An Inner Darkness

After finishing Harvester: Ascension in August of 2010 (Andy continued writing on it until October, filling in some of the gaps that I left for him), I immediately began a novel called An Inner Darkness (previously known as The Twins of Noremway Parish). I began this novel in September of 2010 and wrote non-stop until November before realizing I had a major problem: the novel was going to be way too long. So I decided to break the novel into two. The second part is titled A Light in the Dark.

An Inner Darkness covers the story of Decon Mangler, a friar in Noremway Parish, a bastion of humanity after a devastating war with something called "The Darkness." He and his colleague, parochial vicar Teret Finley, shared a sexual attraction, something strictly forbidden for them to act on. Who doesn't like a little bit of sexual tension? Their semi-cozy world is disrupted when the evil returns in the form of a child, ripped from his mother's womb by the teeth of a wolf-like creature. The parish doctor, Bartholomew Plague, and Decon Mangler, rush this child to the Cathedral, completely bypassing the infirmary because there would be no way the child could survive. Their first priority was to ensure the child's well-being in the hereafter.  But all is not as it appears.  The child dissolves completely when his skin touches the holy water, leaving nothing behind but a pool of blood.  A few hours pass with no answers, but as Decon researches in his office, the holy fountain, which is decorated with the image of two children wrapped together in a pair of angel wings, cracks open, revealing a pair of conjoined twins. Who, or what, are these twins? And what happened to the original child? These are the mysteries throughout the novel, and it is a mystery that draws Decon and Teret closer together. The answers will come, but not until the sequel.

What became the first draft of An Inner Darkness was essentially written in a two-week period. The rest of the material I had written would eventually become A Light in the Dark. And that was the original idea. A Light in the Dark was the original story I meant to tell, but the dynamic between Decon and Teret caught my attention in a way that I hadn't anticipated. And, in addition to length, the two halves didn't seem to be part of the same novel, but more like different entries in a series.

I finished writing An Inner Darkness in June of 2011, and A Light in the Dark was completed in December 2011.