A behind the scenes look at "The Book of Life" series

Chapter 1 Are You a Mary Sue character in our book?

I want to thank You Tube prodigy Abbie Emmons for giving me the inspiration to re-examine my Book of Life Series when she made a video discussion "7 signs your character is a Mary Sue character" which is a derogatory term that implies your lead actor/actors are a regurgitating character in so many stories where the lead female or male stars are so perfect and emotionless they are sickening to see even though they are the hero protagonist we think we all want to be when we grow up.

When I compared her signs to watch out for to prevent writing about a Mary Sue character in my book I initially thought "My God! 3 of the 5 main characters in my story are Mary Sue people we love to hate, and then I came to my senses ha-ha!  Since "The Book of Life Book, The Book of Shadows" trilogy series and my related spin-off story "Don't talk to Evil witches, especially Her!" Were very unique characters that may seem like they are Mary Sue characters, but they are not. 

Well Ms. Abbie your video topic inspired me so much I thought it would be fun to re-examine my characters more carefully to see exactly what makes them tick and hopefully share more behind the scenes info on the characters in my story to help my readers appreciate them even more!

I have a funny question to ask you Ms Abbie Emmons.  Are you a Mary Sue kind of person?  I'm only asking you this question because I am a very powerful witch that did something completely different than any other Author I know of that writes books.  I put a Magickal spell in mine that causes anyone who reads my book to become a character in my story!  I have a joke with the skeptics that question my motives for writing entirely free books for anyone kind enough to read them when they ask me "what's your catch to give me a free book to read?" And my reply is "oh, I don't want any money from you, I just want YOUR SOUL FOR PAYMENT!" I especially love giving my answers to Christians that ask me this same question, it gets them every time ha-ha! ;)

Anyway my love, I want to dedicate a 7 chapter response to your 7 signs program you made on YouTube channel on how to avoid a Mary Sue character in your story, shall we begin this fun analysis?

In my trilogy series, I really wanted to try something completely different that allowed me to draw my readers in our story as a main character in our book.  I made you a main character in my story because I need you to share our story to the outside world once you leave our Magickal lands.  I'm sure that ordinary readers can share my story with the public, but if you are part of our story, imagine the impact you can have with other people to take an adventure in a completely different way when I transport them to our world though a Magickal Spell.

Since I'm a powerful witch, I have the ability to use spells in our story to make you part of our Magickal world, and if I'm successful, maybe we can change the world for the better by helping you share what we learned in this story to inspire them to make a difference in their life as well.  Since you are one of the main character's in my book, I had to include you to see if you are a Mary Sue character or not.  Well after looking you over my dear I can happily say you are not!  Since you are a special person that was created for a purpose and reason for being here, and we need you my dear, to be that lovable imperfect person you are when you return back to your real world after reading our story. Goddess, I love Magick!  You never know what is real or not when you perform your spells!

Well you might not be a Mary Sue character in our book but you're not the only person we adopted (cough kidnapped) into our family my love ha-ha.  You see, as much as we love you we also need to talk to our other readers that are kind enough to read our story too.  This was a challenge because how am I going to write to thousands of people that are unique and different from each other while making it look like I am talking specifically to them.The way I found around this problem is that if I keep your name, identity, race, age, gender and personal background a secret, I can talk to every reader just like I'm talking to you now Sunshine!

By the way, now that your soul is mine ha-ha, your name in our world shall now be known as Sunshine to all the inhabitants in our world.  Your name is special to us because you're part of our family now and that smile of yours, brighten our day more than any Sunshine I have ever seen!  Yes mam, yes sir, I really am that powerful to cast a Magick Spell to make my readers part of our story, and don't worry about your soul my dear, it will always belong to you my love. We really wouldn't know what to do with it anyway, even if you tried to give it to us!  winky wink xoxo!

With all kidding aside though, the reason you are one of my main characters in my highly interactive book is that I wanted you to have fun with us while learning some valuable lessons as we play with you on all the fun spells and rituals that requires you to get a mirror from your home and look into it with us.  We are also going to have you do rituals with us after curfew.  That is going to require you to sneak back in Isis home without being caught. Don't worry if your are caught by Isis parents lol. Isis will only tease you to remind you that you are invisible to her parents, so being a reader, um friend in our story, does have it's advantages my love! ;)

It's such a cool concept we came up in the second installment of our Trilogy series to hopefully turn you back into a kid where Magick is real and the strangers you meet are now your family.  So whenever you visit our world we want to make you feel at home with us!  After you read our stories, We hope that you are so inspired by our love for you that maybe you can share some of that love to the outside world when you return back to your real world we all have to live in.  If you can do this for us, you're definitely not a Mary Sue character my love, you are one of us! xoxo!

Chapter 2 is Philip ShadowFire a Gary Sue in our book?

Well getting back to Abbie's comments on whether my lead characters are Mary Sue's or not I had to see what they represent in our story for you to read.  The first character I introduce you in my story is Philip ShadowFire which is another pen name I write under besides Sarah Embers to help conceal my identity, because let's face it.  When you are a High Priestess Christian Wicca Shamanistic Witch that is Atheist friendly, everyone ends up hating your guts since your mere existence is a mockery to their beliefs, but that is certainly not my intentions!

Getting back to Mr. ShadowFire's character who seems to be the main protagonist in the story, since he is talking to you as you are reading the first book of our trilogy series titled "The Book of Life, The Book of Shadows".  I just wonder?  Is he a Gary Sue character?  Well let's look at his character I will explain in great detail that I didn't mention in the book.

