Elijah and the Snakes

 

The odd mixture of science fiction and fringe folk religion

If you opened this book expecting a Space Opera and First Contact novel, you might need to read the title and subtitle to reassure yourself after reading the first few paragraphs. You’d be on the right track, of course. It is a Space Opera/First Contact story. But the first few paragraphs would have told you that Elijah Dove, the name on the front cover, was given to the child by his grandmother, a fiery preacher woman of Harlan County, Kentucky, who handled snakes. She said that the child would prophesy in the spirit of Elijah of old, and sure enough, he practically launches the interstellar age with his prophecies.

So, why the unlikely combination of space exploration fiction and fringe folk religion? Why Snakes?

As we mentioned in an earlier emailing, snakes are a metaphor for all that is wrong with the church, and with humanity.

We also talked about an odd individual named Sitting Lamb, also known as the Wandering Jew. This narrative does a completely different take on the old story of the Wandering Jew. He simply shows up places as a test of how they treat strangers, how some of the highest institutions of religion are failing on a most basic point - receiving the poor and the strangers. During the Middle Ages, he was the gauge of their antisemitism.

So, how do snakes tie in?

I’ll paste a couple of quotes from the book. The prophecies of Elijah Dove may touch a nerve with today’s society as well:

They arrived at the front door of the church, and there was a familiar, though quite out of place figure standing at the front steps.

‘Sitting Lamb! You’re here as well!’

‘They won’t let me in,’ he said.

‘I’m really not surprised,’ said Dad softly, as he looked about at the people.

‘There is one place in this area that has been seeking for me. You must take me there.’

‘Where is that?’ said Elijah.

‘The congregation where you were named Elijah. They will receive me. They have been begging for me.’

Elijah was stunned.

…

They drove down the narrow winding road through some forest, until they came to the small clearing where there were three houses, one being the church, and one a general store. Behind the church was a shed, where Elijah remembered they kept the snakes…

When they got out of the car, they could hear the sound. People were crying out, weeping, groaning…

When they got to the door, a man Elijah recognised approached them. ‘You’re welcome to join us, but if it’s preach’n you come for, there probably won’t be any. They’ve been at this for at least three days a week for a whole month now.’

‘That’s okay,’ said Elijah. ‘We just wanted to come.’

‘There will be preaching today,’ said Sitting Lamb.

‘You going to preach?’ asked Elijah.

‘No. You will.’

Elijah had never preached before. He looked at him.

…

As they stepped into the church, those closest to the door, and to the aisle turned. Some of them stretched their hands out, a few shaking Sitting Lamb’s hand all at once…as they led them up the aisle to the front.

‘You are very welcome here,’ one said to Sitting Lamb.

‘Is this little Elijah?’ said an old woman.

‘Yes, I believe it is!’

‘Come, say a few words,’ said another.

‘We’ve been seeking God, and we felt someone would come today to begin revival.’

Elijah was sent to the front. He stood there, gazing at them all.

‘I’m — er — Elijah Dove…’

He noticed that Sitting Lamb was behind him with his hand on his back. A few people had their smartphones out, and were recording him.

‘… I’m the grandson of Amilia Dove. She was a woman of God, who prophesied the Word of God. She named me Elijah, saying I would move in the Spirit of Elijah.

‘Of all things Elijah did, all I’ve done so far is hide in the desert.

‘My grandmother spoke the Word of God. She knew God. But she handled snakes. The Bible says, they will take up serpents, and they will not be harmed. But the Bible didn’t command us to embrace serpents.

‘She took up a serpent. It turned its head around, and it bit her.’

Then, he began speaking more loudly and emphatically. ‘What’s wrong with the church today, the Bride of Christ, she has embraced serpents, and they’ve turned their head and bitten her.

‘The Bible says, Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. The Bible says, Obey those in authority, but it also says, We must obey God rather than man.

‘The Bride of Christ has rendered to Caesar what belongs to God. In so doing, the Bride of Christ has embraced Caesar, that seven-headed serpent, and it’s turned its seven heads around, and it’s bitten her.

