Update from behind the Keyboard

Hi!

I’ve been working like mad on the rewrite of “Angel’s Gate”, and I would love to say it’s going awesome.  It’s not going bad, but right now each sentence is like pulling teeth.  But that’s not what I really want to talk about.  It has been the main focus of my life right now, it’s supposed to be the main focus of my life, but then bam! just as I was falling asleep one night my brain popped out with the whole beginning of Book 2 in the ShadowGate series, “Guardian Angel”.

During “Angel’s Gate” I fell in love with the Guardian, Gideon. How could I not? This gorgeous blue-eyed angel loves Froot Loops and where sweets are concerned he’s a hummingbird! The boy has one hell of a sweet tooth. He’s also just a true sweetheart with a heart of gold.

I knew while writing the original draft of “Angel’s Gate” I’d eventually tell Gideon’s story, but it was in a distant, vague, shadowy kind of way. Then of course the whole world of the ShadowGate grabbed me by the throat and I knew I’d be telling his story really soon. I HAD thought it would be once “Angel’s Gate” was done with the rewrite. Wrong! Gideon just had to have his turn in the spotlight.

So, I wrote the first chapter in eight hours and have been going steady ever since. I average about 10 pages a day, so if I keep up this pace Gideon’s tale will be done in no time at all.  Maybe even before I’m done with “Angel’s Gate”‘s final polish.

Well, I’ll keep you posted!

L.

Say hello to AG

Hi Folks,

I thought it was about time you met our heroine AG, or rather Agatha Grace Morris. (She really, really, really, really hates Agatha Grace). AG is inspired in many ways from my own past. Like her I was raised in a zealously devout family, by a mother who was adamant about her belief in God. Like AG I loved God, but I didn’t necessarily believe in the one my mom did. I couldn’t make myself agree with a God who could condemn babies for sins they never committed. (Don’t worry I’m not going to go on a religious tangent here. Just trying to help you understand AG.) Still, I did believe. But my mom’s faith was rigid and very controlling like a prison. It was the same for AG when she was growing up.

She was raised in fear of demons and dark angels, of sin and absolution. Her mother kept a tight control on her and in the end it forced her to escape. The moment she was old enough she escaped and planned to never go back. She thought she was finally free of the angels and the demons. Thought they were only her mother’s mad delusions. She was wrong. They were real and they have plans for her. She has a destiny she doesn’t want, a fate she can’t escape.

Now she’s pulled back into the one place she never wanted to return, meeting angels, fighting her personal demons and struggling to accept her purpose in life.

Thankfully I threw the poor girl a bone and gave her the dark and sexy angel Mordecai to love. Let’s just see what she does with him shall we?

Until next time,

L.

Meet Gideon

Hi!

So, I was thinking about what I’ve told you about Mordecai, which led me to think about another of the angels that works at the Sanctuary. Gideon, is a Guardian Angel who was sent to Earth long ago to protect mankind. Like Mordecai his only purpose is to serve. But he is still a prisoner lacking free will. He stands on the other side of the Gate from Mordecai, a fully light Angel, but he is still as much of a prisoner to his duty as Mordecai is.

He’s spent millennia on earth, watching his charges be born and die. He can’t help but love each one, can’t help but feel pride in their successes, abject grief in their deaths. He can only watch them though, never touch them, never speak to them and he is very alone. Then he meets Anna, mother to A G, the heroine of “Angel’s Gate”. For the first time in a long time he can be seen, he can for a time almost be human. He gets to be her companion, gets to be there to watch her daughter grow, he gets to fall in love with her, but in the end, like always, he gets to see her die. Something in him breaks and he questions his duty, his purpose. He knows he will never fall, but he no longer can find joy in his purpose.

Gideon was supposed to be just a minor character when I began to write “Angel’s Gate”, but this heartbroken Angel made me simply fall love. By the end of the story I just knew he needed his own book. So, he’s definitely getting one 🙂

I can’t wait for you to meet Gideon. Talk soon,

L.