He is an older highly successful business man around 30 years old that primarily does all his trading in the Asian markets overseas. Let's just say that not all his business tractions have the blessing of the Law wink wink, and that is why he is proficient in weapons training and sword fighting.  Although he is just as messed up as we are he really is a good man, that really cares about the people in his life.

He has a lot of flaws in his character, but he wears his heart on his sleeve and isn't afraid to cry in front of the people he loves.  He's handsome, well off, single and only has a sister that lives in Colorado he doesn't get a chance to visit much.  Their parents died in a private plane accident, and that tragedy caused him to get close to God and convert to Christianity.  He came from a Pagan background but he was never a witch and focused so much on God, he forgot about his Pagan past until the faithful day He opened the Book of Life story that changed his life when three teen witches met him on Halloween night at his home.

He had to go through so much pain and misery once He realized he was actually a witch after all, because he was going to have to let his newly adopted teen sisters die after their battle with Satan so he can get the Book of Life back to the real owner.  What made him horrified and suicidal was the revelation that Satan was not his adversary, it was his servant that was going to help him betray his sisters by leaving them behind when they needed him the most so ShadowFire can escape with the book. 

That was the destiny that was prophesied by The Book of Life that forced ShadowFire to either save the world by letting his sisters die or saving it by killing them, and that's why our story started off with a foreshadow of ShadowFire's warning he was going to have to kill his newly adopted sisters that met him on that Faithful night.

Of course ShadowFire was not a Satanist, and He never would harm his newly adopted sisters he loved with all his heart. That is why he tried to die in battle when they battled a Battalion of the NWOA, New World Order Army as they were escaping to their Sacred Forest.  During their retreat ShadowFire was struck in the lung by a bullet and told the girls to fly away on their broomsticks back to the center of the forest that was their home as he stayed behind to battle the army by himself.  The girls did not know ShadowFire was gravely injured but everyone in the Battalion that ShadowFire fought, died by horrifying supernatural means.  Some soldiers died when supernatural Insects resembling locust bit the soldiers that would instantly age them to death and turn them into dust.  Trees suddenly came to life and began to tear the soldiers to pieces, the rear flank of the soldiers began to shoot anything that moved in a panic but that is when hands came out of the ground to swallow them down to the core of the Earth.  When all the soldiers were killed, ShadowFire stumbled to the girls camp where Astraea saved his life with a healing potion to bring him back to life.

I don't like war or violence in any way, that is why I didn't glorify it in our story, but it was necessary to show the adversity that ShadowFire and the girls had to go through to save the world even if it meant their demise.

The one thing I was very careful with Philip ShadowFire's character is that I wanted to avoid him being the leader of the girl's coven because they were all equals, that are part of a family who used their individual talents as a team to be unstoppable. I knew early on I didn't want a Superman or Wonder Woman with a wimpy sidekick to wait by the sidelines while Big Daddy or big Mama saves the day.  The only thing worse than a Mary Sue in my opinion are macho people telling their helpless sidekicks to stand aside because they're not strong enough to help out.  This old theme of damsel in distress just got under my skin and maybe even under my makeup too lol!

In the end there were many surprises in my book and some people thought ShadowFire's character went too low before he redeemed himself by finding a way to save his sisters by going back in time to give the Book of Life back to the rightful owner which happens to be Astraea.  This was on the borderline of Heresy because this legendary book is thought to be owned by God, who wrote down the names of everyone He was taking to Heaven with him as long as their name was written in The Book of Life.

It was interesting because at one point in the story Philip ShadowFire became so powerful he could have easily wiped out all of humanity with the flick of His wrist and could have become the angel of death.  In which Isis,  joked with her newly adopted brother if there was something different about him like changing his hair, from her twisted sense of humor. I will talk about Isis later because she is a main character too.

The reason I had to make my teen witch girls so perfect in my story is that I got so sick and tired of all the stereotypes Hollyweird made about witches who are Satan's daughters, that stole babies souls for Satan and were just terrible demonic people causing harm to everyone they meet.  I wanted to write a story to share with my audience the kind witches I know in real life so the public can see what most witches are really like in real life.

I guess that is why I made the girls, lovable, innocent, funny, full of life and Perfect!  These teen girls have all the traits of being a Mary Sue, but they did have their flaws and limitations that I will explain later in this article as well, my love.

In the end of the first book, Philip ShadowFire did manage to do the right thing and learned from the girls to control his emotions, since It was causing him to make bad mistakes in life, but with the girls patience and unconditional love for their brother, he prevailed in the end!

He also never let the power go to his head and found out that the most powerful form of Magick was not to make people bow down to him, it was to learn that the power of a smile, a gentle touch, an acknowledgment of people's beautiful humanity is the only thing that is going to save our human race from extinction.

The plot twist with Philip ShadowFire in my story is that he was already dead when the three teen girl witches went to his home on Halloween night to visit him.  He was struck by lightning on the top floor of his attic that instantly electrocuted him through an open window by his ritual circle as he was trying to bring his sisters back to life in the time period he was from.  Since my teen girls were witches they were able to talk and interact with the dead and since he died several hours ago from the earlier storm they could communicate with him..  Once ShadowFire gave Astraea the Book of Life to keep the curse was lifted and everything that happened to them including the entire Earth's Armageddon was avoided  He and the girls returned back to life and the story ends with them disappearing in the sacred circle for 14 years until they played their game You can't find me.  Even though the story seemed to center around Philip ShadowFire, the real story I wanted to focus on were his three teen sister witches I dedicated my entire 2nd book on them because I really believed in their characters and wanted to show just how complicated and amazing they truly were! 