‘By trying to play politics and influence those in power; to enact laws that are designed to make the world safe for our own kind; to alleviate persecution, to be rewarded by Caesar for giving to God; we have embraced the serpent. Jesus said, In this world you will suffer persecution, but fear not. I have overcome the world. The seven-headed serpent comes to sap our vitality, and we have embraced it, when we should be overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony.

‘In embracing the seven-headed serpent, we have called for laws to oppress the immigrants, when the Bible tells us, Do not oppress the strangers among you, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt.

‘In embracing the seven-headed serpent, we have oppressed those of other colours and other races and ethnic groups, when scripture says, If you show respect of persons, you sin.

‘In embracing the seven-headed serpent, we drove the Indians off their land, and slaughtered whole villages of them, when scripture says, Love your neighbour as yourself.

‘In embracing the seven-headed serpent, we have fought among ourselves as Catholics, Protestants, Anabaptists, Baptists, Pentecostals, when scripture tells us to Love one another as I have loved you.

‘In embracing the seven-headed serpent, we have fought and sought to kill our enemies, when the scripture tells us to Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you and despitefully use you…

To continue with this passage would give away spoilers. I’ll just skip to another part of the narrative and continue with parts of a similar one:

‘God told Moses to throw down the rod before Pharaoh, and it became a serpent. He picked it up again, and it again became a staff. But beware lest you pick up the staff of Pharaoh instead of the Rod of God. That can also turn into a snake. The staff of Pharaoh is a staff that splinters and pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it, as did the arm of Pharaoh, of whom Isaiah warned, Beware lest you trust in him.…

‘The promises of God are yea and Amen, but the Bride of Christ has put her trust in the promises of politicians — on the staff that splinters and pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it…

‘...It was said by our Master, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you..., but it has become so among us. Yes, we must be accountable to one another, but as equals. If we are accountable only to those above us, beware lest the one at the top, in loving preeminence has forgotten how to wash his disciple’s feet, has disregarded the garments of righteousness, but instead dons sheep’s clothing while he has transformed into a ravenous wolf, and thus, the serpent’s head that turns and bites the hand of the Bride of Christ.

‘So, seek God for discernment, lest something that God did not tell you to take up, turn its head around and bite you.’

The book is not all soap-box material, but there’s more where that came from. It is, after all, a science fiction novel. There are aliens, some good, some bad, Elijah makes one trip to another planet and back in an alien craft, there’s intrigue as various agencies compete with each other for technology and resources. The fabled Men in Black even make an appearance (but certainly not agents J and K).

But, there’s probably enough in there to hang me as a heretic. Why not find out for yourself, and download a copy?

Again, this series is now available from more than one source, both Amazon for your Kindle and print editions, and Books2Read.com for your other devices, like Kobo, iPad, etc.

Go here to download the ePub edition for most devices (or laptop):

Books2Read.com

Or one of these for Kindle:

Amazon US : Amazon UK : Amazon Canada : Amazon Australia

Or just go to my website where you’ll find all the links:

www.RobbyCharters.co.uk

Elijah, Rats and Asteroids

 

A Map of the Rat Queen Universe

Even though Elijah Dove is not the first volume in the Rat Queen series, it comes first chronologically. As the prequel, you actually can read that before the other ones, but the series was designed to start with The Rat Queen, about the little girl in a rat infested space station that thought she was a rat, and how rat-kind began to evolve higher intelligence.

That comes first because it follows the train of thought of the author (that’s me), as I was coming up with the story, followed by its sequel, then another sequel, and then a prequel, and finally the very first prequel, Elijah Dove.

A few of the books include a dim memory of a mysterious person named Elijah who called fire down from the sun, which ended the technological age for Old Earth. So, I decided to write about him, showing how he was nothing more than a simple bloke from a backward rural area, and how he remained just a simple bloke in spite of his great achievements. That’s called humility.

But the series begins much later in history with a planet about to be destroyed by an asteroid, with people trying to evacuate; how Elton ends up on a ship by himself along with a baby girl, as the auto sequencer accidentally trips on, and the ship takes off with only the two on board. After a year of flying aimlessly through space at near light speed, they’re captured by galactics. Elton is taken prisoner and wee Becky, now about one and a half, gets lost in the air vents of the space station.

