a life. For the most part Hades honors these agreements with Opus by protecting the man when tough situations arise. Another item of note is at this point in the series, Opus is still working for the CIA. He lives by societal rules, for the most part, and he knows there are limits to the freedoms he takes, which is why he helps NYPD Captain Eric Hallaman at the end of ‘Jeremiah Stone’ instead of killing the man.

This is not true within ‘Limbus’ and ‘Azazel’. After 15 years of relative peace, satellite communications, and the internets, Opus has become a dinosaur, a danger to the public, and an embarrassment to the CIA. In fact the CIA would love to be rid of their former tool, but Opus has been trained too well and stays under the radar. However, Opus’ obsession with Death has only increased during those years. Knowing Jeremiah Stone has died three times and somehow come back to life drives Opus to seek out Jeremiah’s secret. So when Jeremiah surfaces, Opus enters the picture in a bad way.

To describe Opus is to portray the man’s personality. In ‘Jeremiah Stone’, Opus is controlled using his high intelligence, fast reactions, and uncanny skills with handguns to capture the one person Jeremiah holds dear. But when Jeremiah escapes his grasp, Opus calculates the man’s odds of survival against Death (Hades) and offers Eric Hallaman help hoping it will even the odds. Just why he would do this? Because Jeremiah has avoided death before and Opus wants another crack at the man who seems unable to die. In the second and third books, Opus has changed. His years are waning along with his skills, so he’s become far more callous. He now has an utter disregard for human life beyond those who fall into his agenda. At the pinnacle of his list of those on his agenda is Jeremiah Stone, though when he believes Jeremiah Stone dies then his only option to discover Jeremiah’s secret lies within Limbus. Unluckily, the lives Hades owes Opus have run out which only makes Opus all the more desperate to discover Jeremiah’s power over Death.

Now just how do I come up with a character like Opus you may ask? It’s not easy, though I take the same route I describe when creating conversations (see the ‘Conversations’ blog entry). I think of specific character traits thus defining the person. In the first book, Opus is obsessed with the idea of conquering death. He is also at the top of his game so he sees no one as a true threat to him except Death (Hades). These two traits make him cold and calculating, especially considering his background within the CIA. However, in the second book, his obsession with death borders on insanity. And since he knows he is vulnerable, he no longer takes the same chances he used to.  Thus killing someone to reach his goal becomes all the more prevalent within his personality; a leave no loose strings approach to everything he does.

Out of the four Jeremiah Stone novels I’ve written, I like the novel ‘Limbus’ the best for two reasons. The two reasons are actually two of the characters within the novel. The first character is Opus because of the person he’s become due to his obsession with death. The second character is Jebediah Smith, the old coot who is far more than he appears to be. I think he may be the next subject of discussion.

Dream Savior Plus

So I’m pleased to announce my novel ‘Dream Savior’ is finished. I completed it in a rush of words and thoughts during a 12 hours trip home. The ending of the book is as I wanted it, though it seems a bit abrupt at first, but that’s when the reader realizes the climatic ending of the story is not the true climatic end. There’s still another 20 pages beyond that which twist and turn and slither about like a snake through tall grass. This, of course, has always been my style of writing, which is to say – always leave them guessing until the end. This time I think I’ve accomplished just that, though a thorough reader may catch on long before the twist is revealed.

Now there is one thing I have to admit, which is ‘Dream Savior’ is not really finished by any means, though I have written it to the end. Much more lies ahead, like a complete read through, a rewrite of several dream sequences, multiple rounds of editing, and probably a full printing and reading by my son, who wants to read this as soon as he finishes the Jeremiah Stone series (he’s on his third book of the four already). Hopefully I can complete all the above before handing him a semi-finished copy of ‘Dream Savior’. I guess I have a lot of work still ahead of me and not much time to do it. And even when I’m done with ‘Dream Savior’, I have the story ‘Burden’ to continue working on.

On another note, I’ve gotten some good feedback on a few of my Jeremiah Stone novels. Granted there is some editing which needs to be done, but the stories themselves are intriguing, engaging, and action packed. I also got a good review from someone who doesn’t normally read this genre’ even though she was just given a few pages in the middle of the story. That is the best kind of news to get and encourages me to continue my writing (not that I’d stop because what else do I have to do when I’m traveling). Anyway, one of the readers/reviewers is on the 3^rd book (Azazel) and I can’t wait for him to give me his final verdict. This same person did say, however, that the second book (Limbus) was more exciting than the first. My son also said the 4^th book (Beginnings) was better than the first (Jeremiah Stone), and he’s currently reading Limbus along with another friend. All-in-all I find myself smiling.