The reason why Mr ShadowFire was an important figure in the first installment in the Trilogy is that I needed at least one main male figure to be with the girls so people can see how gender roles shouldn't be stereotyped in a story.  The important thing is that he and the girls became an instant family working together as equals, regardless of their age, gender, or background. 

Another important reason why I included ShadowFire in the first series is that I needed a character that was a Christian Witch.  The teen girls were pure Wicca based Witches and I needed to show how a person who thought he was a Christian be able to join a coven of witches to help save the world.  This story line was meant to show the importance of co-existing in peace regardless of creed otherwise we are doomed as a species if we can't find ways to get along with each other!

Before I conclude commenting on Philip ShadowFire's role in The Book of Life. I wanted to switch gears in the second book to concentrate on the girls so I could expand their roles and character to show you why they are so special in the world and also have a chance to kidnap you along the way hee hee.  ShadowFire narrated the first chapter in the 2nd book but he had to stay behind while the girls took over the narrative when they went to Kirkland Washington to save a family and community from harm.  In the third installment from our Book of Life series I introduced a new Nemesis of the most misunderstood Hindu Goddess of all time named Kali.  You really don't want to mess with her, because if you fail her test of worthiness from her, you are done for!  In my third installment of my Trilogy, Kali decided to tempt ShadowFire, Astraea, Aphrodite and Isis with the things that hurt them the most so maybe they aren't as perfect as they seem! She came to them because a cult group of witches Invoked her to cleanse the world with death, but before that could happen ShadowFire and his sisters had to give in to selfish temptation to prove humans don't deserve mercy in solving the world's overpopulation from those doomsday cult antagonist in this story.

I really hope you enjoy reading my Trilogy series, these stories really means so much to me and if what I shared can change one person's life for the better, that would mean everything to me.  Anyway my love, now that you know ShadowFire a little better, I want to introduce you to my next main character that is a very special girl that ends her most of her sentences with "my love" and why she is so precious to me. Her name is Astraea by the way and you will meet her in the next chapter of this short story I'm writing to you my love!  Darn, that beautiful Angel has me ending most of my sentences with "My Love" too, do you see how she can grow on you! ;)

Chapter 3 Astraea's Character

Now that you know a little something about Philip ShadowFire, he wants to introduce you with great pride and joy to a precious little Angel named Astraea, that he met one faithful night at a burger joint along with her two sisters.  When you first notice her, you will see that she is an innocent 16 year old teenage girl that will melt your heart!  Don't be startled when she notices your arrival my dear, because she will instantly run up to you, give you a hug and tell you how happy you made her day just by showing up to say hi.  Have you ever wondered what unconditional love really looks like?  Once you meet Astraea, you will find that out because she will instantly make you feel welcome and part of her family.  That is her special quality and loving nature she truly is from.  You know, some day when I grow up, I want to be just like her! ;)

Uh oh! Does this mean my beloved Astraea is a Mary Sue character in our book?  Let's find out because she really is a much deeper character than what most people give her credit for.  That's why ShadowFire said he loved her and respected her even more once He got to know her and found out everything she had been through!  No, she is not a Mary Sue character Ms Abbie Emmons lol, but does that make her a helpless damsel in distress that needs rescuing in our book?  I'll let you be the judge on that one my love! ;)

Well, I suppose if you are judging her strictly by her appearance, she is a beautiful petite young lady that is soft spoken, kind, and gentle, that doesn't have a mean bone in her body and looks so vulnerable and innocent, your parental instincts kick in to want to protect her.  Isn't that the very definition of what a damsel in distress would look like ha-ha!

Maybe so, but what if you met her in a village and suddenly, without warning, a terrifying tornado came out of nowhere sending everyone into a blind panic as they ran for shelter.  Your parental instincts activate as you reach for her hand, but instead of her taking it, she gives you a smile and a hug, while she turns around and runs as fast as she can to the tornado.  You scream at the top of your lungs for her to stop!  While you see to your horror how she disappeared into that wind of death, instantly killing her as she disappeared into that hideous cloud!

You are so hurt and grief stricken as you wonder how you let a senseless tragedy occur but don't beat yourself up my love, it wasn't your fault.  That sweet innocent girl had such superhuman lightning reflexes there was no way you could have stopped her from getting away from you, but sometimes you have to let them go!

Something strange happened during the darkest part of your emotions that made you feel like you failed her.  The tornado that was heading you way completely disappeared.  It's almost felt as if Astraea sacrificed her life to save you and the village from harm and it leaves you even more puzzled as you sob some more.

Without warning though, you feel a gentle hand touch the back of your shoulder with a soft soothing voice telling you "It's okay my love, don't cry.  You made me very happy today because I got to see such a beautiful caring person before I had to run to that tornado to tell him to stop because there were people in his path!" 

Even though you are so relieved and happy to see that Astraea is alive, you also become flabbergasted as well.  This sweet Angel that is hugging you with all her heart right now starts to feel weird as you begin to wonder, who is this girl, but the real question you are afraid to ask yourself is.  What is this girl, and is this thing really a human being?  Well I can tell you who she is, but you are not going to like my answer hee hee!  Her name is Astraea and she is a Goddess that was the last Deity to leave the Earth during the Golden Age of Man.  When humans became so corrupt and evil, the Gods and Goddesses became so disgusted with them they left the Earth to make the humans fend for themselves.  Astraea loved the people so much that she stayed behind as long as she could to be with them during their greatest time of need, but even she had to ascend to the Heavens to form the constellation of Virgo.  To remind people of their failures.  if you want to see a really amazing short 3 minute video of who Astraea was, check out this amazing video on YouTube.  Her message and love for humans in this short film makes me think of my characters love for you.

