Author's comments

The publisher requested a name change from The Goddess of Darkness  to Sister of Darkness.  I made the change on about 30 September 2009.

Sister of Darkness follows Paul and Leora through their intervention in WWII.  The real kicker in this novel is the problem of Lumie're, their daughter.  This interaction and character development become the setup and the driver for the next two novels.  This novel continues the very strong adventure quality mixed with social and cultural history.  Literally, you get to sit at dinner with some of the most important people in history.  You get a first hand view of the inside of the Reich and Britain.  You get to face many of the basic terrors people experienced in that time and you get to face many of the pleasures.

The first and second draft of Sister of Darkness is finished.  I am very pleased with this novel.  I passed it to one of my readers--this should be revealing.  I pushed a lot of buttons in this novel.  I think you will love the characters and especially Lumie're.  I like her character so well, I plan to write another novel in the future about her.  I may call it just Lumie're, but that is yet to be determined.

I'm currently writing Sister of Darkness.  The novel is a follow-on to Aegypt and Sister of Light.  I don't want to give too much of the story away.  I think my readers will find this book to be a real treat.  This is not a resolution of either previous novel.  In fact, I plan a fourth novel with a working title Lumie're.  Since the second novel has not been published yet (it is on contract), only my readers know who Lumie're is.  I'll tell you--she is Paul and Leora's eldest child.  

You knew from the first novel that Leila would work into WWII.  Her hatred of the Hebrew people who displaced her in the first novel was hinted there.  In the third, this becomes prominent.  In The Goddess of Light, Leila was seeking her Osiris Offering Formula.  We don't know the power it will give her, but we know it is dangerous.  

I won't tell you too much right now.  Maybe more when the next novel comes out.  I will tell you, we see much more of Tilly and her parents.  We get to know Major Lyons much better.  Paul, Leora, and Major Lyons undertake a mission to infiltrate Vichy France and eventually Germany.

The novel begins just before the fall of France and ends with the defeat of Nazi Germany.  History and personal interaction in historical events will drive the novel.  If you like this approach, I think you will love this novel.     

I study an era by reading every primary source document I can find from the time period.  Then I begin researching strong scholarly works on the subject.  I studied about a year before I began to write Aegypt.  Since Sister of Darkness is a follow-on to Aegypt and Sister of Light, I was able to use much of the same research.

The Question: 

When the world was young, people believed in all kinds of gods and goddesses.  In the novel Sister of Darkness, I further expand the question I asked in Aegypt and Sister of Light, what would happen if modern people came face to face with a real goddess.  Leora, the goddess of light, interacts with the modern world--sometimes that world is more cruel to those who have a power beyond our expectations.  Also, I added to my original question and ask a new one about prejudice.  Explicitly, the question in Sister of Light is what is the reaction of the goddess of darkness against her sister, Leora.  The question in the Sister of Darkness is the impact of these powers on Paul and Leora's family and on the world.

The Characters: 

The characters came directly from Aegypt and Sister of Light.  They were the survivors from the destruction of Fort Saint.  Directly, there is Paul Bolang, Leora Bolang (the goddess of light), Maurice le Boehm, and Leila, (the goddess of darkness).  Indirectly, there is Sir Barot Cheston, Tilly, Paul's parents, Paul's sisters, and Paul and Leora's children.  In the Sister of Darkness we get to meet a host of real world characters who influenced WWII.

The Theme: 

The goddess of darkness has prepared a horrible revenge against the world.  She is still angry that the release of the Hebrew people from Egypt led to the end of her reign as a goddess there.  Leora must fight against powers in this world and those against which the world has no defenses.   

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