If you want, you can read that first chapter free here.

By beginning at the first in the series, The Rat Queen, you begin learning galactic history and geography gradually, along with the main characters. You slowly begin to become aware that there’s a galactic war on humanity, and that one of the weapons of mass destruction is asteroids and comets.

As we grasp more of the whole picture, we become aware that there are a number of galactic species, or nations, most of which have it in for humans. That’s because of the way humans have been acting since they went into space.

If you begin with Elijah Dove, you learn your history from the opposite end. You’ll see Elijah Dove warning them not to act like that, as that will turn the whole galaxy against them, and humanity could become extinct.

And see? He told them so.

But when all else seems lost, hope for humanity comes from the rats. Thanks to Becky, a sympathetic galactic being, and a space-time anomaly, rat-kind begins evolving into a higher intelligence. You really have to read the first in the series to understand all that.

Not all the galactic nations have it in for humanity. There’s one group called the Pzinskiti. They never went to war with humanity, but are generally the ones that appreciate life in any form it comes in, including human.

“Pzinskiti”, is the plural form of “Pzinsk”. It’s a Pzinsk that first begins to show Elijah the facts of life of living in the galaxy. He was the galactic ambassador to Earth, and his office was located at Area 51.

Both this Pzinsk, and another one who appears later in the series, fit the role of the “Gandalf/Dumbledore figure” that I talked about in a earlier email. He passes on a lot of good things to Elijah, including a list of which star systems have habitable planets recommended for humans, and which ones are off limits. The ones that are off limits are reserved for other galactic nations. Elijah’s mandate is to make sure every human agency going to space knows which parts of the galaxy are off limits. In return, they also know which planets are deemed suitable for them. There’s plenty to go around.

But do they listen?

There are other space creatures as well, some that are not so nice.

Later in Elijah’s career, the Pzinskiti are replaced by one of those of a not-so-nice species as ambassadors to Earth. These are the Kriirgiti. They are generally quite nasty. However, the one named Strrruptl seems nice at first. But we realise quickly, he’s putting on a front to deceive.

Galactics enjoy a long life expectancy. Strrruptl also appears in the original trilogy a few hundred years later, as a powerful villain. There’s also another Pzinsk, named Plron, who helps Becky along, and even does something to her head to enhance her ability to squeak and understand rat-squeaks, which begins the uplift of rat-kind.

Plron also appears in the first prequel, The Planet.

The Planet also begins with the destruction of a world - actually one of the first planets that humans began sending people to settle. This is about three hundred or so years after Elijah Dove’s time, so life has gone on just fine in the meantime. Those living on the planets usually don’t travel much and don’t receive much news of what happens in the rest of the galaxy. They only learn at the last minute (or few months) that a stray asteroid is in a collision course.

And who is destroying the planets? In the course of the series, we learn that it’s another species called the Kozootiti. They are antisocial creatures, who have special abilities to control gravity. They look like the cross between a giant centipede and a spider. The impression of one of my very young characters is, … the likes of which, had he seen it at two inches long in the bathroom at night, it would have made him scream. They have compound eyes, but only one of the receptacles in each eye is what we’d call visual. Thus, they have severe tunnel vision, which enables young humans to evade their line of sight. The other receptacles receive other energy waves and even gravity.

While the Kozootiti oppose humanity by brute force, there’s another that uses more subtle ways. They are the Nagashiti. They are actually native to Earth, but were, for the most part destroyed at the climax of a galactic war, when the Kozootiti sent the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs, to whom the Nagashiti are related. Thus, they the Nagashiti are bitter enemies of the Kozootiti, as well as of humanity.

Some Nagashiti survived, mostly in outer space. While the Kozootiti use brute force, the Nagashiti use deceit, flattery and cunning. It was one of them that convinced Eve to take the forbidden fruit.

Where do we learn this? From the sun.

Stars are sentient. I bet you didn’t know that. They remember all the way back to the Big Bang, when God said, “Let there be light”. The sun remembers being that light, and then becoming many instances of himself as God said further, “Let light be separated from darkness,” and gravity waves began pulling light into various pools that became galaxies and individual stars. The Sun remembers all of history past and future from where he sits. In the chapter titled, The Chronicle of the Sun (in the original trilogy), he describes it to Plron, who needs wisdom in helping humanity overcome the diabolical plans of Strrruptl.