Astraea - Short Film

By the way, everything I am writing in my Trilogy book is based on true stories and in our technological advanced secular world we created, this is a hard story to believe.  So I will end it by saying that Astraea is either an immortal Goddess that came back to Earth to save it, or maybe she really is just a 16 year old girl that thinks she is a Goddess because of her tragic past.  As a child, Astraea had a perfect life, until her adopted parents were killed by a drunk driver on their way to a concert that her violinist mother was going to perform in on Halloween night.  What made matters worse for Astraea, is that she chose to go with her friends, who she considered to be her sisters, instead of going to the concert with her parents on that faithful Halloween night.  As the result of her decision, her parents were killed in that terrible accident that she felt responsible for.  So maybe, the grief and guilt running in her mind made her believe she is a goddess whose mission is to save people to make up the fact she wasn't able to save her parents..  In my third installment of our book.  Goddess Kali used Astraea's guilt to give her a chance to bring her parents back to life, but she would have to pay a price to allow another family to die in their place instead of her parents.  She never could agree to that and this was the only time she cried in her whole life.  It was so hard to see, but we were there for her and that is all that matters to me!

That was her deep dark secret that she hid underneath the innocence of a child and bubbly personality she projected to people, not to mention her wicked sense of humor, but that is what makes her character so amazing to see, once you get to know her.  On the surface, she was fearless and perfect in everything she did, but deep down inside, she is just as real as you and me!  I understand that what I am sharing with you are real serious undertones of what each of my Characters stood for, but the book I wrote was meant to be light hearted even though it had some very dark moments that each Character had to face by themselves and as a family.  Still, the comment made by an author we shall not name (ABBIE EMMONS) ha-ha, about not letting your characters to be a Mary Sue, inspired me to make sure the characters in my story are people we can love, and I think they can!

Well now that you know Astraea's secret let me give you some of the surface things that makes her character so lovable to me.  She is the youngest girl in their coven of three at the age of 16.  She is the fastest one out of all of us to fly on a broomstick, but since this Trilogy story is based on reality ugh!  The only thing that mortals see when the girls attempt to fly is a bunch of juvenile kids laughing as they run around in circles pretending to fly even though they can't seem to get off the ground, but that is how Magick is supposed to work.  Never let a mortal catch you perform real Magick or you will be sorry if you're a witch like me ;) 

She is also absolutely fearless, and loves to ride her motorcycle as much as I Iove to ride mine.  She reminds me of such a sweet and kind Russian Cyclist by the name of Tanya.  That loved her motorcycle, dance and twist her little tush while riding.  She recently died in a tragic motorcycle accident though, but her spirit carries on and I'm so proud how she inspired so many people to live their life to the fullest.  Sometimes when I ride my bike, I dance with my bike and twist my little tush in loving memory of an amazing girl that touched so many lives.  In my spin-off novel titled "Don't talk to Evil Witches, Especially her, I referenced my readers to check out this amazing girl on YouTube channel that I want to share with you now.  RIP my love and know we are here to keep your spirit alive as we ride in your honor!

Tanya Motobike Girl

I understand how real life can get, that is why I had Astraea Tell Dylan that she is a careful motorcyclist, that obeys the speed limit and gave him a helmet before she took him back to her sisters slumber party to make him a sacrifice for their party, I mean guest!  Darn I hate when we make Freudian slips, oh well.  We do have a twisted sense of humor that I hope you can forgive! 

In my spin-off book "Don't Talk to Evil Witches, Especially her" she had to fly a Lear Jet 25 D to Washington State to return this plane to the feds.  She never flew a plane before but she loves to pretend to fly her broomstick and drive her motorcycle, That is the same thing as flying a plane right?  Well needless to say she had Philip ShadowFire to co-pilot with her, but the only problem is that He never flew a plane before in his life either.  He had faith in his 16 year old sister, but did plead with her not to crash the Lear Jet at the end of the runway when they take off.  They made it to Washington safely, even though it was insane what they did. This scene was necessary because it showed Astraea's fearless Character and zest for life ShadowFire admired so much about her.

Lear jet night landing

Throughout the entire books there were people that thought they could intimidate Astraea because she was so vulnerable.  Brother Jim tried to convert her to Christianity, but she stood her ground and politely refused his offer.  The Mighty Angel that was guarding the East section from the Garden of Eden with her flaming sword tried to scare Astraea by telling her who was the rightful owner of "THE BOOK" was, but before that mighty Angel could speak she replied "I'm the rightful owner!" With a big smile on her face.  The school counselor from the second story told Astraea she is going to expel her sisters from school with a stroke of a pen.  Astraea responded "Do what you must but just know when you use your pen I'm going to use my wand to stop you my love, we will see you in school next week."  Astraea's character is a reminder that people who are nice, loving, caring emphatic are not weak, so don't assume you can run over them with your might.

The last thing I want to mention about Astraea is that her Character represents the child in all of us we need to keep so that our hearts don't harden to the cold realities of life.  To be in Awe and Wonder off all the positive things life has to offer us as we live.  Some people say to put away our childish things so we can face the harsh realities of life, my reply is that I never grew up ha-ha, so I'm sorry, but I'm going to dance like Tanya Motobike Girl did when she was alive, because our time here is so short, precious and easy to miss if you kill the youth that is inside your mind.  It's okay to be a responsible adult, but let the kid in you come out and play from time to time to remember how precious life was during those innocent times of your life!

