Black Earth Character Spotlight - Heather Rhodes

This has been a pretty long blog series, but I'm enjoying giving you all a deeper glimpse into some of the characters from my Black Earth series. Today we're going to take a look at Heather Rhodes, one of the main characters from the novels.

Heather was conceived on Rhodenine - the Wedge home world that was destroyed in a massive attack by Legion and the Dark Army. Before Rhodenine was destroyed, Heather was sent to Earth where she was taken in by an orphanage through which she was adopted by a loving couple who raised Heather through adolescence.

Heather's childhood on Earth was as normal as any other - until she reached puberty. At a routine checkup, an anomaly was discovered in one of her blood samples. She was placed in extensive testing, but doctors were unable to identify the strange substance in her blood stream and what its purpose was. Little did they know the substance was rhodenine, or that later in Heather's life, the rhodenine in her bloodstream would grant her abilities beyond her imagination.

While Heather's gifts lay dormant, she attended high school and eventually met Nathan Pierce, with whom Heather fell in love. For reasons unknown to her, he wouldn’t return her romantic advances, and instead he insisted they be friends. She agreed, knowing she cared about him on a level deeper than just physical intimacy. And as Heather went through her high school life, she fell more and more in love with Nathan even though her love went unrequited.

Despite the lack of returned feelings, Heather continues to be Nathan's supporting character - always there for Nathan, with an ear to listen and a hand to help. She would clearly die for Nathan, if only to prove her love and unwavering devotion to him.

Shortly before Black Earth: End of the Innocence begins, Heather and Nathan are involved in a horrific car accident that takes the life of a newborn child, and leaves Heather's face horribly scarred from airbag burns. Since she was the one driving at the time, Heather blames herself for the infant's death.

When the Black Earth series starts out, Heather is attending a church camp in California. Her first scene has her rushing out of a church worship session to be alone in the woods, haunted by reoccurring flashes of memory from the car accident. Tripping, she catches herself with a light shield conjured from her hands, wondering where the mysterious power originated from. Little does Heather know that she is a Wedge, an alien race imbued with special 'gifts' - or superpowers. Once Heather realizes her light shield isn't a hallucination, she begins to question where her newfound powers came from, and if they are considered magic or a sinister trick by Satan.

And this is where the argument begins of whether or not magic or super powers can have a place in Christian fiction. We'll dive into that on Thursday. And on Friday, Heather's character profile will be added to the soon to be new and improved Compendium.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Evelyn Sun

Last week we took a look at Kari Preen, a somewhat minor character in my Black Earth series who exemplifies fake Christians - those who claim to be Christ-followers but instead act completely different in their day to day lives.

Today we'll take a peek at Evelyn Sun - another somewhat minor character in my series. Evelyn was mentioned in last week's blog postings as the young girl who follows Kari around, striving to fit in with the girl, insecure in her own skin.

Evelyn was born and raised in Apache Junction, Arizona in a home where her father physically abuses her. Evelyn only came to the church by invitation from Kari. Kari and Evelyn became friends through the private school that they attended, and for all intents and purposes, Evelyn is pretty much Kari’s chameleon, changing her emotions, personality, and desires to match Kari's. At times, Evelyn dresses like Kari and allows Kari to dictate who Evelyn is going to talk to. At other times, Evelyn simply keeps quiet while Kari verbally berates her.

Near the beginning of the Black Earth series, Evelyn has taken a liking to Heather Rhodes, even trying to talk to her on occasion. But Kari won't tolerate Evelyn showing loyalty to anyone other than her, and so Kari convinces Evelyn that friendship with Heather is hatred toward Kari.

Throughout her time in the Black Earth series, Evelyn represents a chameleon of sorts - one who has no identity of their own, who changes themselves on a whim to become or please a specific person they look up to. Evelyn is a drone, her own emotions, dreams, desires masked in order to allow someone elses behavior to override hers.

On Wednesday, we'll take a look at the theme of identity theft and how it can be used in Christian fiction. And on Friday, Evelyn's character profile will be added to the Compendium.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Kari Preen

After a hiatus from my blog series regarding the characters and themes of my Black Earth series, I'm back to it today with a glimpse at Kari Preen - a minor character in my Black Earth series (although she does have a significant impact on a certain unnamed character).

Kari Preen's character is one that many of us have seen before - the misbehaving Christian. Stuck up, insulting, misbehaving, ignorant. Kari is all of these things, and her character serves to prove to the world that not all Christians even try to walk out a holy life.

