Thriller And Dark Fantasy Author J.F.Penn

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On Writing Thrillers: That Magic Moment When A Story Emerges

May 2, 2012 By J.F. Penn

There’s a magic moment for me, and probably other writers, when the story suddenly emerges from the writing.

On writing thrillers. Magic moment
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For me, that happened yesterday when it seemed that all the stars aligned and synchronicity blazed and I was writing in the flow, and the story came to life. [Text below the short video]

Let me explain a little more.

ARK OF BLOOD (previously published as Exodus) is my third novel and is based around a hunt for the Ark of the Covenant as the Middle East counts down to a religious war. I’ve been researching the Ark and possible locations for six months, reading the official papers and also the conspiracy theorists.

I have my series characters in place and my secret government agency, ARKANE which investigates religious mysteries. I had a broad outline and had started writing, but the story hadn’t really caught fire for me.

Then yesterday, that magic moment happened.

I visited the United Grand Lodge of England, the Freemasons Grand Temple in London, and what I saw there crystallized a whole load of ideas. It’s an awesome place, full of symbolism and hints at the secrets that lie within.

Ark of BloodThen I went to a spin class and while I was cycling away, the ideas mashed together and the rest of the story fell into place. It fits the research theories and it fits some of the conspiracy theories. My story could actually be plausible, which for me, is essential for a thriller. I won’t give too much of the plot away, but I wanted to share this magic moment and part of how I write a novel.

So I am 40,000 words into the book now, but I know where the story goes from here. I just need to get the words down for the first draft and then move into the editing phase. But this is a precious moment, when you know there’s a story to be told, one that will intrigue and entertain people.

You’ll have to read ARK OF BLOOD to find out where the Ark of the Covenant might be!

Filed Under: Book Research Tagged With: ark, arkane, exodus, writing

Ancient Books: The Devil’s Bible

April 14, 2012 By J.F. Penn

I find that basing my writing on aspects of reality makes the fiction appear more real. Therefore I am always on the lookout for fascinating snippets of history, religion, art or culture that can bring a richness to the story.

Devil's BibleThe Devil's Bible, also called the Codas Gigas, was one of those serendipitous findings as I was searching for an appropriate ‘MacGuffin‘ for Prophecy.

Legend tells of its creation at the hands of monk who sinned grievously. In order to prevent the punishment of being walled up alive, he promised to write down all human knowledge in one night. Finding himself overwhelmed and unable to complete the task, he bargained with the Devil – his soul for the finished book.

The Devil's Bible contains the books of the Latin Bible but also spells, incantations, exorcism prayers and images of the Devil and the Kingdom of Heaven. There are pages missing which was brilliant as the search for the pages became a key part of the story that merged art history with religion, both passions of mine.

You can watch a brilliant National Geographic program on the Devil's Bible – here's the National Geographic article that refers to it.

For more information, you can view the following:

The Codas Gigas official page at the National Library of Sweden

The entire Codas Gigas scanned so you can see it for yourself

 

Filed Under: Book Research Tagged With: ancient bible, ancient books, arkane, prophecy

Ancient Religion: National Geographic Apostles Article Supports Pentecost Research

March 23, 2012 By J.F. Penn

Ancient ReligionThanks to Werner Meyer for directing me to this article in National Geographic on the Apostles, which goes into the research I used for Stone of Fire (originally published as Pentecost), the first in the ARKANE series.

It covers Thomas in Kerala, India; Mark in Coptic Egypt and then Venice and goes into the study of relics, which is also a theme in Prophecy.The article also talks about Mary Magdalene, who I didn't include in my list of “official” apostles, despite the popularity of The Da Vinci Code!

“To study the lives of the Apostles is a bit like what we've been doing with the Hubble telescope—getting as close as we can to seeing these earliest galaxies. This was the big bang moment for Christianity, with the Apostles blasting out of Jerusalem and scattering across the known world.”

Click here to read the National Geographic article.

Filed Under: Book Research Tagged With: arkane, christian, pentecost

Psychology Of Religion: Obedience

March 11, 2012 By J.F. Penn

Psychology of Religion- ObedienceAs part of my Master's degree in Theology at the University of Oxford (1994-1997), I wrote a thesis on the psychology of obedience in religious fundamentalism.

Escher Circle Limit IV Can you see the angels or the demons?

I used Abraham's Biblical agreement to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22), the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (1995) and the experiments of Stanley Milgram as part of my argument. Clearly these thoughts have stayed with me as they became the foundations of my novel Prophecy.

Stanley Milgram's Obedience to Authority Experiments

This video gives you a good overview of the basic experiment which was replicated by Milgram all over America with all different strata of society. You may find it disturbing but remember the physical pain isn't real. What is real is how the ‘teacher' reacts. Even when they protest, they still continue once urged by an authority figure. Even when the subject is screaming ‘Let me out', they continue. I first heard about this experiment when I was 18 and it has stuck with me. The vast majority of people would behave in the same way. That is a sobering thought when you consider the atrocities done because an authority orders it.

