Myth, Magic, Mayhem

It all started with the title, “The Zodiac Assassins”.

While studying writing craft, I struggled to decide what I wanted to say and what genre in which to frame it. Most of my childhood was spent moving from one military base to another with friends coming and going out of my life so I turned to books like the “Wizard of Oz” series for entertainment. Getting lost in each new world fed my wild imagination. That, paired with my adult philosophy that “Anything is possible”, primed me to be drawn to the worlds of fantasy and the paranormal.

That’s when the Zodiac Assassins came to me. I wrote the first book with the Zodiacs as vampires. Then scrapped it. Why try to fight for a place among the great vampire stories already out in the world?

So I started over. Creating the InBetween and the many creatures needed to inhabit it was great fun, but I asked myself, what could I do with it? How could I make these unique creatures interesting and relevant to the human experience?

I’ve always been fascinated by the stars, the universe. The notions of infinity and infinite possibility appeal to my soul. But here on earth, humans are also a source of fascination. Who are we? Why do we do what we do? Then, the Hubble telescope started sending us images of astounding beauty that fired up my imagination. At the same time, I was reading books about astrology and the enneagram personality system. BAM! I had my males and a way to make them speak to all of us.

Twelve paranormal males ruled by the shadow side of their zodiac signs who need to overcome the needs, beliefs, and fears that have formed who they are, to become, maybe not whole men, but at least less damaged. Fear of emotional attachment, fear of losing control, needing independence are just a few of the issues that will be explored along with the themes of free will versus fate, good versus evil, and my favorite for this series, the brilliant quote from the television series Leverage,“ Sometimes the bad guys are the only good guys you get.”

The Zodiac Assassins and the creatures of the InBetween will face a battle within and without against human, paranormal, and supernatural adversaries. I hope that at least one of the journeys the males must make will resonate with you.