Kari was born into a very wealthy Christian family in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her father, author of the best-selling fiction series, The Treasures of Absinthe, and Kari's mother, a well known advice columnist, both raised Kari to expect nothing but the best from life.

Because of this expectation, Kari became a brat. She tore through junior high, creating a large clique that terrorized the poverty stricken students in the school, humiliating them and sometimes even stealing from them. Eventually, she and her friends were expelled and her parents were forced to pay to have her put in private school for the rest of her high school life.

Kari detests going to church, but does it to please her parents, though her motives are not without an ulterior to them. Her plans to inherit the family fortune when her parents pass keep her tied to them with false kindness and faux obedience. To her parents, Kari is a sweet girl who wants nothing but the best from everyone. She has her parents convinced that the incidents back in high school were mere gossip and that the teachers were jealous of the family fortune, wanting Kari out of the school because of it.

Kari started attending the same church Nathan Pierce and Heather Rhodes populated long ago when it originated in the gym of a local high school. Since then, Kari has always despised, among other girls in the church and youth group, Heather. To Kari, Heather represents the poverty side of the school that Kari grew up in, and so she wants nothing more than to pick on the girl. But Heather has held her own ground, especially with Nathan by her side.

Kari has made a couple friends in the church youth group, trying her best to create another clique like the one she had back in junior high. Her secret short term desire is to take over the youth group and run it with a group that she has personally selected.

At the beginning of the Black Earth series, Kari is attending summer church camp in the forests of California. Little does she know what is in store for her and the rest of the world...

This Wednesday we'll take a look at the theme of fake Christians and this Friday, Kari's character profile will be added to the Compendium.

New Compendium Entry - Ryan Anderson

Wednesday I gave you a look into the character of Ryan Anderson from my Black Earth series, and yesterday we took a look at the theme of betrayal and it's place in Christian fiction. Today I'm happy to say that a new entry to the website Compendium has been added: Ryan Anderson's character profile.

For those who are curious what the Compendium is, it is a (ultimately) massive database that I am building from the ground up that will house information on any and all things from both my Black Earth and my Expired Reality series. Each week, new entries will be added to the Compendium.Next week, since I'll be taking a short break from the character spotlights, there won't be a character profile to add to the Compendium, but there will be an entry added to one of the other categories. So stay tuned!

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Ryan Anderson

Last week I gave you a glimpse into the immortal Princess of the Depths, Pearl, and we took a look at how inherited religion can be used to open up all sorts of doors in Christian fiction.

This week we’ll take a look into the character of Ryan Anderson, a fair-weather friend who is much more dangerous than meets the eye, and how betrayal can be used as a powerful theme in Christian fiction.

In the beginning of my Black Earth series, Ryan Anderson comes on the scene as an annoying acquaintance to Heather Rhodes and some of the other church folk at the Pine Shadows Christian Summer Camp in Hume, California. But Ryan is far from just an annoying acquaintance.

Ryan’s childhood was a strange menagerie of religious dysfunctional and oddity. His mother was in involved in a cult – The Black Earth – and his father was an alcoholic atheist. The personality differences that his parents had constantly clashed, and Ryan was usually in the cross hairs of each – constantly abused by his father, and tortured by his mother’s incoherent chants to gods Ryan had never heard of before.

In order to control something in his world, Ryan latched onto the friendship of Nathan Pierce and Heather Rhodes in the hopes he would be able to pursue a romantic involvement with Heather, who he had an infatuation for. Ryan was blindsided by how quickly his infatuation for Heather grew though, and this obsession led to Ryan betraying Nathan by purchasing a pearl necklace for Heather for her 17th birthday – a gift Ryan knew Nathan was intending on getting her. Nathan and Heather saw through Ryan’s ruse, and they began to withdraw their joint friendship from Ryan.

Feeling a loss of control over the situation, Ryan began acting out his impulsive nature toward Heather, touching her inappropriately and making lewd comments. She eventually threatened him with a restraining order which caused him to back off momentarily.

Shortly before the events of Black Earth: End of the Innocence, Ryan witnesses his mother drift into a listless, magical trance. The cause of this is unknown to Ryan, although he assumes The Black Earth cult has something to do with it. His mother begins mumbling in her trance, speaking out events that will supposedly usher in the end of the world. Ryan attempts to bring his mother back to reality, both by speaking with her about things familiar to their family, and by electrocuting her, but none of his methods work, and Ryan is forced to accept the fact that his mother may be lost – at least mentally – indefinitely. Upon seeing his wife in such a ruinous state of being, Ryan’s father up and leaves, tasking Ryan with the welfare of his incoherent parent.