Chapter 4 Aphrodite's Character

what can I say about Aphrodite other than I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER!!!!!!  Ha,ha!  She is the epitome example of the kind of girl I want to be when I grow up some day, does this theme sound familiar from the descriptions of the characters in my book? ;)

You can't help but fall in love with this lady with her flirty nature, zest for life, womanhood, motherhood, sexuality, and confidence in herself as she proudly expresses her arrival to the world that needs her!  She kind of sounds like she is a little vain eh, but that is what makes her so special, because she is the real hero that puts an oppressive society in place that conditions young women to self loathe themselves, be quiet, submit to Victorian standards and to oppress humans simply because they are a woman!

I want to give you an example of what kind of girl Aphrodite is.  If you can, try to imagine that you are in high school sitting outside near a girl that is sitting on a bench under a tree when a bully is approaching her.  As the bully nears her, you hear Aphrodite loudly say "HELLO BEAUTIFUL" as she looks in her mirror.  The mean girl hates her guts because of Aphrodite's self confidence so she gets in her face and says "Ew, your not beautiful your ugly!" This puzzles Aphrodite so she looks in her mirror again and boldly replied "NO!  I looked twice and see that I am as beautiful as the world is around me, the mirror never lies my dear"  the mean girl replies "You're not only ugly but your conceited too" Aphrodite looks in her mirror once more but had a wicked smile this time while saying "I'm so sorry you're not as beautiful as I am. Perhaps if you can get rid of your evil ways we can be friends so I can teach you to be as beautiful as I am" mean girl rolls her eyes and says "Whatever, Loser" As she and her minions walk away in disgust.

Oh, you just don't know how bad I need Aphrodite in my life. She is the character whose virtues are so pure, they mirror Astraea's virtues as well, even though Aphrodite's mother is labeled a whore from the school counselor in the 2nd installment of our book.  Aphrodite may seem vain at times but it is her confidence that is going to help me change the world for the better, even if it takes her to kidnap one person at a time to show the beauty in them as well! ;)

Not bad for a 17 year old girl that only wants people to find the love that is hidden deep inside of them so they can share that love with others!  I want to give you another example of Aphrodite's tremendous power of love and confidence she can give to people that are hurting as they read our story.  It took place in the cafeteria where the same mean girl that was bullying her snuck up from behind and smeared lipstick and makeup up all over Aphrodite's face, making her look like a pathetic clown.  The mean girl had a smirk on her face and laughed at her while saying "Look who's pretty now!" Aphrodite quickly covered her face and put her head down on the table to hide her pathetic look from her tormentor whose name was Lucy.  Everyone was stunned and it appeared Aphrodite was crying but she wasn't crying.  She was giggling as she raised herself to the top of the cafeteria table and loudly proclaimed to Lucy and everyone in the cafeteria that was staring at her with the biggest smile on her face "I'M BEAUTIFUL!  Thanks Lucy for the makeover, anyone care to join me?" That is when Gina who was another girl that was terrorized by Lucy climbed up on the table and said "I'm beautiful too!" While smearing makeup all over her face.  Before you knew it everyone in the cafeteria was smearing makeup and lipstick on themselves and saying they were beautiful too!  That is the power of love that emanates deep from Aphrodite's soul that was too much for poor Lucy to take so she ran out of the cafeteria in shame.

Oh where was Aphrodite when I needed her the most when I was in high school? Oh wait a tick, I was Aphrodite in my high school days that got in so much trouble for being me, I wear those memories like a badge of honor! ;)

I wanted a story that addressed issues of teen bullying, self loathing, low self esteem and all the other wonderful gifts that torture our developing minds.  This crucial part of our life is what is going to define our life as adults if we are not careful and that is why I need Aphrodite in the story to give people hope with her special kind of Magick that is in her. So thanks Aphrodite for helping people with their problems by just being you!

Well, after giving my beloved Aphrodite all the praises she deserves do I dare ask if she is a Mary Sue, Suzie Q, or Honey Boo person in our story? Ha-ha absolutely not my dear because I think she is the most human character out of all the Stars in our book and that includes the 100 supporting actress/actors that are also featured in our story.  By the way, my last chapter is going to be dedicated to these wonderful people that are ignored in almost every book or movie I see.  I mean really, these people/extra's that are in the background were created to move the story along with absolutely no depth to their character whatsoever.  At least zombies have a line that always seem to say the same thing "BRAINS" and then these poor zombie extras chase the "REAL STARS" of the show to move the movie along.  Sadly that seems to be the same strategy most writers give any supporting stars in their story.  If you're an extra, you don't matter, well not on my watch sweetie lol, and I sincerely hope I give you all the recognition and respect you deserve in my movie books!  When I read a book or watch a movie, I'm always interested in the minor roles and background characters of the story.  If they are generic mannequins that have no reason for being there I believe that weakens the plot of a great movie.

Wow, sorry for going off topic for a bit.  I guess it's just that Goddess Aphrodite in Mythology and my Character girl who thinks she is Aphrodite sometimes get a bum rap where people might think she is a one dimensional character, but she has so many onion layers in her personality that makes her so lovable to me, so let's talk a little more about her to find out who she is.  Her school counselor seems to know her by the files she read since Aphrodite was a transfer student.  By the way, the reason high school counselor Lan Wu was so hard on Aphrodite is that she is the aunt of Lucy that bullies Aphrodite.