And the sun remembers Elijah Dove. He remembers being commanded to emit a solar flare that destroyed all of Earth’s high-tech communications. That also destroyed the Kozootiti ship that was poised to send yet another asteroid to destroy the Earth. The destruction from the massive EMP put an end to nation states of Earth, putting humans back into the dark ages (there’s some technology, just not enough synergy to keep it all going). Thus, they were no longer a threat to the galactics. So life went on quietly, as another ice age began, until humans and highly evolved rats began filtering back to Earth.

One recent change I’ve made is, the whole Rat Queen series is now available in ePub format from almost all the venues, Smashwords, iTunes, Kobo, B&N, etc, through Books2Read.com, as well as Amazon. However, they’re no longer a free read with Kindle Unlimited (that’s the choice I had to make). You can link to all of them from my website, www.RobbyCharters.co.uk

Elijah and the Wandering Jew

This post will follow with the same theme as my last one, however, bringing it back to my books, especially my latest one.

Elijah Dove, as his name implies, is a prophet. At least he begins to do prophetic things during the course of the narrative. His grandmother was a wild preacher woman who handled snakes. She named him Elijah, saying he would move in the spirit of Elijah of old.

Some of the prophecies go along with what I said in my last newsletter.

In the story, he is taking a break from his work in Aria 51, camping in the Nevada desert. He’s made friends with a Navajo Franciscan priest named Maxwell who comes to visit him, and mentors him a bit. Then, they meet another, a very old man who calls himself the Wandering Jew, however, we soon find we’ve had that story all backwards.

I’ll quote from the story, which I hope builds on the theme of my previous email. I wrote it with my author’s inspiration, so I’ll stop short of saying it’s prophetic.

But here’s the quote, beginning where Elijah hands him a bowl of chilli that he’s cooked over an open fire:

‘Thank you very much. Very hospitable, indeed. You won’t lose your reward. Now, do you want to know the true story of the Wandering Jew?’

‘I’d be interested,’ said Maxwell.

‘A prince, who would one day be king, went to woo the woman he loved. But the question he had about her was, if he went to her as a prince, how would he know she truly loved him? Would it truly be him that she loves, or would it be his riches, or the life of a queen, or the prospect of living in a sumptuous palace? So he went to her in the guise of a tramp, for if she could be drawn to love him as a tramp, then her love would be true, and she would genuinely love him as king as well.’

‘That — is an interesting story,’ said Maxwell, slowly.

Elijah was sure this story went deep. There was more to this man than met the eye.

‘Who is this woman?’ asked Maxwell.

‘One whom I have been trying for a long time to win her love. I hope that you two can help.’

‘How would we help?’ asked Elijah.

‘Do as your namesake. Eli Yahu means The Lord is God. When he called fire down, as you will do, the people all called out, “The Lord is God, the Lord is God, Eli Yahu, Eli Yahu.”’

Maxwell must have told him my name, thought Elijah.

‘But mind you, they weren’t chanting his name, but responding to God. See that no one chants your name, but only glorifies the Name of the Lord. Don’t bask in the glory, but do as Elijah of old did. Each time he said or did anything major, calling for a famine or calling fire down, he withdrew into the wilderness. Many, today, would stay and bask in the fame and glory. Elijah disappeared and couldn’t be found.’

‘If I remember correctly,’ said Maxwell, ‘they were out to kill Elijah.’

‘In this age, likewise. If they cannot exploit you, they will seek to kill you.’

‘What you’re saying, is that the prophets of today are being exploited?’

‘When is the last time you heard a prophet speak out against King Herod? There was one who did, and his head became an attraction at the king’s birthday party. These prophets of recent times prophesied that Herod would be re-elected. When that didn’t come to pass, they prophesied that the one who was elected would die of a stroke.

‘When was the last time you heard a prophet call the elders of the people snakes? There was one who did. He, also, came in the spirit of Elijah of Old. He could have basked in the popularity with which they sought to exploit him, but instead, he called out the snakes. Beware of the snakes.