Milgram's experiment Part 2 (video)

Milgram's experiment Part 3 (video)

Caravaggio's Sacrifice of Isaac

If you want to investigate this area further, I highly recommend ‘The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil‘ by Philip Zimbardo (Amazon affiliate link). This goes into the detail of the Stanford Prison Experiment as well as Milgram's work and discusses the ways in which normal people de-humanize to commit evil. Wearing masks is a critical part of mob violence which I also used in the Sedlec child murder scene. There is more information at LuciferEffect.com.

On Abraham and Isaac's sacrifice, you might find Soren Kierkegaard ‘On Fear and Trembling‘ interesting. (Amazon affiliate link)

Filed Under: Book Research Tagged With: arkane, prophecy, psychology of religion

Psychology Of Religion: Freud Museum, Hampstead, London

February 26, 2012 By J.F. Penn

Psychology Of Religion- Freud Museum, Hampstead, LondonI'm currently researching my third ARKANE novel, which will either be called Exodus or Pharaoh, I'm still oscillating! Essentially it is about the search for the Ark of the Covenant, but of course I have to bring in a thread of psychology as it is my abiding fascination.

In this book, one of the influences is Sigmund Freud's final work ‘Moses and Monotheism', written in London in the final year of his life after being exiled from Vienna in the wake of the Nazi invasion. As a self-proclaimed ‘godless Jew' he spent his life avoiding his own faith in many ways but returned to it in the final years, trying to explain anti-Semitism in his own way, as well as investigating the origins of Judaism.

The book claims Moses was an Egyptian, which is not such a far-fetched idea, but also that Moses was murdered in the desert by the Hebrews and that the guilt of the murder of the father figure has stayed with Judaism ever since. It's a complicated book but a fascinating one and in fact, many of the objects in Freud's study link him with ancient Egypt, which I will be exploring further in the book.

Sigmund Freud's desk, complete with ancient deities
Yesterday I visited the house, now museum, he lived in with his family and where Anna Freud continued to practice after his death. It is on a suburban street in Hampstead, a normal brick house of reasonable size but certainly not as grand as you might expect from the man who cast such a long shadow with his writing and influence.

His study is that of an archaeologist, not a medical doctor. It is crammed with artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome as well as tools from other cultures. His desk (shown above) has two rows of ancient Gods with barely any room left for writing. Of particular note is the white marble statue of the Egyptian god Thoth in his baboon incarnation. Thoth was the god of writing, of

Me at the Freud Museum, February 2012

wisdom, science and was also a key part of the judgment of the dead. Also on the desk is a modern metal porcupine which is from America, from the trip to Clark University which those of you who have read Pentecost will know all about! I was quite thrilled to see it there – sometimes fiction moves into fact and vice versa!

Also in the study are two prints which will most likely feature in my novel – one a copy of Rembrandt's Moses holding the tablets of the Law, a black and white cross-hatched image that demonstrates Freud's interest in Moses at this point in his life. The other is a night scene of Abu Simbel, a massive rock tomb and temple in Southern Egypt which I have visited and remains a deeply resonant place for me. The print is fascinating as there is a light coming from inside the long abandoned tomb – what's going on in there?

You can find out about the Freud Museum here, or watch the video below for a little look inside. If you're in London and you fancy a slightly different kind of tourist experience, get off the beaten track and head to Hampstead.

 

Filed Under: Book Research Tagged With: ancient egypt, exodus, freud, psychology of religion

Interview With Joanna Penn About Thriller Novel Prophecy By Natalie Wright

February 15, 2012 By J.F. Penn

Interview with Joanna PennAs part of the launch for my latest thriller Crypt of Bone [at the time of this interview, the book was published as Prophecy], YA author Natalie Wright interviewed me about the book and my inspirations for ideas as well as my writing processes. The video is 15:37 mins long and there's an audio below if you would rather listen.

You can also download the audio here => JoannaPennInterview.mp3

In the video, we discuss:

  • Tell us about Prophecy, an action-adventure romp
  • How did you come up with your protagonist, Morgan Sierra, who is a kick-ass, smart, sexy woman who can fight? I talk about how Morgan is my fantasy alter-ego. We also talk about who would play the roles of Morgan and Jake in the movie version of the novel.
  • Where did the evil organization Thanatos come from?
  • On art history, religious symbolism and historic places. How much time does it take me to research and why am I obsessed by these things? How I found the Devil's Bible and synchronicity.
  • On the God Helmet and some of the aspects that are real-life but have been twisted for the story
  • Have I been to all the places I write about? How I use Flickr for research. The symbolism of place.
  • My writing process is more set now I am working on the 3rd novel, Exodus. I explain how I work.
  • Where is the ARKANE series going?

Prophecy is available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99

Thanks to Natalie Wright, author of Emily's House, for the interview.

Filed Under: Book Research, Interviews with Thriller Authors Tagged With: arkane, interview, prophecy

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