Today, I’m excited to have author Amy Brock McNew here with a guest post on a unique subject—demons.

Her latest book, Reconciliation, released last week. Be sure to check out the info below for a blurb about Reconciliation and a passle of links.

And now, I’ll turn it over to Amy for this behind-the-scenes-peek.

Into the Mind of Demons (guest post)

Thanks for having me today, Zac.

I want to talk about something I get asked about quite often.

Demons.

Everyone seems to want to know how I write them, where my research comes from, how I get in their heads, and what it’s like.

Let me tell ya, it ain’t no picnic.

Everyone appears to have their own opinions about demons. What they look like, how they act, and what their motivations are. Most tend to think demons do what they do simply because they’re evil, that they have no other impetus. That they’re scary-looking and aren’t capable of anything but destruction.

I rather enjoy turning those ideas on their heads and, for lack of a better term, “humanizing” them. Let me explain what I mean.

First up, research. Surprisingly, reliable research on demons is difficult to find. Same goes for angels. I use what there is in the Bible, which is shockingly little in the scheme of things. Then I go to vetted theological sites, often from seminaries or large religious organizations. After that, I’m on my own. From what we are told in Scripture, I extrapolated that yes, demons and angels do have varied personalities, and they do have a range of emotion and motivation. I mean, it stands to reason they’d have some of the same qualities we do, since demons are fallen angels, made in the image of the Father as we are.

I took this idea and ran with it.

First, I put myself in their heads and figure out what makes each of them tick. Revenge against Heaven? Vengeance? Their own lofty desires of ruling Hell? Even desperation for the love of a Father they feel they were denied? Sure, I’d imagine some, just like people, do things simply because they can. They feel they have no rules, no restrictions, and set out to wreck as much havoc as possible. Maybe some enjoy the pain, both that which they inflict and that they bring upon themselves. But rarely, I imagine, are they evil simply for evil’s sake. There is always a reason.

Whatever their motivation, inside their brains isn’t a great place to be. But it is fascinating.

When I’m writing a demon, I want them to seem as real and rich and intense as I can. I also want you to be able to empathize, or at least sympathize, with them. No. I don’t mean I want people to feel exactly what demons do. I want you to see what they once were, what they could’ve been, and how the choices they made, one in particular (to fall), changed everything. I want readers to identify with them in that they could at least partially understand the anger, the pain, the utter desolation that can come from one choice. That something as beautiful and perfect as an angel could fall and become a ruined, charred shell of what it once was.

To place myself in a demon’s mind and write them with any kind of realism is like trying to find a good spot to leap into a whirling vortex. A dark tunnel where the light at the other end is so far away.

It’s quite shocking when what I imagine they would think and feel isn’t as opposite from my own feelings and thoughts as I’d hoped. When I dig down deep, I find similarities that prove exactly what Christ saved me from.

It’s a dark, twisted, painful, and terrifyingly familiar place. Each time I’m writing these characters, Kade and Tiriana especially, I realize how easy it would be, and in the past was, for me to fall into a similar place myself. I see the fine line, the grace that separates me by the slimmest margin from becoming that which I now hate.

I find a mind that but for one choice, one moment, could’ve been for eternity something beautiful and awe-inspiring. I realize, it’s exactly the same for all of us. One, maybe seemingly insignificant decision is all that separates us from pure evil.

And that’s more terrifying than anything else I could find in there.

But it’s also amazing.

Because one right choice can save us, just like it saved me.

Next time you’re reading the books of TRWC, I hope you look a little more closely at the demons. See them as more than just villains, but a cautionary tale that hits close to home. See the similarities between us and them, as well as the differences. I also hope you find comfort in the fact that, unlike Kade, Markus, and Tiriana, we still have a choice.

We have grace.

And that’s the greatest story of all.

(images courtesy of visualhunt.com stock photography)

>>>>

Thanks to Amy for that insightful post.

RECONCILIATION BLURB

Some ghosts from the past refuse to stay dead.

Finally. Finally everything is coming together for Liz Brantley. She’s marrying Ryland
Vaughn, the man of her dreams. She’s embraced her calling and battles the minions of hell bent on her destruction. And she’s left her dark past far behind her. Or so she thought.

A secret she holds close, stuffed down deep, surfaces at the wrong time for everyone in Liz’s life, leaving a trail of devastation. Left reeling, Liz wonders if she made a mistake, putting her trust in God, her guardian Arie, and Ryland. And the demon Kade capitalizes on her shaken faith. With a vengeance.

Torn between her tortured past and the future she craves, Liz is desperate to defeat every demon that stands in her way. Before all hell breaks loose and swallows her whole.

ALL THE LINKS

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BUY RECONCILIATION

About Amy

Amy Brock McNew doesn’t just write speculative fiction, she lives and breathes it. Exploring the strange, the supernatural, and the wonderfully weird, Amy pours her guts onto the pages she writes, honestly and brutally revealing herself in the process. Nothing is off-limits. Her favorite question is “what if?” and she believes fiction can be truer than our sheltered and controlled realities. Visit AmyBrockMcNew.com to learn more about this intriguing author.