You ready for that hot fire?
On Sunday, I told you I’d be releasing Come Hell or High Water through this blog. Well, I keep my promises – and this time I’m being timely about it.
So here’s how it goes: I’ve dropped the first 3 chapters of Come Hell or High Water (that’s #CHOH for you cool kids) on WattPad, an online social writing/reading service. Every week, on Tuesdays, I’ll leave you another snippet and we’ll get through this thing together.
Together.
That’s the important part. Don’t just read the story and hang out until the next week. Leave a comment. Jump on the Heaven Falls Facebook and ask a question. Tweet about it. Let me know what you think, what you like and hate, and what you hope to see.
And thanks for checking it out at all.
That said, here’s your first installment of Come Hell or High Water: The Book of Raphael.
Oh, and here’s the back cover text to whet your whistle:
I swore to protect you. And I will until my dying breath. I will because I love you. Because He loves you.
Because I said I would.
Because it is my fault. Lucifer is among you. Michael is coming. The war will follow.
My name is Raphael and I loosed the Devil upon the world.
Enjoy!
Crooked Letterz 
Just finished reading it. Absolutely loved it & can’t wait for the next instalment. Your writing style makes it so easy to visualize what’s happening, the way you discribe what each character is experiencing & their surroundings. Lucifer’s desperation & rage is still on point & the aftermath of the war with heaven being covered in ice, reminded me a little of the way Dante describes the 9th circle of hell in The Divine Comedy. Have you read it & has it been a source of insperation for this & The Road To Hell?
I have read Dante’s Inferno–I actually had to look at it when writing this story because Dante offers the most recognizable and pervasive idea of Hell out there. That and Paradise Lost were definitely inspiration pieces for this story. The challenge for me with the Heaven Falls series is remembering that this story has to focus on the angels; not making human main characters (more than I already have) is exceptionally tough for the next book
Just finished reading chapters 4,5 & 6. Still continued to love it. Can’t wait to see how Michael deals with Lucifer’s taunts & the gory, graphic discriptions of the poor Cherribs in the city of Faith succumbed to cannibalism by the fallen ones really made me feel for them & makes the whole situation feel really lost. Even though everyone who has read the bible or knows the story that the angels cast out the turn coats from heaven, you still manage wrap the reader up in the moment & make me question whether or not they’re gonna succeed (just like in movies when you know whats gonna happen, you know the good guys are gonna win, but you still sit on the edge of your seat in the intense scenes, thinking “Shit! That’s it, they’ve gotta be dead, there’s no way they can get up from that…” etc). Oh & the line “There’s no peace for the peace maker” = BADASS.
There is a reason both Lucifer and Michael say that line. Lucifer says it first to Michael on the rooftop and then Michael repeats it back to Emmanuel–Michael is parroting those whispers in his head. He’s believing them and Lucifer’s words are becoming his words. You know the deal with angels and their words, right? Words become actions. They become real. Dangerous stuff.
Sounds like shit’s about to get serious. Can’t wait for next week! Keep it coming!
Just read 6,7,8. Keeps on getting more intense. I loved the part where Lucifer sees Eden for the first time & after seeing God cradling Adam, which has led to the beginning of hell. Also reading how Michael has been exiled, I honestly didn’t see it coming until I read a little bit on wiki how different religions depict Michael. I see in Judaism it depicts Samuel, when cast out of heaven, tried pulling on the wings of Michael to bring him down with him. It seems like there maybe some influence from that, but you writing it as Lucifer instead (although in the first book you obviously touched on the beef between Michael & Samuel). I’m no expert by any means & I’ve not read much else on other religion’s views on Michael, but it just seemed to me that’s where that part came from. Honestly, I’d rather wait until I’ve finished reading this book completely, before reading more about where your ideas might have come from (don’t want to read anything else that might give away how you’ve decided to write the end to this book). Keep it coming!
There are a few points in this story (in Come Hell or High Water and The Road to Hell) where I’ve very viscerally felt what my characters feel. When Sela died, for example, I was so upset by that event and Michael’s response that I had to walk away from the story for a while. When Lucifer learns how the Father feels about mankind, it was a similar feeling: I understood his feelings of betrayal and loneliness and abandonment. I was there in that moment with him. That last line, “This was Hell,” is both a statement about his physical surroundings and how emotional state. It’s the first time Lucifer begins to understand his punishment.
I know you didn’t want me to explain my ideas but I don’t follow directions well. While I did research Christian, Jewish and Islamic ideas about the angels, Michael’s exile was actually the product of narrative movement and character development. How long could he stay in Heaven? How would he grow or become anything more? It would make him uncomfortable–which is my job–to make him grow. Besides, there are a couple of things that Michael does that are pretty fun and he needs to be out of Heaven for them to happen.
I am glad you’re enjoying it though!
Cool, good to read about your perspectives on how you’ve written your characters based on your own experiences & feelings & not just soley on what ancient scriptures might say. The best works of art are the ones where the creator inserts genuine emotion into what he crafts. And you’ve not really given too much away about Michael, though I remember you saying the third book (which will be his story) will be quite dark, but as a reader I’m still in limbo (get it?) about what may happen. Will he be redeemed? Is his destiny hell? (Dun Dun Duuuuuunnnn!!!!). As it’s your story, as far as I’m concerned anything could happen. Can’t wait for next week!
Just read 8,9,10. Keeps getting more intense! I really like the way you’ve started on the garden of Eden & Lucifer’s contact with Eve.
I’ve unfortunatly been quite busy recently (new job) & wish I had more time to discuss these chapters properly but I’ve been exhausted this week & I’m literally about to drop off. Just want to say keep it up, I’m still loving this book & when I have more time & energy, I would like to comment more on these chapters in a bit more depth.
One quick point though. I just recently watched the movie Donnie Darko again (dunno if you’ve seen it) & the voice of Frank (the monsterous rabbit) is how I would have perceived Lucifer’s voice to sound like when talking to Eve. Can’t wait for next week!