Why I Wrote Hello Satan
I’ve always liked stories set in Hell. Blame Dante. According to him, all gay people are bound for the seventh circle, and do a great deal of sprinting on burning sands. I reasoned that as a girl who liked girls, I had a one way ticket. Whenever I did the Bleep test at school, I was convinced I was there already.
Of course you can’t have Hell without its ruler and emcee, Satan. He was an important secondary character in Out of Place, the rock opera I wrote as a Paradise Lost loving kid. He features as Avi in The Revenge of Rose Grubb. He’s the big picture villain of Book 666, having far more impact on our heroines’ lives than God, who is rumoured to be senile. This wasn’t even a conscious decision on my part. If you write supernatural fantasy, the Devil’s bound to show up eventually.
I’m fascinated by the many questions the Prince of Darkness raises. He’s both the supreme sinner and punisher of human sinners. Why would you rebel against God, a futile action if ever there was one? If God is all powerful, why would Satan exist - and why wouldn’t He smite him once his treachery was known?
There’s a confrontation between Satan and the Adversary, aka God, at the end of Book 666. It introduces them as estranged parent and child, and how their entire conflict stems from that. I loved writing this scene but didn’t expect to see them again. I had several other book ideas lined up.
Then the attack on the Capitol happened. America could easily have fallen to fascism that day; it gives you chills just thinking about it. I had to write it out of my system - and somehow it transformed into the War in Heaven. Who would be a better first person narrator than Satan himself, trying to make himself both the misunderstood antihero and victim of a conspiracy?
It wasn’t intended as a prequel to Book 666, but I’d spent so long with that world and characters, it seemed pointless to start over. It also meant I could explore the God/Satan, mother/child relationship in more depth, and how they can never truly hate or destroy the other. Add ‘Junior,’ the infuriating little brother, to the mix, and you’ve a family dynamic anyone can identify with.
Above all: I wanted it to be funny. When I started writing the book, we were in the second year of the pandemic, and burnt out. Everything I watched or read seemed to relate to coronavirus in some way, and it was the last thing I wanted to think about. My previous story ideas foundered, but a black comedy about angels and demons? Why the heck not?
Every piece of research got thrown in. The sexy statues by the Geefs brothers are real, believe it or not; likewise Martin Luther’s inkpot and Dr Dee accidentally conjuring Satan in a library (in Manchester, no less). There was folklore so crazy and out there, I had to use it. Kitta Grau, the human antagonist, stars in numerous Swedish legends where she beats the Devil. There are even church murals where he gives her the famous slippers on the end of a ten foot pole!
I had a blast writing Hello Satan. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Of course you can’t have Hell without its ruler and emcee, Satan. He was an important secondary character in Out of Place, the rock opera I wrote as a Paradise Lost loving kid. He features as Avi in The Revenge of Rose Grubb. He’s the big picture villain of Book 666, having far more impact on our heroines’ lives than God, who is rumoured to be senile. This wasn’t even a conscious decision on my part. If you write supernatural fantasy, the Devil’s bound to show up eventually.
I’m fascinated by the many questions the Prince of Darkness raises. He’s both the supreme sinner and punisher of human sinners. Why would you rebel against God, a futile action if ever there was one? If God is all powerful, why would Satan exist - and why wouldn’t He smite him once his treachery was known?
There’s a confrontation between Satan and the Adversary, aka God, at the end of Book 666. It introduces them as estranged parent and child, and how their entire conflict stems from that. I loved writing this scene but didn’t expect to see them again. I had several other book ideas lined up.
Then the attack on the Capitol happened. America could easily have fallen to fascism that day; it gives you chills just thinking about it. I had to write it out of my system - and somehow it transformed into the War in Heaven. Who would be a better first person narrator than Satan himself, trying to make himself both the misunderstood antihero and victim of a conspiracy?
It wasn’t intended as a prequel to Book 666, but I’d spent so long with that world and characters, it seemed pointless to start over. It also meant I could explore the God/Satan, mother/child relationship in more depth, and how they can never truly hate or destroy the other. Add ‘Junior,’ the infuriating little brother, to the mix, and you’ve a family dynamic anyone can identify with.
Above all: I wanted it to be funny. When I started writing the book, we were in the second year of the pandemic, and burnt out. Everything I watched or read seemed to relate to coronavirus in some way, and it was the last thing I wanted to think about. My previous story ideas foundered, but a black comedy about angels and demons? Why the heck not?
Every piece of research got thrown in. The sexy statues by the Geefs brothers are real, believe it or not; likewise Martin Luther’s inkpot and Dr Dee accidentally conjuring Satan in a library (in Manchester, no less). There was folklore so crazy and out there, I had to use it. Kitta Grau, the human antagonist, stars in numerous Swedish legends where she beats the Devil. There are even church murals where he gives her the famous slippers on the end of a ten foot pole!
I had a blast writing Hello Satan. I hope you enjoy reading it.
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