Fascinating Character

I have used many elements for my stories. Elements from history, mythology, superstition, and so on. Many of my stories are actually based on real life incidents. The witch craze and the burning times, the black plague, and numerous wars. I have also taken a lot of inspiration from actual people as well. The Marquis De Sade, Elizabeth Bathory, Aleister Crowley, Gilles De Rais, And Vlad Tepes (otherwise known as 'Dracula') are but a few out of many that have inspired me. And then there is the one character who is very prevalent in all my stories, the one character who has inspired me like no other. The Devil.
Ever since I was a young child, this character has brought to me nothing less than fascination. I believe it is this fascination, coupled with other reasons as well, that brought me to writing horror in the first place. It is with this character in mind that I have the point of view in my stories based around the villain.
I find it amusing that all ancient cultures have there own version of him. The Ancient Egyptians had two Gods that were very similar to the Devil, Atep and Set. The Ancient Greeks and Romans had Hades and Dis. Zoroaster, the religion of ancient Persia, had Angra Mainyu or 'Ultimate Darkness'. The Germanic's had Loki(whose daughter is appropriately named Hel). It is interesting to note that when the church in the dark ages actually put a face on the Devil, they took features from the Egyptian God Seth, and the Ancient Greek deity Pan. It is because of that, that people associate The Devil with serpents and him having horns and cloven hooves. Facts of this nature have inspired me my whole life and continue to do so today!

Third times the charm

Alas, I have done it again. The lovely Ms. Anthropy has again worked her magic and published my third book. As always, she was instrumental in the production of the book and her ambition and benevolence know's no boundaries. The excitement I feel at the moment is completely unexplainable. There is nothing in the whole world like holding a finished copy of your work in your hand, no matter what kind of work it may be. Now comes the tricky part, promotion.

Doing only what pleases you

I once read where someone said that their personal philosophy was that 'If something isn't fun, I won't do it.' I must say that I agree with that philosophy 100 percent. If you think about it, how is anyone actually benefiting themselves by doing things they honestly can not stand? If anything, they are causing detriment to their lives. Time wasted in such a manner takes away from time you can spend doing things you love. I have heard many excuses people tell themselves justifying the fact that they do this. Whether it's paying bills, taking care of families, and so on. While I respect that those reasons can in fact hold significance in people's lives, everyone must remember that we are all living on borrowed time. The fact is no one knows when their number is up so to say. If someone feels that the only reason for their life is to repeatedly engage in a series of miserable experiences (and you would be surprised at how many people feel this way) they are going to be extremely sorry when they are finally nothing more than a worm feast. As for myself, I don't care if I live for only one more minute or one hundred years. I'm going to spend it doing as I wish.

Why are we here?

I find it amusing when people actually state that they have the true reason we are all here upon the Earth. And I have heard them all. 'God wants us here', 'To figure out some sort of moral understanding', 'Were here for each other'. They all make about the same amount of sense.
The truth is that No one really knows. Not religions. Not Scientists, Not the people who claim to be wise. No one. It's kind of confusing. I think I would like to know what life's purpose is and why we all have to go through all of these ridiculous trials. What is the purpose of that? I mean, for the most part, we don't really learn anything from them. And sometimes, they seriously hinder us. Consider any true freak. What good has his or her affliction benefited them. What have they learned from being ostracized from everyone and laughed and jeered at? Besides learning the obvious fact that people can be cruel, I don't think they have gained anything from it. And the pain from going through such experiences stays with us forever sometimes. It is a fortunate person indeed who can forget such events. Maybe we learn the real reason of life when we die. But, if thats the case, do we really ever learn anything from it? To this day I cannot answer that question.

'Behold the Darkness' almost completed!

My third book is just about completed. I'm very excited about it. For the last three years I have been following my publishing ambitions. Just like my previous book, 'Blessings of Death', This book has six stories and a certain moral before each story to let the reader know exactly what the true meaning of the story is. For this particular book, I took an illustration from the Dante Alighieri tale 'Dante's Inferno' for the cover. I think it fits quite well with the title of the book. I really must say that I respect all those that follow their dreams no matter the obstacles and no matter how long it takes them. I believe the only person with the final say in your own destiny is you. Now, after all is done on my part, I have to look forward to yet promoting another book.

Relying on Just Yourself

One thing I have learned in my life is that you really cannot rely on anyone else except yourself. Once you do, you set yourself up for disappointment. People being the way are really do not prioritize anything that is not self-driven. This is especially true in the fields of writing and publishing. Most of us have to learn this dismal fact the hard way. Chances are, the majority of writers, would-be and otherwise, have had to pay someone to publish their work. Once they do there are a plethora of things that can happen, few of them good. First of all, we learn the value of contracts(thank goodness I always demand them before completing any business venture with anyone). If you pay someone without completing one, they legally do not have to fulfill any obligation to you at all. If you do in fact complete one, a timeline must be set(otherwise you will wind up wasting years of your life waiting just like I did). If the person in charge of getting you published has any say so with the final product of your work, you might want to discuss specific details of it with them on a regular basis or else the quality of your work will suffer. All in all, no one else in the world is going to care about your work the way you do, not even your fans. In the publishing world, it's better to be a jack of all trades and master of none than being just a decent writer with no other skills.

The show must go on

It seems that I might be making my appropriate deadline for my third book 'Behold the Darkness' after all. A most resilient character, Ms.Anthropy has bounced back from her former situation and is determined to publish on time. I cannot wait to hold yet another one of my works in my hand and feel the satisfaction that follows. Authors that have never done such a thing could never know such a feeling of elation. After this particular work, I have two more planned publications and by that time hopefully I will have a few more. I must always remember, a writer writes.