I’m currently working on my 29th book and, well, not my first novel, but it’s far from my first. I’ve been writing a long time and even though I haven’t gotten rich off it, there are many who know me because of my writing. Once I had my university president tell me that someone stopped him, asking if he knew me. Fame is fun, sometimes, but that, as they say, that and five bucks will buy you a coffee if you are lucky.
The book is the fourth in a Christian suspense series I am writing with Celeste Perrino. She and I have collaborated on two of them and I wrote the third on my own. It is called the Foundation series, because it deals with a foundation set up by a billionaire to collect biblical artifacts all around the world. In addition to the owner, there is Stevie, an ex-MP and art dealer; Ezra, an investigative reporter; and Maddie, a professor of ancient languages and ancient civilizations. The first book had them looking for the charger, or platter that held the head of John the Baptist, which in the story had mystical powers. The second sent Maddie off to Egypt to translate a passage that would lead them to The Key of Solomon, a book supposedly written by Solomon that told one how to control demons. The third, the one we just completed, followed a televangelist’s wife whose visions claimed that Jesus wanted America to be all-Christian. A missing Gospel would supposedly support her claims. In addition to all the searching involved in these stories, they always deal with bad guys, which makes the story a lot more fun, of course.
So I had some framework to start with when I decided to start planning book #4. And so far, that’s the title of it: Foundation Book #4. Charming, I know. I knew it had to include a biblical artifact of some sort, the people we usually use, and some bad guys to make things interesting. For a while, I had been thinking of using two elements: (1) Ezra’s extended family, and (2) the Urim and Thummin of Exodus 28:30. These were two stones used to communicate with God by the high priest of Israel, and were carried on the breastplate of the high priest. Not only is it unclear exactly how these stones were used to communicate with God, but it is unclear where or when these stones disappeared. Apparently the were gone at or before the time Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, about the same time that the Ark of the Covenant disappeared.
So my story–as it generally does–goes down two distinct paths, with the two paths merging at the end of the book to make one complete story. Right now, I have the first chapter in my mind and a general framework pounded out. My next steps is to write a prologue with Moses and Aaron spelling out what the Urim and Thummin will be, just as they are about to be created. Then the first chapter will be Ellie Mae, the billionaire, learning that there is a team looking for the stones and deciding to go after them. Then Ezra is on his way to Tennessee to visit family when he learns about a string of suicides among young teens. A story his editor wants him to pursue is tied to hometown he is visiting….
That’s all I have so far, but it’s a start. More later.
The Great Adventure 