Fantasy / Fiction / Spirituality
Date Published: 11-17-2024
Publisher: Made for Success
Shamayim. A perfect place, filled with perfect beings, all living in perfect peace. It was as The Alpha had always imagined it to be in unfathomable ages past. But when Son of the Dawn, his highest created being, chose to follow his own selfish ambitions—going so far as to boast about taking The Alpha’s throne—there was trouble.
Michael and Gabriel, chief amongst The Alpha’s seven archangels, had been close to Son of the Dawn to the extent of being inseparable. When he chose to rebel, attempting to persuade angels under Michael and Gabriel’s direct command to join him, it felt like betrayal. But that didn’t come close to the pain they felt when he took a third of the angelic host and left, for he wasn’t just leaving Shamayim and The Alpha…he was leaving them. When he finally declared all-out war against the Realm, the betrayal was complete.
Committed to honoring the freedom of choice He had embedded within each of His created beings, The Alpha watched sorrowfully as consequence followed consequence with Son of the Dawn growing ever more bold in his revolt. Believing that there was nothing The Alpha could create that he couldn’t corrupt, his rebellious stain began to spread throughout The Alpha’s creation. What had been meant for timeless tranquility had now dissolved into trouble…Trouble in Heaven.
JC Worthington: I grew up in St. Louis, where summers meant campfires, cutting my grandparents’ grass, and balancing on rooftops while cleaning gutters. A much-loved dog was always close at hand, as was a thirst for adventure and the outdoors.
RG Ryan: I’m from Watsonville, a small agricultural town in Santa Cruz County on the central California coast. Even though our house was only three miles from the beach we lived in a very rural environment. My grandfather had been a sharecropper in the Ozarks of Arkansas, so when the family moved West during the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression, he simply continued doing what he knew. As a result, we were the OG’s of the “farm to table” lifestyle.
Who's an author you read?
RG Ryan: Oh man…there’s no way I dan limit this to one. Robert B. Parker, Earnest Hemingway, Nathaniel Hawthorn, Lee Child, Tolkien, Lewis, John D. McDonald. It’s a long list.
Favorite sports.
RG Ryan/JC Worthington: Football!
Favorite thing about your state you live in.
JC Worthington: I left Missouri and came to Washington State not knowing if I’d stay. My parents would ask when I was coming back to live in Missouri. I fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. I love the mountains, the trees, all the water. The outdoors here constantly beckons humans to come out and play and enjoy. Having grown up in the Midwest, I love the mild weather of the coast. And I’ve now made such wonderful friends and found an amazing wife. My kids have migrated here. St Louis, where I grew up and raised a family, still holds a dear place in my heart and I’ll always be a Cardinal Baseball fan, but western Washington is my home.
RG Ryan: I live in San Diego, California. And I love the beaches. But I also love that in San Diego County, you can drive forty-five minutes east and be in the mountains; go a little further and be in desert. So, if one were motivated, you could surf in the morning, be in the snow at noon, desert in the afternoon, and make it back to the coast in time to have dinner in Mexico.
How long have you been writing?
JC Worthington: I have been told for years “Hey, you should write.” Not until I felt compelled to share the RIP City Chronicles did I get serious in any way about writing.
RG Ryan: I started writing seriously about twenty-five years ago after a long and satisfying career in the music industry as a songwriter.
What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
RG Ryan: I’ll answer that. I have written thirty-four books to date. And the RIP City Chronicles are the only ones that have been plotted. For everything else I’m a hardcore pantser. JC, on the other hand, is a meticulous plotter. Probably why we work so well together
How did you come up with the ideas for your series?
JC Worthington: This goes back more than a decade. In my quite times alone with the Lord, I would get these scenes pop into my head and my imagination would run. Then I’d wonder if this was even reasonable and I’d open my Bible and research the plausibility and the consistency with what the Scripture said about the events surrounding these scenes. I’d ruminate and research for weeks on a scene and then I’d eventually jot it down and wonder what God wanted me to do with it.
How do you celebrate finishing a book?
JC Worthington: We had a book launch party. Since it was my first book, it was especially meaningful getting friends and family together and celebrating together. They have all been an encouragement to me in some form or another.
RG Ryan: It was a great time and so wonderful to see all of JC’s friends and family in attendance. They were all so proud of him.
What would you tell a writer who is just starting out? What program do you use for writing? What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book? What’s your writing software of choice?
JC Worthington: Writers write. Find a topic that fuels your passion. Find the tool that works for you and start writing. I am a Microsoft Word guy. I tried Scribner, but I didn’t have the patience to learn a new tool. I didn’t need another impediment to just sitting down and writing. I was really good at procrastination already.
RG Ryan: Tagging on to what JC shared…tell your story. That’s what it’s all about. I know it’s intimidating to sit in front of a blank Word doc and contemplate filling it up with words. But think of it like this: that document is like a sandbox into which you are going to dump buckets and buckets of sand. Then,, later on you are going to come back and create beautiful sandcastles. So, start dumping those buckets.
How do you organize everything and finding the time to sit down and write?
JC Worthington: Deadlines are very inspirational for me. Writing is not full time for me. I call myself an author and RG Ryan is the writer. Since my writing is historical fiction, the story line is established. So I can organize it according to that.
RG Ryan: I would add that it’s important to identify and pursue a process. What works for JC and I may not work for you. I try to write something every day. It doesn’t have to be great nor does it have to be substantial. But consistency is key to finding your voice and establishing a process.
Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?
RG Ryan: Without question my wife, Cheri.
How do you name your characters?
JC Worthington: This is a historical fiction work of some Biblical stories from a unique perspective. My character names come from researched names as well as names of people I know. If the character came from a friend, I usually used a form of that person’s name.
RG Ryan: Because this book is in the high concept, epic, sweeping fantasy genre, we tried to steer away from overtly Biblical names for the characters, choosing instead to assign derivatives so it would read more like fantasy for those who aren’t Biblically literate. For instance, in our book, God is “The Alpha.” Still carries the same weight, but it avoids reader stereotypes.
Can you describe a typical day in your writing life?
RG Ryan: There is no “typical” day for me, except that I wake up and at some point begin writing. Sometimes that’s at 3 a.m., sometimes at five, six, eight…whatever. And I will write until I’m done.
JC Worthington, author of the Trouble Series, is a ministry leader and teacher, driven by his love of God. His imaginative storytelling blends timeless biblical truths with untold stories, taking readers on a mind-bending journey to explore the mysteries woven into Scripture.
R.G. Ryan started writing seriously following a long and satisfying career in the music industry as a songwriter, recording artist, arranger, producer and director of A&R for a couple of record labels. As a songwriter he has over one hundred and fifty songs in publication worldwide and has produced over one hundred album projects. He is the author of the Jake Moriarity series of thrillers, The Voices In My Head (the biography of late Las Vegas entertainment icon, Danny Gans), and the popular Snapshots At St. Arbuck's series. He lives with his first wife on the coast of somewhere beautiful. Can sing a little.
https://mybook.to/TroubleinHeaven
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