‘You, Elijah Dove, were so named by your grandmother, who spoke in the name of the Lord. But she played with snakes. The snake in her hand turned its head and bit her.

‘Yes, it is written that those who believe will take up serpents, but they were not commanded to embrace them. Many things were not commanded, but my bride has embraced them — snakes. Yes, it is written, Render to Caesar, but my bride has embraced Caesar — the very snake that turned its head and bit my prophets who were handling it. The love of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life are also snakes that my bride has handled. You, Elijah, must cleanse my bride of snakes.’

So, Elijah receives his calling.

“Snakes” become a metaphor for all that is wrong in the church. Later on, Elijah drives the snakes out of Appalachia. I won’t say exactly how, that would be a spoiler.

The name the Wandering Jew goes by is Sitting Lamb. Here’s another quote that describes his favourite activity:

They parked half a block away, and walked to the church. From a distance Elijah saw a man standing at the door, dressed in old clothes. His hair and face looked even older, and very dark from a lot of sun.

Then, he knew him. The Wandering Jew!

They went to the door. Elijah asked, ‘Sitting Lamb! Good to see you! What are you doing out this way?’

‘I stand at the door and I knock.’

Anthony spoke up, ‘Well, come on in! You’re certainly welcome. Why don’t you sit with us?’

‘Thank you very much. I think I will.’

It turns out that the church isn’t as warm and inviting as Elijah remembered it being before, which is why the Wandering Jew has been standing outside, but that’s about to change.

Another one, back in Elijah’s home town:

They arrived at the front door of the church, and there was a familiar, though quite out of place figure standing at the front steps.

‘Sitting Lamb! You’re here as well!’

‘They won’t let me in,’ he said.

‘I’m really not surprised,’ said Dad softly, as he looked about at the people.

‘There is one place in this area that has been seeking for me. You must take me there.’

‘Where is that?’ said Elijah.

‘The congregation where you were named Elijah. They will receive me. They have been begging for me.’

Elijah was stunned.

They arrive at that church and find the whole congregation agonising in prayer for revival.

Later, he also meets him in Africa.

It’s a surreal literary device that helps with fiction about the prophetic.

That’s not all there is to the novel, of course. It is science fiction - an earth-bound prequel to a space opera series. He works at Area 51, and he is involved in humanity’s ascent into interstellar space. His interaction with aliens also provides a whole other aspect to this story, making it verge on apocalyptic.

I should say here, this isn’t the first novel I wrote that had the Wandering Jew as a character. In The Zondon, one of my first novels, he also appears, with the same backstory. That book also has spaceships and aliens.

I might talk about that one sometime.

But here’s the link to Elijah Dove:

Amazon US: Amazon UK: Amazon Canada: Amazon Australia:

 

The Lifeboat - a Kingdom of God Manifesto

 

Warning Label: This is where I preach!

Some say the grass in the town commons is overgrazed. They say that each shepherd knows that and has rushed to fatten their flocks while there is still grass in the commons. They say that this is the cause of the grass being reduced to dust, and that access to the town commons must be restricted.

The town commons is the sum of all the Earth’s resources, so it follows that being restricted from the town commons means there is no grass for one’s flocks - anywhere.

Some say the Earth is a lifeboat, and they say that humanity has outgrown it. They say there isn’t enough room in the lifeboat for all. They say that empathy and compassion are no longer conducive to human survival. They say we should shoot the refugees in the water lest they climb aboard - that we must take the axe and chop the fingers of those clinging to the side.

“There is only room in the lifeboat for beautiful people like you and me,” they say.

As resources diminish, as the grass is eaten down to the root, the only solution will become obvious to all. Then it will be either the survival of the fittest, or the survival of none.

• [Footnote: Cory Doctorow lets us in on where this thinking came from, and how it’s beginning to creep in: “The Tragedy of the Commons”: how ecofascism was smuggled into mainstream thought]

That is what they say, but not us.

Our allegiance is not to the system that they hope to save, but to the Kingdom of God

Though Kingdom of God is yet to come, it is already here among us, in our midst.