Ryan’s nature of betrayal stems from his desire to only care about one individual – himself. This leads him to pursue Heather in an unhealthy manner, and disregard his friendship with Nathan. But Ryan’s betrayal goes so much deeper than that after the Black Earth series starts out.

On Wednesday we’ll take a look at the theme of betrayal in Christian fiction, and on Friday, Ryan’s character profile will be added to the Compendium.

Blog Post Series Recap

For those of you just joining my blog, I thought it might be a good idea to give you a recap of the posts in my currently running series.

Right now I have a series running that takes a deeper look at some of the characters of my Black Earth series. So far we've explored:

Cynthia Ruin (Blog Post) (Compendium Entry)
Alpha 1 (Blog Post) (Compendium Entry)
Daisy Pierce (Blog Post) (Compendium Entry)
Pearl (Blog Post) (Compendium Entry)

I have another series running parallel to the Character Spotlight series which takes a look at the different themes found within my Black Earth series and the ways these themes can be used in Christian fiction:

Sexual Content (Blog Post)
Violence (Blog Post)
Faith (Blog Post)
Inherited Religion (Blog Post)

And I have another series running in between all of this that explores the self-publishing side of things, starting with the love and task of writing:

The Right to Write (Blog Post)
NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month (Blog Post)

Later this week we'll take a look at Ryan Anderson from my Black Earth series and explore the theme of betrayal in Christian fiction.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Pearl

Last week I gave you a glimpse into the character of Daisy Pierce, and we took a look at how faith can be a greater benefit to Christian fiction when it's used properly.

This week we’ll take a look into the character of Pearl, an immortal girl torn between our world and the Depths.

Pearl’s origins are some of the most uncanny in the Black Earth series. Crafted by hand by her mother, Evanescence, Pearl’s form was put together in the Depths – a sublevel of Hell itself. Pearl took months to create, and when she was finished being crafted, she came to life as an eighteen year old with basic knowledge of Earth, humanity, and a very limited knowledge of creation.

When Pearl originally awoke (was birthed) in the Depths, she absorbed knowledge that allowed her to discern that the Depths, and the domain of the Dark One, was not a place she wanted to be. She was told the plans her mother, Evanescence, had for her, and this caused Pearl to flee the Depths – after a long and grueling escape attempt – and make her way to Earth, where she wandered in hopes of finding a way to kill herself so she wouldn’t have to witness the destruction about to befall the planet.

In the beginning of the Black Earth series, in the prologue to End of the Innocence (Falling), we find Pearl on the top of a high rise in Phoenix, about to throw herself off in another attempt to kill herself. She knows what is coming and wants nothing more than to be with her Father God in Heaven.

The interesting thing about Pearl is that even though she was crafted in Hell itself, by the Queen of the Depths, Pearl still acknowledges that her true creator is God and that He has a better place for her to reside in than the Depths or Earth. Although Pearl ends up going about reaching Heaven in the wrong manner – mostly due to her limited knowledge of things – her heart is in the right place. She wants to reside with the One who truly created her, and not those who have crafted her for evil intentions.

What’s funny, is I first formed the image of Pearl in my mind when I heard Skillet’s song, The Last Night, which speaks of suicide. I wondered what it would be like for someone immortal to want to commit suicide to escape the travesties on Earth. Fortunately, Pearl’s attempts to kill herself all fail, and she is ultimately united with a young man – the main character of the Black Earth series – Nathan Pierce.

Throughout the Black Earth series, Pearl learns what it is to make one’s own destiny and not conform to the inherited religion or beliefs one is born into - more on that Wednesday. Even though Pearl finds herself marked with a black key tattoo, one placed there for nefarious purposes, she fights with every ounce of will she has to make her own destiny and follow where her heart is leading her – into the arms of God.

Pearl’s character brings a splash of beauty and sorrow to the Black Earth series, and she is probably one of my favorite characters. When she cries, rose petals flutter from her eyelids and she carries with her a sweet scent of cherry blossoms wherever she goes. When she finally does meet Nathan Pierce in person, Nathan gives her a reason to stick through the tragic events that befall Earth, but along the journey, Pearl also comes to know God better and realize the purpose she was truly created for.