The ShadowGate Series by L Becker

Chapter Two

Hi to all of you in the Shadow Kingdom!

The re-write on ‘Angel’s Gate’ is going good.  A little slow, mainly due to the fact that I’ve been a tad lazy.  Netflix has got to be the enemy of productivity.  At least in this writer’s life.  But, I finally chained myself back to my desk chair and punched out another chapter.  So Chapter 2 is done and heading into Chapter 3.

I’m having fun reintroducing myself to this book and these characters.  Yes I spent months with them in the original draft, but it’s a much deeper relationship this time around.  I now know them and am able to bring out more depth and nuances to their characters.  I’m also adding some new scenes to give us a greater understanding of our female protagonist.

The plane landed with a light bounce against the runway. AG could hear the faint screech of rubber as tires met asphalt and then she felt herself dipped forward as the brakes came into play.  A familiar combination of sensations, familiar from years of air travel, but never had she felt them at this airfield.  She’d never flown into Albany International.  She’d only flown out of it.  Ten years ago when she’d left home.  She’d boarded a plane and headed west.  Out to California, to the state that she’d made her home.  She’d never flown home.  Not in all that time.  Never flown home… until now.

She remained still as the plane taxied toward the terminal, as others around her began to stir.  Laptops were closed and stowed.  People awakened from the awkward doze of the experienced air traveler.  Ahead of her, past the wing, a little girl’s voice lifted in an unhappy whine.  She didn’t move, let the passengers on either side of her shift and grab for hand bags and carry-ons.  But her thoughts were not on them, or those moments.  Her thoughts were elsewhere.  Thinking back to a dream.  The dream she’d had only hours before she’d learned of her mother’s death.  A dream she’d woken from in tears.” – Excerpt Chapter Two – Angel’s Gate

All in all I’m enjoying the work, when I can drag myself away from Netflix!

Well, until next time,

Talk soon,

L

Hi from the ShadowGate!

A few years back I wrote “Fallen Angel”, a short story, which introduced me to the hidden world of angels, demons and Nephlim. But with life and business and anything everything else I didn’t really follow up on the idea. It was always there. and then it happened.  I had a few months completely on technology blackout and then that back burner suddenly kicked into high gear and the ShadowGate was born.

Those were the best months for writing!  Amazing what can be accomplished with no computer, no internet etc.  Now, to be clear I am NOT going sans tech for that long ever again, but I’ll certainly go a week every once in a while just to get the cobwebs clear. A week of writing boot camp!

Talk soon,

L.

The Rewrite is On!

Hi!

Some months ago I finished “Angel’s Gate”, unknowingly beginning my new series the ShadowGate. The question of free will, of being tainted and stained by duty introduced me to Mordecai. His sole purpose is to defend the Earth from the Daemos and DownCast who wish to escape the Verge to Earth. His duty has left him stained in blood and death, with each stroke of his sword taking him further and further from the God he was created to serve. Now he’s balancing on the thin edge of becoming one of the Downcast. This man – Angel – really called to me and I just had to tell his story.

I hope you fall in love with Mordecai like I did. Keep your eyes open for “Angel’s Gate”, the rewrite/polish is in full swing. Keep you posted!

L.

Welcome to the ShadowGate!

Hi!

I’m very excited about my new series the ShadowGate.  It’s about the hidden world of demons and angels. I’ve been playing around with this idea for years, ever since I wrote the short story “Fallen Angel.” (Download a Free Copy). The idea of creatures created solely to serve without choice, without free will has always fascinated me. It’s a type of prison isn’t it? To never be able to think for yourself.

That’s how this all began. A single question: why should Lucifer be damned for wanting free will? For demanding his freedom? Nothing is ever simply black-and-white. I mean God created Lucifer, and must have known it was within him to question, to rebel. How cruel is it to make a creation destined to be damned? The rest of the idea just kind of flowed from there and along came the ShadowGate Series.

I hope you enjoy each story and fall in love with these characters as I have. Until next time,

L.