The End has Come - Finally
The End has Come - Finally
The End of the Forlorn series, that is.
By Gina Detwiler
Six months late, but it’s finally happening. Forever, the final installment of the Forlorn series, officially releases today.
This is not an April Fool’s joke.
The ebook is only 99 cents right now! You can find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and Apple Books. Help me get to #1 on the charts!
Now seems like a good time for me to look back on a book series that started over thirteen years ago and reflect on how I got here.
If I’d known it would take thirteen years, I might never have started.
I thought it would be a trilogy. Suddenly, three books became seven. According to Google, that’s a Heptalogy. I just learned a new word.
And how did this story end up in Armageddon?
In the beginning, I had an idea (I was in the shower at the time) to write a kids’ series about a girl and a guardian angel. Sort of a Touched by an Angel for the middle-school set. As a mother of three daughters, I knew just how important guardian angels are.
That was the plan anyway.
God had other plans.
The Devil Made Him Do It
First, Sandy Hook happened. That awful, awful day. Twenty-plus children massacred by a troubled teenager with a gun. When I saw pictures of Adam Lanza’s face, I felt a creeping dread inside my soul—that boy had a demon in him. You could practically see it. I did some research and learned that Lanza had an online devil-worshipping page. Similar to the Columbine killers, who wrote extensively about their hatred for God and love of Satan. I wrote about all this in my post, “Are We In a Spiritual War?”
From there, I went down a long rabbit hole of investigating angels and demons (the ones in the Bible, not on TV) and how they interact with the human world. I read all about the biblical descriptions of angels, about the Armor of God, and spiritual warfare. I read about exorcisms, the real and the fake, and discovered Michael Heiser, who dedicated his work to the supernatural world of the Bible.
Then I discovered Genesis 6 and the Nephilim—and Forlorn was born.
No one seemed interested in publishing the book. I began to despair. Then my agent landed me a dream job: writing a book series for Priscilla Shirer, The Prince Warriors. What was it about? Spiritual warfare and the Armor of God—exactly what I had been studying and writing about for three years.
That’s how God works. In the long spaces of waiting.
Letting Go
It’s hard saying goodbye to Jared, Grace, and the others. They’ve spent so many years prowling around in my brain. They are my children. My creations. Makes me feel a little god-like. I could kill them with a stroke of a pen. But then again, I couldn’t. Because, more often than not, what happens in this story results from their choices, not mine.
I’m a “pantster,” which in WriterSpeak means I write by the seat of my pants. I don’t make outlines or plan anything in advance. I sit down at my computer, start typing, and see what happens. Often, I am taken completely by surprise at the turn of events. When I wrote that first scene in Forlorn, the school shooting scene, I really had no idea where the book was going, let alone the other books.
So, if I didn’t plan it, who did?
Guess who.
From a school shooting to the Apocalypse
Forlorn starts with humans grappling with demons and ends in Armageddon. Kind of a leap, I know. Yet with each book, the world expanded into culture, science, politics, and eventually, world government. It was a natural progression. There are personal demons that oppress individuals, but there are also institutional demons that attack organizations. Schools. Churches. Governments. Once you become aware of the supernatural world of the Bible, you see everything differently.
At first, I wasn’t sure how the fallen angels interact with the Big Guy, Satan, whom I call Helel in the novel. Were they working together? Did they have the same goals? There isn’t a lot of overlap between them in the Bible. In Forever, Helel and Azazel actually meet and work together—at least for a while. I won’t spoil anything by telling you how that turns out, but based on their natures, I’m sure you can guess.
The Long Middle
Writing a novel is like climbing Mount Everest (not that I’ve done that; I’m just speculating here). Starting out is exciting, filled with anticipation and adventure. Finishing is thrilling and satisfying. But then there’s the whole long slog of the middle: the way becomes obscure, confidence evaporates, characters paint themselves into corners, plot holes open into crevasses, doubts take over. I thought about quitting every day of that long, long middle. I’ve learned from others that, like on Everest, if you can blot out the negative self-talk and focus on taking one more step, you’ll get there. It’s kind of a miracle.
I apologize in advance for anything I got wrong. I believe God directed this series, but the mistakes are mine alone. I pray over every novel I write: “Lord, bless it or blow it up.” That way, I know whose opinion I can trust. That’s a quote from one of my favorite books: I Told the Mountain To Move by Patricia Raybon. You should read it, after you finish Forever.
How do you measure success?
Of course, it’s sometimes hard to know whether or not God has blessed your work. What is the measure of success?
Sales? Probably not. After all, lots of bad books are bestsellers. (Ever hear of Fifty Shades of Grey?) Besides, nearly four million books are published every year. That’s a lot of competition. I’m convinced there are more people writing books than reading them. According to Pew Research, about 77% of Americans have read one book in a year. Maybe people just wait for the Netflix series.
Reviews? Helpful but unreliable. People love or hate books for all sorts of reasons. It’s so subjective.
Book prizes? I’ve won a few of those, which is gratifying. But book prizes are subjective and often influenced by politics. In 1930, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway lost the Pulitzer Prize to a now obscure, second-rate novel called Laughing Boy.
There’s only one way I can know if I was successful. Did I honor God with my work? I believe that’s all He’s asking me to do.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
And whatever you do, in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
Honor the Lord with your wealth and
with the first fruits of all your produce.
Proverbs 3:9
I would be FOREVER grateful if you would…
Buy the book! It’s 99 cents for a limited time on Amazon. Help me get it to #1 in my categories.
Write a review. Even critical reviews are helpful. They don’t have to be long; even one word is enough! I would suggest words like “Captivating,” “Engrossing,” “Thrilling,” “Un-put-downable,” — you get the idea.
Tell your friends. Post it on social media. Recommend it to your book club. I’ll even come to your meeting! Assuming you are somewhere I can get to. I’m also great at Zoom.
Let me know! I love getting emails and letters from readers, even those who want to correct me on my faulty theology or typos. It means you care.
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I hope you read Forever. I hope you love it. I thank God for you. May He bless you in a hundred ways, as I know He has blessed me.