In addition to being a lover, Aphrodite can channel Spirits of the dearly departed so the ones who passed away can spend one last precious moment with their living loved ones, before they leave Earth forever when they pass through the light.  So sometimes Aphrodite may not feel like herself during some days because she is in fact two people ha-ha, so how is that for having a multi dimensional personality.

Another quality of Aphrodite is the mother instinct she has for the people she meets.  There was a suicidal girl named Cindy that Aphrodite met so she instantly made Cindy her bestie so she could give her a reason to live.

One of Aphrodite's quirks is that whenever she gets in an uncomfortable situation she will revert back to me ole English language my love, from the year of our Lord of 1492 from esteemed King Henry Vll that reign in honor of our Monarchy.

Aphrodite has a unique gift that can turn any mirror into a window to your soul.  It's a technique that witches call scrying and is the reason why Aphrodite looks in her mirror often when anyone confronts or catches her off guard.  Her gift can also help you look in your soul as well my love to show you how beautiful you are too, because her mirror never lies!

Aphrodite also loves people to death!  Metaphorically speaking of course ha-ha.  That is why she was winking at you while school counselor Lan Wu was scolding her in the office. She didn't want you to feel left out because she genuinely loves you and grateful to have you for a friend.

I think one of the most endearing qualities I love about her is her quirky Freudian slip's when she invited Dylan over to their slumber party "Dylan, will you be our sacrifice, I mean date for our party tonight" how can a guy say no to an offer like that from a girl? ha-ha.

Also, If you think Astraea is pure, Aphrodite equals her virtues since she is such a forgiving person and even makes friends with counselor Lan Wu in the end as well as saving Lucy from a fire she started in the school's office area.  Yes Aphrodite is a very interesting person that is so much more than anyone can imagine if you take the time to get to know her.  She's the best sister you could ever have because she will have your back when you need her the most.

In the third and final installment of our Trilogy book Goddess Kali tried to tempt Aphrodite to save her mother from a brutal attack by men who assaulted her near some train tracks she ended on.  Because of this assault her mother went to the gutter and became known as the whore of the town.  People think this is why Aphrodite is the way she is by having some sick fantasy she is a Love Goddess to everyone she meets, but in all reality she is a virtuous person and still a virgin despite her innuendos and flirty nature.  It's her coping mechanism in recognizing it wasn't her mother's fault for turning out the way she did, and that her mother's actions were not going to define what type of person she is.  That is my beloved Aphrodite I just shared with you and hope you see that she is a very deep person than what people give her credit for!

Chapter 5 Oh Mighty Isis!

Isis is the last Major character in my Book of Life series I am honored to share with you.  She is the oldest sister in the coven at 17 years old and is probably the closest character you could describe as a Mary Sue.  I really like her and respect all that she went through in her life and what a strong person she is.  I wanted her character to be like an older sister in a large family that had to take over the responsibilities of parenthood to her younger siblings.  This theme is so common from what I have observed in real life that I thought it was important to reflect Isis role in my story.  It's a great burden to have to give up your childhood to try to keep your sibling family together and that is the way Isis was in my story but she was an only child in my book.

What is it about Isis that makes her seem bland, and the need to hide her emotions from the people that love her.  I think it's because she feels it's her responsibility to keep her coven of sisters together because she and Aphrodite were placed in a foster care system and Astraea was about to be placed in the state's custody as well, once her parents died in the car accident.  Even though Astraea had a vision of meeting ShadowFire on Halloween night at his home that would require her to miss her mother's fall harvest concert that she was supposed to attend, it was Isis that convinced Astraea to ditch her parents and go with them to see ShadowFire.  She knew her parents were going to die that night and there was nothing she could do to change that fate.  That is why she convinced Astraea to run away with them to keep her out of the states foster care system and hoped that ShadowFire could somehow save them.

Astraea was a Libra, an oracle, and had powers to control the wind, but her weakness was that she could never see her own fate in her visions that is why she couldn't see her parents impending death.  This was Isis burden I didn't mention in the story because it would have taken away my intention to make the girls seem perfect even though they weren't. Even though I didn't mention this information in the story it is actually a crucial part of the plot because the entire series of my book depends on Isis taking charge to meet ShadowFire on that faithful Halloween night.  If Isis and the girls did not meet ShadowFire, then they would not be able to break the curse of the Book of Life which was a metaphor of Pandora's Box.  Like Pandora, ShadowFire opened a sacred book that contained the names of every saved person written within its pages.  It was placed in his attic by Goddess Kali to show our Creator that people are generally evil so the wrath of God should fulfill Biblical Revelations Prophecy of judgment and harsh punishment to the world that defied Him.  The entire fate of the world centered around a Christian Witch That had to make the right choice in life with the help of his teen witch family to decide humanity's fate.  This was something that Isis knew all along, but she couldn't tell anyone because that would immediately seal everyone's fate since that information would prove humans were not worthy to face the test because it would be cheating the conditions of the test that God wanted to see from his children.

From Goddess Mythology, Isis was one of the most powerful goddess that was Royalty, Mother, Provider, Healer, that gave hope to the down trodden, and love to the people she cared for.  It was a tremendous responsibility to be in charge and responsible for the children of the world to care for and all that transcended into my 17 year old Isis witch that was burdened with the knowledge of the great test and tribulations our Creator provided by the test of Kali. Even ShadowFire didn't know the true meaning of the Book of Life he found in his attic, only Isis did.  Could you imagine the overwhelming pressure to place on a 17 year old girl when God tells her she will be put in charge of people that will ultimately decide if the world is worth saving. that's why she hid her emotions and was a little distant to her coven family of Astraea, Aphrodite and ShadowFire but she loved them with all her heart and would gladly sacrifice her life for them, wow!

