Search options (Page 64 of 168)

Plans within plans.

Kdot, what's your opinion of my supernatural entity being able to change shape at will between demonic fog, the dark figure with glowing red eyes, human, and one other yet to be revealed? Basically he's a shape shifter and can take on whatever form he wishes. I plan to limit it to about four different forms, one of which doesn't appear until the end of the book.

Thoughts?

Yikes! Someone on my Catholic forum quoted a Christian definition of atonement which states that Christ atoned for the sins of all humanity. That almost broke my trilogy. If there's no one left to redeem, then my ending wouldn't have worked. Fortunately, someone else clarified that it was only the righteous who were redeemed.

Thank goodness for sinners.
Dirk

Hmm. One option for the kneeling/praying position of the deceased is glue. The glue would hold them in position until rigor sets in. That would give me a non-supernatural solution that delays the recognition of the crimes as being supernatural. The autopsies would find that the deaths were due to terror, but that still doesn't confirm it as supernatural. If you read scene 2.2, there remains a semi-plausible explanation for the dark figure with red eyes and fog on the streets outside Cardinal Vitale's building, and for the fog in the hotel hallways of the other two dead clerics. The first real confirmation that something supernatural is going on is in the chapel when the fog attacks Connor. It's Cardinal Gallo, the Secretary of State, who puts it all together (the autopsies, the attack on Connor, the dark figure, and the omnipresent fog).

Interesting.

Hmm. Bookbaby just sent out a mailer that two of the biggest Christian bookstore chains have/are closing all of their stores. That puts a bit of a dent in my plan to target Catholics/Christians with my new books.

I'm still reworking the murder mystery half of my story, but I definitely need more murders than the first three. One of the reasons they send Connor to the Holy Land is to satisfy some skeptical members of the Pope's Council that he's not responsible for the deaths. So the deaths must continue when he is gone. The deaths are also necessary because the killer wants to maneuver his minions into positions of power. He's been doing it quietly for centuries, but now that he's almost ready to seize control, he wants to terrorize the remaining  Church's leaders.

Lucasfilm finally dropped the Episode IX trailer. It's very short, but it looks really good. I'm a sucker for the Skywalker saga, so I'll probably see this one in the theaters. Haven't been to one in almost a decade. I hope I can avoid the spoilers until I get to see it. The title is interesting, since this is supposed to be the end of the saga.

I've read books that should be as well written as this thread.

Tweaked my book blurb to switch from a serial killer to an ancient conspiracy. Not sure how far back in time to take it. It needs to be old enough that no one notices anything unusual about the deaths and replacements until Campagna/De Rosa begin investigating in the present day. By the time of the book, most key positions are in the hands of Satan. Only the Pope and a few senior clerics stand in the way.

The reduction in violent deaths to just a few may broaden my potential audience.

The primary target audience is Catholics/Christians. It's heavy with Catholicism (e.g., two prayers in the first scene alone), so I'm not sure I'll attract a lot of non-religious readers. Given the target audience, I'm trying to avoid any gratuitous violence (e.g., my cadet slaughter in Galaxy Tales). Per my last post, I no longer need many deaths, so I can afford to be a bit grizzly. I'm glad, because I really wanted someone to be buried alive in the story. :-) Most key Church positions are already in the hands of Satan. I'll still need about 2-3 weeks elapsed time of detective story since Connor will be in the Holy Land that long. I'm debating having Campagna and De Rosa put in charge of a secret special ops team to hunt down the killer. Also Campagna and De Rosa will have targets on their backs once they uncover the conspiracy. De Rosa may be kidnapped. Not sure yet.

As my post in premium describes, I'm trying to find a way to tone down the violence of the murder mystery half of my book. The main stumbling block is the fact that the Unholy Trinity hates the Catholic Church and the clergy with it. Not sure how to reconcile those. If the violence is excessive, I'll lose my target audience. Another concern is that, if the deaths are too repetitive, they lose their impact. I'm trying to address the latter with unique religious poses of each of the dead and different Bible verses at each murder scene. I can also add a look of horror frozen on their faces.

Suggestions?
Dirk