I’m about to start writing my third comic book titled Demon Gate. It’s related to my current release called Fear Fest. I’m excited to have comic books available and am working to create a cohesive world for my character Adam Frankenstein.

I taught myself how to write a comic book. I took a weekend workshop, read a bunch of how-to books, and read comics that I thought were great stories. I think Dan Wickline is amazing. Anything by Jonathan Maybery, too.

What took the longest was finding the right illustrator. When I finally found Evan Scale.

Evan has such talent and creativity! He made my ideas even better. I am so lucky to have found him.

Once I had an illustrator I had to deal with the boring stuff like contracts, trademarks, and attornies.

Then there was the formatting, which is a pain to get done and the distribution.

It was wildly fun too and exciting to be at writer events signing and to sell out of all my comic books!

I like the idea of having comic books, short stories and eventually releasing a novel. Wish me luck!

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The book is out! It’s been nearly 20 years since I wrote this book. Originally it was just called Circle of Seven and was the first in a series. But, I dragged my feet and someone else came up with that title and is calling her series by that name.

I’m not sweating it. It was easy enough to add The Immortal King to it. It made sense too since this first book is about Rohan the Immortal King who was banished when he let down his people but has come back when the Immortal Sword was stolen.

Next is The Gemini Keys. It doesn’t need as much work as Circle of Seven did. But, I do have to change the last 3-4 chapters. I had resolved the issue of who Tory/Jade would choose when the keys were found and I realized later on that I shouldn’t have given that away until the very end. So…re-write time.

It does feel good to have this book out. Finally. And it opens the door for The Gemini Keys and The Vampire King!

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Some Spoilers Ahead!

Elizabeth was always going to be different.  She was dark, more mature, more isolated.  She’d been brainwashed by her cult-leader father and in the first two books was actually a villain.  In Keeper of the Dead, the book opens up with Elizabeth helping her father trap her mother’s spirit in limbo in order to lure her sisters to the compound and within her father’s reach.

At first, Elizabeth is so sheltered and so controlled by her father she really thinks she’s doing what’s best for her sisters.  He convinces her that her sisters had been kidnapped the night of her mother’s death by people who brainwashed them and convinced her sisters that their father was a murderer.  The man is convincing and Elizabeth is always trying to win his affection and admiration so she becomes what he needs her to be when he needs her to be it.

Once she betrays her sisters in Keeper of the Light she begins to question some of what her father’s been telling her.  You find out that Elizabeth was instrumental in making changes in the compound to better the lives of the women there.  But, her father gives just small concessions to her as a way to manipulate her.  He’s waiting to find out if any of his daughters come into powers of their own so he can then marry them to men of his choosing so they have children with power, keeping the father’s legacy intact and his power absolute.

In Keeper of the Dead Elizabeth finally comes to realize her sisters were right and that she has made some horrible mistakes.  She does her best to help, but in the end can’t forgive herself and strikes out on her own.  She doesn’t believe her sisters can really accept her.

Also in Keeper of the Dead we meet a very mischievous, yet charming ghost named Cole who tricks Amber during a trade and takes half of Ryan’s soul in order to become flesh and blood once more.  Cole has been a Keeper of the Dead, a sort of sheriff among ghosts, since the 1800’s and he’s pretty excited about being about to leave the cemetery at last.  Of course, the world has changed and he stick close to the sisters, Ivy and Amber, while he learns the ropes.  This is how he meets Elizabeth and there’s some brewing chemistry between the two that never quite makes the mark.  In Keeper of Souls, it is Cole who is sent to Europe to find Elizabeth.

Keeper of Souls opens with Elizabeth making bad decisions yet again.  In order to find family, she goes back to what she knows and ends up releasing her grandfather, a man so powerful that even her evil father feared him.  The grandfather and an evil uncle take her with them to France where they start putting together a group of people to help re-create the compound takedown by the sisters.  Elizabeth realizes she’s made a horrible mistake but has no guidance, no one to help her escape or tell her what to do.  When Cole shows up unexpectedly to bring her back to her sisters she takes the chance and leaves with him.  He is her only way out, though she’s not sure she can face her sisters once they all find out she’s freed her grandfather.

Cole and Elizabeth race across Europe, the UK into Ireland and finally back to the US.  But, they’re being chased, Elizabeth is coming into her own power, and Cole has his own agenda.  Elizabeth and Cole must learn to think of others, not always be first, learn to trust, learn what loyalty costs and provides and find they are more alike than they could have imagined, all while fighting a mutual attracting they don’t have time for.

Since Keeper of the Light I knew how Elizabeth’s story, Keeper of Souls, would end.  I always knew we’d come back to Brooklyn.  I spend so much time at the cemetery there in Brooklyn. I have lots of photos from my visits there.  I saw a statue there that I just couldn’t stop thinking about.  In my mind I saw it come to life, rise up from the ground, and move.  There would be a great and final battle there.  And in the end, there was.

The Angel of Death

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The Faith Healer’s Daughters is a trilogy, so there are three books.  It is considered a young adult and often I’m asked what age the book is written for.  It’s really hard to say for sure since everyone is different.  A mature twelve-year-old could read the books and not have a problem, a fourteen-year-old who is less mature might need to wait to read the books.  Only the parents or guardians of a child can really determine if it’s right for that teen.

I can say that if the books were a movie I think they’d be a PG-13.  There’s no sex, but there is the allure of sex addressed especially in book two- Keeper of the Dead.  It’s in there because I think teens do struggle with temptation.  So Amber and Ryan have to deal with that temptation because they are posing as husband and wife as they live and work at a large cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.  At first, they’re just friends, but they have to sleep in the same bed, and being that close, night after night, would present problems eventually.  I wanted to be realistic about the difficulties of physical attraction and both of the teens really struggle, but realize they need to resist.  Some of the scenes would be considered sexy, but there’s only kissing.

There’s violence in all three books.  Keeper of the Light starts out with the murder of the girl’s mother. Later on, a beloved character dies trying to help save one of the girls and though we see the character later as a ghost, it’s a tragic event.

The father wants to get the girls back and use their power.  It’s his intention to marry them to men of his choosing.  His compound is cult-like and the men there have multiple wives.  The girls want to disband this cult and save the women and children who live there.

There are adult themes and situations.  Issues like giving a life to save a life, consequences, death, forced marriage, some women in the compound help the men keep other women in line.  One of the sisters is forced to marry a very bad man.  The third sister, Elizabeth was the only one raised by the father and her allegiance is with him, so issues of brainwashing and betrayal are addressed.  The afterlife, what might be out there, souls, and how they can be manipulated are also addressed.

There are good lessons in the books.  We talk about what makes up family.  We talk about loyalty and sisterhood.  Issues of abstinence are addressed in a way a teen can connect to.  Thinking beyond yourself, learning others are just as important as you are also addressed.

I wanted teens to see themselves when they read the story of these characters and feel a connection to them and their plight.  But, I also wanted parents to see this as a way to address real-life challenges teens face.

I hope this information helps you determine if this book is for you, or your teen.

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