The Kingdom of God is our lifeboat. There is room for all in our lifeboat. Boarding the lifeboat is not restricted to any particular population, nationality or race. Just as five loaves and three fish could feed 5000, so every ethnic group, every national origin, every man, woman and child, will fit if they climb in.

As Jesus Christ, our shepherd, leads His flock into the town commons, the grass is forever green and plentiful and sufficient for all who will follow.

The Kingdom of God is not enforced from the top down like earthly kingdoms, but shared from person to person as those with the life of the Breath of God reach to those around.

The Kingdom of God in our midst, is not based on any nationality, any particular race, colour of skin, or any particular ethnic group, nor political party. The Kingdom of God doesn’t represent any political ideology.

No political philosophy defines us, whether it be conservative, liberal, labour, democrat, republican, nationalist, loyalist, communist, socialist, fascist, libertarian or anarchist. Our lives belong to Christ.

We do render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but the rest belongs to God. We honour the king, but not as the defender of our faith, for King Messiah is our defender. Our purpose is not to make any earthly nation “great again”, but the Kingdom of God, which includes every nation, tribe and tongue. Our allegiance is to the Kingdom of God. Wherever there is a conflict of interest, we must obey God rather than man. We therefore do not hold back from helping those in need, feeding the hungry, giving shelter, advocating for justice, and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, even if human government forbids it.

The Kingdom of God isn’t defined by any movement or denomination of Christianity, whether Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Reformed, Anabaptist, Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Quakers, Moravians, Pentecostal, Messianic, nor Rabbinical Judaism - none of them. Though many movements were inspired by a vision of the Kingdom of God, none have ever seen enough of the whole picture to be able to say their movement defines it. Nor have we seen the whole picture. Inasmuch as those who have gone before were inspired by a vision of the Kingdom of God, we can learn from each.

All who accept the Lordship of Jesus, the Messiah, and who are conformed to His death and resurrection, are a part of this Kingdom, even as they fellowship and labour alongside their fellow congregants of the various movements. And, sadly, many who are members of the movements and denominations, have never submitted to Messiah, the King, and therefore, are not a part of the Kingdom of God.

Our call is, The Kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe this proclamation

The Professor Gets a History Lesson

 

The Sequels to Rats in the Cellar

We’re still talking about my Rats in the Cellar series. So far, we’ve talked mostly about the first book in the series.

The second, third and fourth aren’t just more of the same. They’re not even about the same character. The original Oscar, A.K.A. Francis still makes an appearance, but the second in the series follows the one named Louis, the bad boy. He has developed a fiercely independent outlook, and plays nasty pranks on his doppels once he tires of them. We read about a couple of his nasties in the first book.

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Can you imagine being blamed for a very horrible prank that was done by someone who looked exactly like you - whom no one but you two knew existed? That’s how Louis got his kicks.

He has developed the mentality of a typical homeless street kid - except he’s not “homeless” in the way we think of it. He’s always in the same house, but moving on to a different universe when he tires of the old, while burning his bridges after him.

But the cat knows how to deal with him, and he mends his ways, and becomes a lifesaver to another of his doppels, one who takes the name of Blake.

“Doppel”, by the way, is a rarely used word in the English language. You’ve probably heard it as “doppelgänger”, someone who is either exactly like you, maybe a second you, maybe a clone. Louis and Blake end up together as twins, adopted by a different family who happens to own their house in a different universe. That’s a “happily ever after” for them.

We also meet other new characters. Remember, in a previous emailing, I said that the “Gandalf/Dumbledore figure” in this series is the cat? Actually, the cat isn’t the only one. In the second in the series, we’re introduced to another, in the form of a four or five-year-old boy, sort of an angelic creature. Just as the cat still acts like a cat, because, as the little boy describes it, he really is a cat, the boy carries his wisdom with the liveliness and emotions of a five-year-old boy. Then, we meet more creatures of the same order in the third and fourth instalments.

The third in the series is where we meet the scientist, Dr. James McSporrin, who originally built the old house and created the multiverse portal. He had successfully invented a time machine. The initial prototype didn’t actually travel itself, it only sent the person using it, while it stayed put. He tested it, intending to go only two weeks into the past. He took a few things along, intended to hole up in a hotel, and then work on the machine some more when he got back.

