@JayHamlet #GuestPost, J. Hamlet, Author of ‘Prophet of Chaos’ a Dark Urban Fantasy #ChaosTour @MasqTours

Building a Theology . . . of ChaosProphet of Chaos, Hamlet

Two deep into my series Chaos Theology, with at least a few more stories to tell, I find myself thinking back on how it all began. I sort of knew from the beginning when I started writing the first volume in the series, Hand of Chaos, that it would be the beginning of something big. Things weren’t always that clear, though. As a writer, I’m often the over-ambitious, long-winded sort. Fighting against those tendencies has never been particularly easy.

I had come up with an idea for a fictional universe years before I wrote a word of the Chaos Theology. I wanted it to be one with robust underpinnings in apocrypha, various cultural folklores, and a multi-layered view of Biblical events and ideals. The only problem was that I couldn’t very easily break a whole story. I had flashes of characters, tales, scenes, and even sequences all over the place that I couldn’t really stitch together. I had this whole notion of a powerful Lich and his allies saving New York from a demonic plot called The Red Dream, but I couldn’t really block the story. I had what I wanted to be the foundational novel in a long series, but I couldn’t really figure out how to make it work. The more I thought of monsters, spells, characters, and twists galore, the less I could pull the chaotic mass together. It had sprawled out of control.

I wanted to start a series, but my idea for kicking it off was a cumbersome dud. My reach had exceeded my grasp, and I was tempted to just give up and move on to the next idea. That’s when I had a simple revelation: I needed to tell a different story. All of the background work and thought I’d put into this fictional universe could be turned to different ends. Why not tell something more focused? Instead of this huge story about a team coming together to stop a widespread conspiracy of evil, why not start with a team already in place? And why not give them a more specific target? I didn’t have to abandon my fictional universe, I just needed to be more discrete and less wide-ranging. Instead of writing one big tale over a trilogy of books, I decided the best course of action for my series was to start small. Tell a story over one novel with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Hand of Chaos was it. I started with a team of elite covert agents, all with different supernatural abilities that would allow me to explore my own mythos in measured doses. They’d also take on one big and nasty threat, a Necromancer capable of building and throwing undead hordes at them as his terrorist plot unfolded. Bits and pieces from the Red Dream would find their way in, echoes of events in the past and future that made the narrative feel like it had a greater context and connected to more stories yet untold.

With all my homework to write the big story that never was, my first novel in the series ended up even easier to compose, but I could stretch and refine my mythos at a more sensible pace without the acres of exposition a trilogy, quadrilogy, or whatever it was The Red Dream would have been had I actually attempted to write the massive thing. As I finished Hand of Chaos, I already had ideas for what story I would tell next: one that would build on the events but take them in a new direction and have its own organic beginning, middle, end. Prophet of Chaos, the second in my series, was even more easily borne than the first. Minor characters from the first book could step into the spotlight and have their own plot arcs and stories. Each book was an organic entity unto its own, telling its own story within a larger tapestry of a rich and intense fictional universe. I plan to continue as all of the related pieces start to come together into something greater than the sum of their parts.

If I had one tip for aspiring writers, it would be that. If you want to write a series, maybe don’t start with the saga that’s going to consume a whole novel just to tell one act, start more focused. Maybe even with a short story or a novella before you get deep into it. Allow your readers to find their footing, to understand the rules and the themes of your series before it really begins to take off. Then, once you get to your biggest tales, it might all fit together even more easily because you’ve laid the ground work. It’s working for me so far. One day I may even make The Red Dream a part of the Chaos Theology.

Chaos%20Banner%20Large

*****

Prophet of Chaos, HamletSynopsis:

Nathaniel is a man of many gifts. First and foremost is the power of Prophecy. Whenever he sleeps, he dreams of triumphs and tragedies alike, and how to either make them happen or prevent them. With that knowledge, he’s thwarted the world-shaking schemes of Angels and Demons alike. Not surprisingly, every elite agent of both Heaven and Hell are always hunting him, wanting to be the one to take down the notorious man known to most as The Prophet. He’s spent most of his life as a homeless drifter: hiding, dreaming, and passing along the intel from his revelations to those who can take actions, be they government agents, freelance wizards, or less savory occult figures.

Recently, he’s been plagued by a series of recurring visions that threaten to force him out of his shadowy life and into the spotlight. He’s seen the world ready to plummet into a new dark ages. A Senator with presidential aspirations is on one side, backed by the most ruthless of Heaven’s forces and seeking to transform the world into a brutal theocracy. A church of Demon-worshipping terrorists also stand ready to launch a bloody revolution through mass murders, demonic possession, and civil war that will literally bring about Hell on earth. Nathaniel stands in the middle, struggling to stop both sides from realizing their chosen versions of humanity’s future with everything in his mystical arsenal. And he can’t do it alone.

Amazon ~ GoodReads

*****

J HamletAbout the Author:

Hamlet has made what you might call a career out of being a red tape slinger and beltway bandit and has lived in and around Washington, DC for most of his adult life. Originally from the dirty sands of Chesapeake, VA, he’s been writing to pass the time and exorcise his demons since he was a teenager. He wrote many horrible books back then. These are better, at least he hopes so. His writing blends many different genres: spy thriller, supernatural thriller, and philosophy into an intoxicating and original mash. He also enjoys nerding out about food, baking, beer, homebrewing, and taking too many pictures of his dog.

Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Goodreads

Pinterest  ~  Tumblr

*****

a Rafflecopter giveaway

button-mbt

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.