That was the deep dark secret I kept about her until now and hope it explains her deeply complex personality she had to endure to stay sane in an insane world.  On the surface Isis had a pretty humble but hard life.  Her parents were drug addicts that feared her because of the powers they could sense that she possessed from her witchcraft practice.  Like the mythical Isis, she was the most powerful woman on Earth and yet with all that power she possessed, she gladly accepted the responsibility to be a humble servant of women and men.

the reason that the trio of characters of Astraea, Aphrodite and Isis were so complex and important to note is that each girl was part of the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother and Crone.  Astraea was the maiden, to represent the child in all of us we need to keep alive so we can be in Awe of this miracle of life that flows around us and within us.  Aphrodite was the mother to represent the ability to create life and care for our children.  While Isis represented the Crone, the wise grandmother that is there to help her legacy to avoid the mistakes she made when she was their age.  These are pretty tall orders for teen girls to take these roles, but they rose to the occasion because they didn't have to face their obstacles alone, they were a family that acted as equals to complete the triple goddess into one powerful being.

I can go on and on about the complexities of Isis, but I'll stick to surface part of the plot that I pubically portrayed to my readers.  She was a troubled teen girl that was a powerful witch whose drug addicts parents feared her so they gave up their parental rights to place her in Child care custody.  She met Aphrodite and Astraea in the same school that fate would have them attend and they became friends.  Isis wisdom and powerful Magick made her instantly adore her friends she adopted as sisters to form a coven to protect them from harm, but what made Isis such a special human being?  I'm glad you asked! ;)

Isis was a woman that never had the chance to be a child because of her responsibilities.  As a result she, laughed and joked with her coven sisters, but you could tell there was a subtle sadness to her humor.  She was always so humble and respectful to the people she met, but she was painfully honest and completely in control of the situation regardless of how severe things were.  She could come up to you and say "Your hair is on fire, let me help you put it out"  and then calmly place her hand on your hair to put out the flame before it burned your scalp ha-ha.  While the girls were excited to greet ShadowFire the first time they met him at the burger joint, Isis was a little more fomal by stating facts about knowing who he was.  She still laughed with the girls by ShadowFire's amazement of them, but her very subtle acts of formality might not have been noticed until later in the story.

Even though she was humble and respectful to the people she talked to, you could tell just by looking at her that she had tremendous powers within her.  Her parents were so scared of her that they gave up their rights to her.  So here we have a humble 17 year old girl that you wanted to bow down to, because her persona screamed that she was royalty.  She even hinted at her royalty when ShadowFire made a baseball teasing joke to Isis that she could be hired as a janitor of a baseball team, because she can have her choice of brooms to fly.  Her reply was "No, I think I will be the owner and fire all of you, so you can come back and bow before your Queen to get your old jobs back.  Except for you Aries.  I'll never fire you, a Queen always needs a reliable fool in her court, and good help is so hard to find these days!" Ouch, oh we had so much fun teasing each other that day, but we had to move on to more serious issues that still needed to be resolved.

Despite her somber persona, Isis really had some funny one liners that made her character so lovable to me.  When ShadowFire and the girls were on the stage of a very intimidating announcer in front of millions of people that was effectively demonizing them in front of the massive crowd Isis told that bold announcer "Can I have Fries with my Order?"  I was amazed at what she said and she laughingly protested at my bewilderment  "What?  He sounds like the voice from that kid we used to order in the drive through, Remember Girls?"  She sensed ShadowFire's panic so that is why she joked to make fun of their dangerous adversary.

In the first book chapter titled Sin in the garden, Isis threw a poisoned apple at the warrior Angel that was the guardian of the Garden of Eden, Since she condemned Aphrodite and Astraea to a future death by throwing them out of the Garden of Eden to Earth, Isis said " "Hey Granny, you look hungry, Here's our last meal gift to you, Enjoy!"  This powerful Angel was so frightened because if that apple would have touched her, she would have immediately died and it took all her Angel powers to keep from getting hit because Isis was a lethal aimer.

I think the most powerful words Isis had to say to ShadowFire was when he was pleading them to leave the battle before they were prophesied to die. Isis responded by saying "Aries, my love, everything you revealed to us is so touching, it shows how much you love us, and I will never forget this moment of how close our family truly is!"  I was sobbing  "Oh yes, Isis, I love you all!  More than life itself!"  Isis looked me straight in the eyes and said  "We love you too Aries, but tell me, what did you see us do in that book my love?" 

I didn't want to tell her, but I did  "I saw that you 3 choose to stay behind!"  Isis spoke  "And do you know why we had to stay behind Aries?"  I wasn't sure  "No Isis why did you stay behind my love?"  Isis revealed something to me I did not want to hear  "Because Aries, before we met and became as one, We promised Mother that we would protect her to the very end!  Oh Aries, we can't break our Oath to our Mother, and you can't break your Oath to your God.  We will have to be separated on that faithful day.  You can't change fate, and it was already written in the book, so we must live out our destiny!" 

I was astounded  "But you girls are my destiny I can't leave you!"  Isis replied  "Oh Aries, it is true we are soul mates and our destinies are meant to be shared for eternity!  But you have to follow your path in life!  Never give up the Faith!  Somehow I just know that we are going to rejoin after all of this is through, and we'll be a family again.  Aries, leave us when the time is right, but find you way back to us my love, we will be waiting for you, and that is my promise to you my love!"  Oh her words were so powerful, and the love she gave me was overwhelming I promised to find a way back while holding them tight and never letting them go!