Where will we find Pearl by the end of the Black Earth series? Who knows? Well, I do, but I’m not telling yet.

This Wednesday we’ll take a look at the theme of inherited religion in the Black Earth series and how it can serve a purpose in Christian fiction. Tomorrow, Pearl’s character profile will be added to the Compendium on the official website, and next week we’ll take a look at the character of Ryan Anderson and the theme of betrayal in Christian fiction.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Daisy Pierce

Last week I gave a glimpse into the character of Alpha 1 – aka Thomas Black – from my Black Earth series. I also discussed the theme of violence in fiction and how it can be especially useful, if used right, in Christian fiction.

Today we’ll take a peek into the character of Daisy Pierce and what she means to the Black Earth series as a whole. On Wednesday, we’ll take a look at the theme of faith in Christian fiction. And on Friday, Daisy’s character profile will be added to the Compendium.

To begin, I’ll say that Daisy Pierce is probably one of the more important characters in my Black Earth series. Not saying that I play favorites, but there are just certain characters who show up in my writing who seem to have more impact, more importance, than others. Daisy is such a character.

She began simply as a sister for my main protagonist, Nathan Pierce. Daisy is older than Nathan by a few years, and is attending business classes in the local collage. The novels reveal that she has plans to possibly move to New York, although the reasons for the move are not revealed. In their youth, Daisy rescued Nathan from nearly drowning in a swimming pool, and since then they’ve been close, sticking by each other’s side even when their parents began to participate in heated arguments with each other and threaten to divorce.

Daisy’s background is hinted at throughout the series, but not a lot of it is pulled to the surface of the novels. One of the hints readers get is the relationship between Daisy and a man named Daniel, who mysteriously vanished shortly before the events of End of the Innocence. When Daisy and Daniel began dating, the council of Daisy’s church spoke out in regards to their disapproval of Daniel. No clear reasons were given – at least not to Daisy’s satisfaction – as to what the church had against Daniel, but because of the animosity toward him, both he and Daisy left the church.

Daniel eventually proposed to Daisy and they became engaged to be wed. A few days after the engagement though, Daniel went missing without a trace. Daisy hired private investigators, and even went out on a few limbs herself to try and find out where he went. But no solid information ever surfaced, and at the beginning of End of the Innocence, Daisy is making a courageous attempt to go on with her life, still unsure as to the whereabouts or fate of her one true love.

The Daniel and Daisy story is never fleshed out completely, and as the books go along, it gets buried under heavier plot lines and implications. I will spill the beans though and say that I have plans to possibly do a short story/novella in regards to their story. There is a brief glimpse into the lengths Daisy went to in order to find Daniel in the Mini Shot, Smoking Kills, but other than that, it’s a deep mystery as to what happened to Daniel. Maybe the TPS (Time Protection Society) had something to do with Daniel’s disappearance? Hmm…

It wasn’t until Daisy wound up rescuing Nathan at the end of the horrible events that transpire the night of his high school graduation that I realized exactly what Daisy meant to Nathan. It was then that I caught a glimpse of the impact Daisy was going to have on the series as a whole. And as I came to the end of writing End of the Innocence and penned the cliffhanger, it was clear to me that Daisy is the central character of the whole series. Yes, a majority of the series is drawn from the point of view of Nathan Pierce and the friends in his circle, but the ethical and moral dilemmas that show up in the series – freedom of religion, freedom of speech, injustice, faith – all orbit Daisy’s character.

Daisy’s personality really begins to shine in The Broken Daisy – a title which directly relates to her and her fate. I won’t spoil too much of the plot here, but Daisy’s faith both in God and the human race is tested severely as the series progresses, and she becomes Nathan’s reason for surviving the harsh darkness that ends up engulfing the world.

Daisy’s presence in the Black Earth series reveals how faith – true faith in God – can be implemented into a story in a natural and interesting manner. On Wednesday, we’ll take a look at how faith in general can be used in Christian fiction. And on Friday, Daisy’s profile will be added to the Compendium.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Cynthia Ruin

This week starts my lengthy blog series that will explore the various characters and themes found in my Black Earth novels. My intention is to tie specific characters with the themes they embody, and to discuss how these themes can be used successfully in Christian fiction.

