Creative Background
I grew up on science Fiction and Fantasy. Old school Roger Zelazny, Robert Lynn Asprin and Piers Anthony masterpieces. I loved the fantasy tropes but what I know about the classic setting of the medieval era is next to nothing and my interest in getting encyclopedic knowledge of the era was non-existent.
But wizards, tricksters and tough guys engaged in struggles using over the top gifts and their cunning were tropes that I do feel comfortable with. Importing them into the world I can describe with ease because I live in it was my only real option. This also makes characters more accessible in that they live in a world where we can understand their experiences and motivations.
This lends to better and more three dimensional characters. I spent a number of years studying acting at The Ohio State University where I was exposed to writers such as David Mamet, Sam Shepherd , and Harold Pinter. These people are famous for their deeply flawed and human characters who have been put trough the ringer. For me, having very human, deeply flawed characters with these powers, skills and responsibilities enhances the reality of the high strangeness atmosphere.
Publishing History
This is not the first instance of The Invisible Society. I published some short fiction some years back through Trestle Press. I have since moved on from that publisher and was going to simply re-publish Pain Eaters, Mrs Downbelow, Choosers of The Slain, and Kilroy is Here but upon examination I felt like what was required to make sense of the whole idea was something more introductory. Thus Invisible Society: A Life Worth Dying For was born.
Book 1: A Life Worth Dying For
Butch (our main character) is a foster kid who lost his parents in a tragic accident some years before. He has run away from his latest foster family and starts out being pursued by a county sheriff outside of Savannah, GA in a stolen truck, while drinking with a strange girl in tow. For this kid, this is the Marianas Trench of low points and it gets worse from there.
As bad as Butch’s life has become, this is the moment where it changes forever. Rock bottom for Butch is the event horizon of a new existence which leads him to a new life in The Invisible Society. He doesn’t believe it, at first. Who would?
But when he calls the bluff of the people offering him this new existence he encounters mystical visions which he cannot deny. And for the first time since his parents death he feels like he might have a chance to belong. The flaw in this plan is that Butch has been singled out for a very dangerous mission by someone with dark motives before Butch’s sorcerers nature was known to him.
Now his life is a tug of war between the promise of a magical life he feels unworthy to have or a dark destiny chosen for him by an unscrupulous Television therapist and his underground apprentices.
The Broad Invisible Society Concept
This is all to set the stage for the long and storied history of he Invisible Society itself. Members of the Invisible Society are primarily human beings with latent sorcerer’s abilities. They have been with us all along and sometimes in our history they were part of the mainstream but after the dark ages they returned to hiding for their own safety and the general safety of humanity.
Once these people reach a certain level of emotional maturity they are drawn to nodes which form at the intersections of Ley lines. Once drawn to a node they will have a mystical experience which grants them access to their latent abilities. Recruiters from what is referred to as The Invisible College will then either assist them in vanishing from their first life and bring them into The Invisible Society under a new completely fabricated identity. If the neophyte is not willing to leave their life behind, or is deemed too emotionally unstable to handle their gifts the recruiter will restrict access to those powers, wipe the memory of the event and return them to their previous existence none the wiser.
There is also an organization known as The Black School. The latent sorcerer’s can also be recruited to this place and they are not required to give up their identities. Students are required to make a loyalty pledge to the school where they will be educated by a combination of human sorcerers and demons. The price of tuition for this place is that the last student to finish the final exam has to either fight their way past the instructor or forfeit their soul.
The third option is that some folks manage to come into their power without being detected by either The Invisible College or The Black School. These folks tend to establish master/apprentice relationships and be even more secretive than other members of The Invisible Society.
Beyond the simple education aspect for protection of both members of the Invisible Society and members of humanity at large these sorcerers are bound to intervene in local supernatural events. Each member of The Invisible College has some measure of public service where they either take a term teaching new students or join the Metaphysical Bureau of Investigation where they work in detection and enforcement of high strangeness events. These agents are uniformed in the standard Black suits and sun glasses famously known as Men in Black.
Before print, What Can I expect to See on This Blog?
Currently, A Life Worth Dying For is in second draft. The second book Plutonian Shores is in first draft and I am also working on a Prequel Novella (currently untitled) to be given as a free sample to build the mailing list and build interest while I go agent hunting.
What my plan is currently is to post character development pieces to assist in fleshing out characters and plot lines with content that will not otherwise see publication. So you’ll see parts of their lives prior to events in the books that shaped them and the plot lines. So I invite you to read, follow, comment discuss process and ask whatever questions you desire. I look forward to getting into process and hearing your feedback.
Evil Chocolate 