Isis didn't have many chances to be a kid just to have fun, but right after Lucy tried to sneak up to her in the second book chapter titled"Mabon" to throw a baton in her face to injure her, Everyone was amazed at her lightning reflexes by catching it without even looking up as she was addressing the crowd at the football stadium.  It was the catch of the century and the kids were so impressed they picked up Isis their new Queen that stood up to Lucy's reign of terror. Isis was so happy when she pointed to the bleachers and the kids carried her to the bleachers, then she pointed to the goal post and the kids carried her there, finally she seen their adopted dad so she pointed to his direction and the kids happily carried her to her father.  She was so happy to take a break from being an adult and she needed this moment to be a kid even if it were just for a moment.  When the kids let her down to greet her dad she laughed and said "Sorry Dad, I didn't notice the time and got carried away!"  I don't know if my readers realized how important this scene was for Isis to show her humanity she hides from everyone but it was hard for me to know why this one brief moment meant so much to her!

So mighty Isis, protector of the downtrodden, mother, caregiver to her children of Earth, the champion of justice, mercy forgiveness and humbleness who happens to be a 17 year old quiet girl that has such an aura of power behind her humble nature is certainly a character that is as deep and complex as all the other characters in my book, even though she has to hide her true emotions to keep everyone strong and united as a family.  I can't think of a better person to salute than Isis and hope you feel the same way, my love!

Chapter 6 A tribute to the minor supporting stars that are taken for granted in stories

I wanted to dedicate a chapter to all the minor stars that take part in the movie that never seems to get recognition or praise in a movie and even though their roles maybe minor, their contributions can make a great movie absolutely Epic by adding a little reality to the everyday people that surrounds the main characters of any movie and even our life in general.  In real life a person could really be having a bad day to the point of being suicidal.  As they are walking to the home to end their life they pass by some random girl that comes out of nowhere to smile at him and give him a hug and walks away in the distance never to be seen again.  What this insignificient person did that was taken for granted by everyone around her just saved this man's life because of one small act of kindness and love gave him hope for the future that he decided to turn his life around for the better. 

There are always people in our background that we miss that can really impact our lives.  I was heading to one of our offices on a large complex and I happened to pass by a maintenance worker that was fixing a security wall that seperated our buidings from the public.  He looked agigated so I gave him the warmest smile and friendliest gesture to hopefully cheer him up, but he looked at me with disgust almost like he hated women.  So I continued with my walk as he swiftly turned his back on me to work on the wall when the forklift he was operating somehow got into gear and was moving about to crush him against the wall.  I ran as fast as I could, jumped on the forklift and slammed on the brakes just inches from it crushing him to death.  The look on his face was pure terror and amazement that I knew how to operate a forklift but I am a multi tasking wtich hee, so I just smiled put the emergency brake on and said "Have a nice day sir!" and left.  He never said thanks, maybe he was in shock, and after that one brief encounter Inever saw him again. It was definately a surreal moment for me, but it really got me to thinking that even though I was a minor character in this guys life, I had a chance to do something amazing to save his life by being blessed to be where I was, at the right time to keep him from dying in a horrific accident.

I just want to give a few notations of all the people in my story that really made a difference to me and hope it enhanced my story to a better level let's start with Granny, from my first book.

Granny was an elderly lady that walked with a cane and had some spunk to her.  She wasn't anyone special just a lady that was tired, beaten and very set in her ways.  She was a victim of all the people from the Biblical Apocalypse Armegedon that everyone was suffering from, but that didn't stop her from wanting to live so each day she slowly rose up got her cane and poked ShadowFire in the ribs to ask him, "Are you still alive?"  it was cute and Aphrodite joked with her saying that "Last night he was very much alive" ha-ha.  Even though granny was not an important star in my book the girls thought she was and cared for her to the end.  The twist about this sweet insignifient granny, is that she was really the Guardian Angel of the East gate to the Garden of Eden.  She was a powerful Angel that posed as an elderly woman to keep her eyes on the witches and turned out to be a crucial plot to decide ShadowFire and Girls fate in the end.

Cindy was a minor character in the second series of my book that had a small role, and you didn't get to meet her until near the end of the story.  As Aphrodite and Astraea passed by her in the hallway, she was in the background trying not to sob.  During her entire life she always seemed to be the background of activity and invisible to the people that walked by her.  Well on that day she decide that she was going to commit suicide after she got out of school because she couldn't take the pain of being alone and unloved.  When Aphrodite passed by her she immediately went up to her gave her a hug and invited her to hang out with her sisters after school.  She told Cindy she was so glad to meet her and she was going to be her bestie from now on.  Aphrodite's love to a random insignificent girl gave her a chance to blossom into a beautiful lady the more she hung out with Aphrodite and her sisters.  I needed this minor Character Cindy in my story to let people know who are hurthing and thinking about hurting themselves, that they are special, beautiful and unique.  That it would be a privelege to hang out with them and be their friend.  If you are one of these people just know I love you dearly and I'm so honored to be able to share some time with you even if it we only get to meet through this story, I want you to know I love you, will pray for you and need you here with us because there is a beautiful person the world needs to meet when you are ready to show that world your beautiful spark in life.  If you don't mind I'd like to dedicate this song in your honor, LOVE YOU! HUGS!

Katy Perry - Firework (Official Music Video)