Mondays I will post about a specific character and give a little detail about the inspiration behind their creation and their place in the Black Earth novels. Wednesdays I will post in regards to the theme that week’s character is tied to. For example, today I’ll discuss the character of Cynthia Ruin and this Wednesday I’ll discuss sexual themes and their place in Christian fiction.

So without further ado, here’s a bit about…

Cynthia Scarlet Ruin. Known as Sin on her bad days. Known as the Pink Rabbit on her worst.

She is by far one of the most broken characters I have ever had the bittersweet experience of creating. The act of forming Cynthia’s character was the turning point for me in my writing endeavors, helping me to break out of my conventional boundaries and write outside of the box – especially the box that ‘Christian fiction’ attempted to put me in.

In the series, Cynthia is a teenager who has an uncontrolled sexual compulsion, a father who is never home, and a mother who sexually entertains many strange men under the Ruin roof. With a desire to make a name for herself, Cynthia created the persona of the Pink Rabbit – a female sex goddess who would do anything (sexually) with anyone (girls and guys) in order to gain reputation and status. Those who partook of the Pink Rabbit’s services were stamped with the symbol of Cynthia’s deeds – a pink rabbit. As word spread throughout Cynthia's school – and even into the church Cynthia’s mother volunteered as a youth leader in – Cynthia’s sexual icon grew in popularity with the students. She also grew in disgust with the faculty and parents who soon caught on to this demon woman who was turning the locations she traversed into makeshift brothels.

When I created Cynthia, I had no idea how important of a character she would eventually develop into. Her creation stemmed from a toxic relationship I had in my own past, a manipulative woman who was at the same time both ignorant to her behavior and extremely manipulative with it. At first my intention was to craft Cynthia into a side character who had little impact on the novel except to display a broken presence around the main protagonist of the series, Nathan Pierce. But it quickly became evident to me that Cynthia wasn’t going to be satisfied with a minor roll, and as Black Earth: End of the Innocence opened up, Cynthia pulled me straight into one of the most challenging scenes I have ever had to pen – her rape scene on the night of her high school graduation.

Writing a rape scene changed me as a writer because it allowed me to break the chains of my restricted writing conventions. Up until the Black Earth series, I had only written young adult fiction, and the young adult fiction I wrote was fairly clean cut and age-appropriate, especially in terms of sexual content. Black Earth allowed me to push past this limitation and explore the paths my characters were trying to reveal to me, even if they were paths that I was under the impression weren’t ‘appropriate’ to be written, especially in fiction that had Christian themes in it.

From the rape scene onward, Cynthia quickly became a major player in the series. Throughout the majority of the Black Earth novels, Cynthia struggles immensely with her sexual vices. When it is clear that the world is ending - and especially when she receives life-changing news at the end of Black Earth: End of the Innocence - Cynthia makes a firm decision to turn her life around. But it’s not easy to simply walk away from a life of sexual debauchery, especially since it ensconced her through a good portion of her adolescence. What makes the task harder is doing it without the help of God or friends. Rejecting God throughout the majority of the series, Cynthia attempts to turn a life of Sin into a life worth redemption, but constantly fails and ends up manipulating and hurting those around her.

Many of Cynthia’s scenes are written to detail the inner turmoil she struggles with in regards to the events surrounding her, the past she is trying to both evade and embrace, and the tumultuous relationship with her family. She is a character the reader’s heart breaks for, even if on the surface it doesn’t seem like Cynthia should be receiving any sort of sympathy.

Cynthia proves to show that there is something broken in each of us, and the majority of our lives are spent trying to fix that broken thing – whether it be sexual demons, drug addictions, or the multitude of other enemies - both physical and spiritual - we fight against every day. All we’re really looking for is hope. We search for that one individual or deity or entity that can piece us back together, to make us whole. Cynthia’s broken life stands to reveal to us our own broken nature and the need for a savior.

She is why sexual content can survive and thrive in Christian fiction, even Christian science fiction/fantasy, because she mirrors so much of ourselves and those around us.

To this day, Cynthia continues to be a favorite character among most fans. As the Black Earth novel series comes to a close later this year with Black Earth: Bridge to Anaisha, where will we find Cynthia? Will she ever find redemption?

On Friday, Cynthia’s character profile will be added to the Compendium on the official website. And next week we’ll be exploring the character of Alpha 1, a sadistic mercenary who is a demon if one ever walked the earth. We’ll also be exploring the theme of violence in the Black Earth series and how the theme can be used in Christian fiction.