It sent him to the 18th century.

We learn of him through an old diary, in which he has recorded the history of his adventures. The diary entries are read by the adoptive father of Louis and Blake, in between further adventures of the Oscar doppels in the present day.

Dr. McSporrin, though an atheist, is impressed by how the abolition movement of 18th and 19th century England is fuelled by Evangelical Christians, who were then referred to then as “Nonconformists”. Back in his own century, he had perceived the Evangelicals as being the biggest hindrance to social change.

He also makes a mistake that he forever regrets, confiding in some of his students that he’s from the future. They had sort of guessed it anyway, and they caught him off guard when they suddenly asked him. With the help of his students he manages to build another time machine, an improved version that will actually travel itself.

But a couple of his unscrupulous students, ones with family connections with the slave trade, steal the machine, and manage to erase the abolition movement from history - at least from that timeline. They murder various ones in their cradles, like William Wilberforce, William Pitt, Thomas Pain, Hannah Moore, and anyone else who rises up to fill their vacuum, until they’ve achieved a timeline that’s totally under their control, a dystopia.

In the pages of that diary, we follow how Dr. McSporrin was tormented by the thought of having doomed his world to such an evil future, and was almost driven to suicide. He also meets others whom we’re pretty sure are our own cat and little boy and the others.

The house with the parallel universe portal was an attempt by Dr. McSporrin and his one good faithful student (a fan of Thomas Pain), to establish a link between the dark dystopian timeline and the other in which they were born.

One of the Oscar doppels stumbles into that bleak dystopian universe. But I’ll stop before any spoilers slip out. I’ll only say that there’s a fifth creature, this one immensely evil, who goes by the name Jack Rippley. There’s some spiritual warfare, which also involves more singing by the Oscar choir.

The fourth book in the series came to me after even I thought the series was finished. The end of the third book didn’t leave room for a sequel. But an idea came anyway; this time, a time travel story. Dr. McSporrin takes an active role in this one, not just from the pages of a dairy.

Dr. McSporrin has been tasked with the shutting down of the multiverse portal, as it has now fulfilled it’s purpose. He solicits the help of one of the Oscars, the same one who had stumbled into the bleak world. Some mix-ups happen, the two are stranded in a dead end universe, and while trying to fix things the universe splits again, and suddenly there’s two Dr McSporrin and two Oscars. But the Dr McSporrin’s do find that two heads are better than one, and they find a way out. On the way home, the two Oscars get lost in Victorian London, and are forced into child labour. It’s the Whitechapel district of London of 1890, where William Booth and his Salvation Army are active, and so is Jack the Ripper. In the end, Oscar finally arrives home as twins. I won’t spoil it any more, except that the ending is very satisfying

Again, you can download the books here…

Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon Canada Amazon Australia.

The Gospel According to the Cat

 

Though, as my bio states, I’m sold out to the Kingdom of God (in other words, Christian), I find that an “in-your-face” approach isn’t always the best way to express it. It’s about presenting the beauty of the message in an inviting way, which hopefully draws them closer to view more of that beauty. That expression may not appear to be Christian at all, simply because it’s done without the traditional trappings and paraphernalia that they’ve come to associate with Christianity - which, to be honest, I also find tiresome at times. The only thing forcing them to stay should be their own fascination with the products of my artistic imagination. Though at some point, they may realise that they’ve been “preached to” without knowing it, it should elicit a response like, “Okay, that’s one way of looking at it,” or something similar. At any time, they should feel that it’s okay to leave without feeling like my religious sensibilities have been hurt – without even a hint of, “You step out that door to a Christless eternity!” They know the invitation is always open to come back later for more. .

For that reason, my books tend to be targeted to secular audiences. Once you get into them, you will detect Biblical themes. Some are more obviously Christian from the start, just not “in-your-face” with the message

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were both Cristian authors. Lewis was more obvious about it in his narratives, though his style was still not “in-your- face”. Tolkien was more subtle. Reading Tolkien, one comes away with the awareness that the world can be changed by the small and insignificant, and that kindness and compassion are forces more powerful than military might and raw energy. No wonder the Hippy culture of the sixties loved it!

