Search options (Page 10 of 168)

Hi Mitch. Yeah, it's a bit aggressive with the new lines. It's a very old bug, but everything should still be readable. Not sure if a fix is available.

Dirk

Given how figurative Catholics generally believe Revelation to be, I may annoy them because of how literal my interpretation is. Remember, many Catholics don't believe there will be a physical battle between Satan's forces and those of Christ. That's just one of the ways they interpret parts of the ends times. Similarly, Catholics I've talked to recently about the War in Heaven believe it too is figurative.

I do actually follow the Catholic belief of no final war between Christ and Satan. Instead, there will be such a battle, but it will be between Connor's forces and those of Satan shortly before Christ returns.

Besides, to write the ending I want for the trilogy, the lake of fire has to be a portal to other worlds where mortal sinners are scattered to "punishment" worlds. The greater the sins, the harsher the world. And since all these worlds lie"within" the lake of fire (ie behind the portal), and since the mortal sinners can never leave those worlds, they are in effect in the lake of fire forever.

The remaining humans got to Heaven, where they will dwell with God forever. Before God leaves, he tasks Connor with ruling those worlds, not merely as their king, but as their shepherd. He is to help those people become increasingly holy. There's a lot more to it, but a key reveal by God to Connor is that everything Connor has undergone in his life has been to prepare him for his ultimate role (King and Shepherd).

Connor asks him if he'll ever get to Heaven, and God smiles and tells him that the Father chooses his champions wisely. In other words yes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyCanadian/s/Zl1FpAWLLr
I hope that link works. Generally safe for work and funny as hell.

Following is what I ended up with. Heckuva lot shorter and simpler than it was. Also, I don't need to mention an alternate dimension at all, at least for now.

That gives me plenty of flexibility going in to start making changes to the events already prophesied in the Bible. And since the Holy Spirit has promised that the Lord will explain everything when he returns, I've got lots of time to do so.

Do you mean what if the reader is reading something wrong despite the author's words outside the story?

My reason for wanting to do something other than my existing Roads of Time writeup is to simplify the opening and the assumptions the reader has to make going into the story. It should make the ancient letter discovered in the Vatican archives shorter and less convoluted. There are only so many things I want to ask the reader to accept as up front assumptions before the story even begins (e.g., Satan issues the challenge, God accepts, that changes the future sufficiently to deviate from the Bible, explain why didn't the Bible change to reflect the new timeline, etc.).

There's a lot to be said for the simplicity of "In an alternate universe...." It would allow me to do pretty much anything I want and leave the details of trying to explain things until later (over the course of the three books) and perhaps leave some of the details to the reader's imagination.

So:
In an alternate universe....
The ancient letter says discrepancies will be explained by the Lord.

Since I'm deferring explaining some things, I may not even need to mention an alternate universe outside the story. If it's important to the story, perhaps the characters can figure it out (or at least speculate correctly).

Voila!

I'm considering trying to further streamline the explanation for the discrepancies between the Bible and the events in the story world. One way is to simply start the story with opening words like: In an alternate universe....  Or, I could explain in an intro that there are many interpretations of Revelation, ranging from literal to figurative, and my story is a fantasy interpretation that will try to end at the same place as the Bible.

Many of the discrepancies between the story and the Bible disappear once Connor's true identity is revealed at the end of book one. Even more differences disappear at the end of book three, which ends at roughly the same place as the Bible, depending on how you interpret certain events.

I would think by the time I get to the end of book three, if you've read that far, you probably enjoyed the trilogy enough not to worry about any leftover discrepancies that I couldn't (or chose not to) explain away.

Doing this eliminates the whole need for the "roads through time" mindwarp. It's just easier to explain in a sentence or two in an intro that you're not in Kansas anymore.

Thoughts?

Can't remember where I left off with regard to Connor and Alessandro & the rats. I wrote the long version with Connor using minimal violence, but finally decided I didn't like him using any violence. So, I moved a few things around, ripped some stuff out, and I now have a cross between the short version and the long version.

I kept most of the backstory from the long version, after which Connor, who is in a bit of a hurry, decides to fast track the usual abuse to which the rats subject him. So, he intentionally says a number of things that rile up Alessandro, who then flattens Connor twice, who doesn't fight back although he plays dead after the second punch/crash to the floor. He does refer to the bullies as either rats, rodents, or vermin, though.

I may yet change rats/rodents/vermin to brood of vipers/slithering serpents/belly-crawlers/etc. for consistency with Christ in the Gospels. That's an easy change. I just need to think about it some more and perhaps come up with terms that are sufficiently rude to provoke Alessandro. I may also add demon spawns back in as it's meant to be an inside joke for readers who've previously read the story and know that Connor is, in reality, the real demon spawn.

Hi Zealous. Welcome to the site. I do a bit of volunteer user support to try to get new members up to speed quickly. Be sure to check out a post in the Premium forum on tips to maximize the numbers you'll receive on the site. It's pinned near the top of the forum, so you can't miss it.

I'm just heading out for a medical appointment, but I'll try to give you further details before the end of the day. I'll send you a connection request in the meantime, so we can communicate using the messaging system.

Thank you, Marilyn & Lynn.

Marilyn, Sol will be in touch for the info he needs to send you to the money. I did finally find the email address, but I'm not sure if that's all he needs.
Lynn, any plans to start posting anything new? Maybe we can get the old band back together. :-)

Seriously thinking about the cats, but I have some medical stuff to get through first.

Thanks, Jack

Thanks, Bobbie. Are you back on the site regularly again?

You've been missed!
Dirk