I’m sure both Lewis and Tolkien would love my cat. Now, we don’t have a cat in our house as my wife is allergic to animal hair; I’m talking about the feline character in Rats in the Cellar.

You’d think that putting a cat into a story about rats would indicate a dangerous situation (even if “rats” is only a metaphor). C.S.Lewis threw a lion in with a group of children. By the lions own admission, he wasn’t even a tame one. So, what could go wrong in my story?

Plenty. In the first chapter, the cat gets Oscar lost in the multiverse. Later, the cat leads the boys in and out of places that are definitely not child-safe. Once, he darts across a busy highway at a blind curve, with Oscar following. “Not a safe thing to do unless accompanied by a wise cat.”

Of course, the cat knows what he’s doing. Sometimes the seemingly safest places to be are actually the most dangerous and vice versa.

The cat can also purr. As I said in my previous email, the purring generates a change of mood, and sometimes induces mental images. When the cat curls up next to Oscar at night, Oscar dreams that he can purr. He dreams that he’s purring for his young cousins, who are going through an especially traumatic period, and the purring does for them what the cat’s purr does for him.

But boys can’t purr. That thought crosses his mind the next day when he just happens to find himself with the same young cousins. The four-year-old says, “Mummy tried to kill daddy.” The two boys talk about how Daddy punched Mummy in the nose, and how Mummy went at him with a knife, before the police came and took her away. Then the seven-year-old (the oldest of the four), can’t handle it any more.

“It’ll be alright,” Oscar tries to comfort her.

“No, it won’t!” sobs Becky. “You’re just saying that!”

Oscar knows she’s right. The situation is hopeless, and all he can give are empty words.

Later, as the boys are fighting and things are out of control, he remembers the dream, that he’s purring to the children.

Boys can’t purr. But, they can sing.

Oscar’s favourite school activity, when school isn’t closed, is voice practice. The music instructor, Boz, gives the boys singing lessons, developing their male soprano voices.

Their favourite song is one Boz wrote himself.

Remember what I said about characters named Boz appearing in any of my stories; it’s me making a cameo appearance. However, in this case, the only thing he and I have in common is that we wrote that song.

The song is based on the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor… etc.

As Oscar is standing in the room with the two boys fighting over the toys, the four-year-old bouncing on the settee, and Becky not on speaking terms with the world, he remembers the song.

He begins singing it, and that begins to make a difference. It actually does have the same effect as the cat’s purring.

Here’s the quote from the book:

As he sang, he knew that so much of it might have sounded like a pipe dream, what with all that was happening, the war, the riots, the actual hunger and poverty, even the state of these kids. But this wasn’t the hollow sounding “It’ll be okay” that he told Becky earlier. Somehow, as he sang, he knew each word was meant to be.

Somehow, so did Becky. So did her younger siblings. The whole mood changed. The cat has bestowed on Oscar the gift of singing. That’s how I portray faith - Kingdom of God faith.

That was just Oscar, singing it solo. Later in the book, the many instances of Oscar make for a whole choir. How much more hope would that bring?

The cat knows that.

The song itself is based on a tune that I composed when I was 17. Though I’m by no means a professional in that field, I did manage to create a Midi file, using Muse-Score, and then I created a YouTube video showing the lyrics as the music plays. If you want to listen to it, you can find it Here

Again, you can download the books here…

 

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

Amazon Australia

 

Nightengale Blues

 He said he was expert in making a nest
But look at the place! It's such a mess! 
Got eggs on the way, I need some rest

     I've got the Nightingale Bluuuuuuues

Rock-a-bye three babies in our treetop
They show me their tonsils whenever I stop
So I'm hunting for worms until I drop

    I've got the Nightingale Bluuuuuuues

Tried to teach the kids to sing real sweet
But our son says “Coo coo” instead of “Tweet tweet”
What the neighbours are saying I won't repeat

    I've got the Nightingale Bluuuuuuuues

I'm not a nurse I'm a nightingale 
And my name's not Florence, but I'll never quail
So that's my life, I've sung you my tale

    I've got the Nightingale Bluuuuuuuues