Happy 2011…!

 

Just a quick note to let you know that the sequel to The Twelfth Window is out now on softcover and e-book.

The name of the new book is Heroes And Angels, brought to you by the same author and editor and still using the Biblical foundations.  Heroes And Angels is a sci-fi/fantasy allegory about the parallel between the Early Church and the Endtimes.

Heroes And Angels, like The Twelfth Window, can be purchased on Amazon.com, Authorhouse.com, barnesandnoble.com and googlebooks.  🙂

I will be doing a separate blog to cover each Biblical principle in Heroes And Angels, chapter by chapter the way I did in this blog.  If you have a Facebook account, there is a group community for Heroes And Angels; feel free to “Like” the forum so you can stay up-to-date on events and contests in regards to the book.

Happy Reading!

–J.M. Norwood

 

Chapters 57 through Epilogue

Good afternoon and Happy Mothers Day!  I usually do these on Sunday because my favorite televangelists are on.   And it’s how I wrote The Twelfth Window.  So let’s get started.  We’ve reached the final blog for The Twelfth Window.  I will cover Chapters 57 through the Epilogue.  Next time I will go through the entire blog and make links of all Scripture so that you can see for yourself instead of having to go grab a Bible (ah, the power of teh Internets).  If you are doing a book club on The Twelfth Window, I think this will make life a little easier.   I’m thinking that the Lord will help me to get started actively writing the next book in the series once I complete this blog.  Let’s go!…

Chapter 57 begins with Lisa awakening from her three dreams and into the cold reality of her loss.  Jonah 2:7-8 figure on pages 211, 214 and 215 of the book.   Now, for a good part of the story, Lisa’s relationship with her dad had been strained because of Michael, and now that he’s out of the picture, Mr. Chess calls Lisa by her childhood nickname to re-endear himself to her.  I wanted to bring the reader the empty and grey feeling that the Apostles must have felt on what we now call Holy Saturday.   How do you think the religious authorities handled it? “He’s gone,” is most likely how they handled it.

Chapter 58 should be italicized but it isn’t because now Lisa is also a citizen of heaven, one of the benefits of us accepting Jesus as Our Lord.   I emphasize in a couple of chapters that it’s understood that death is the final answer, even for good people.  I think the Psalm or Isaiah says “their going forth seemed utter destruction.”  Lisa takes the blame for the accident but an angel comes and prays for both of them.  Subtext?  The Jewish people are not to blame for the death of Jesus.  I pointed this out in a previous chapter where Atael planted the tree that the car would eventually crash against.

Chapter 59 was easy to write; I only had to get my yearbook and remember what graduation afternoon was like, and it was just like it’s described in this book.  Except I wasn’t sitting near any of my friends, I had to go look for them after we tossed our caps.  Anyway, Scripture used in Chapter 59 are Lamentations 1:1, Isaiah 54:4, Luke 23:53.  Pay attention to how Dormey handles everything from this chapter on out because it will figure prominently in the next book.  I’ve decided to make Dormey, Kim and Rae the main characters in the next installment.  Here’s another hint: Dormey represents St. Peter while Kim represents St. Paul.  Like any decent best friend, Kim holds her tongue when Lisa reveals to the rest of her friends about her marriage.  Like many teenagers, Lisa has yet to tell her parents, so the gang’s meeting shortly after graduation lets you know that I know!

Chapter 60 has no Scripture in it, but is a key part of the story because of Dormey’s emerging key role.

Chapter 61 has Scripture:  Ecclesiastes 3:14 and Wisdom 3:1-6.  I  used this chapter to show that even if Lisa’s dad was rather unsympathetic, her mother was the opposite and even had the potential to understand the deeper meanings of everything that had been going on.  This chapter is an important doorway to the final chapter.  I know that everyone deals with a loss differently; Lisa’s way was to get to the business of concentrating on her life… at least on the outside.

Chapter 62 gives us Scripture from Luke 12:52-53 and Matthew 10:34, Matthew 11:1.   Lisa’s father shows his true colors in this chapter.  I wanted the reader to not be surprised at his attitude but disgusted at his words.  This is also a setup for the next book (and chapter) as much as it is my judgment on people who love money and power more than love and life.

Chapter 63 is the last chapter.  Someone told me that there are 61 prophecies about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament and I did try to make the story 61 chapters… This chapter was among my favorite to write.  It was also the first chapter that I wrote of The Twelfth Window.   Scripture in this chapter are Luke 2:25-29, Luke 24:5-6, John 21:1, John 20:1-2, Matthew 16:16-19, Luke 24:27, 40-50, John 21:1, 1 Corinthians 15:55, John 20:19-20, Revelatioun 19:7-9, John 3:29, John 3:29, Matthew 28:16-20, Matthew 10:34-39 and  Psalm 45:11-18.  When you read this chapter you will understand why it has the most Bible references of all.  Without giving away the ending, I will tell you what the meaning is of the setting.  The ocean can symbolize the waters of baptism and the chasm between heaven and earth.  The beach house symbolizes The Church or all the churches ever built.  The items Lisa leaves behind represent the heritage that the Judaism has left to Christianity.  Each member of the gang expressing themselves individually represents the Pentecost.  Their meal together represents the Eucharist and how it is a prefigurement of the heavenly banquet.  The way I described each member of the Gang’s good qualities are meant to represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.   Depending on your Christian denomination, the final sentence can represent either the Assumption or the Rapture.  And for my Jewish readers, it is from the end of the Song of Songs.

The Epilogue was meant to be the close of this particular part of the bigger story that happens to include The Twelfth Window, but it still fits into the next book.  Scripture here are Mark 16:9-10, 19-20, John 21:25,  and 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.   It also includes the meaning of the title of the book.

I hope that you enjoyed this blog!   I’ll be taking time off from writing a new one but I will go through and make links of all the Bible verses that I used.   I’m also on Twitter, @JenBoogie so you can contact me for speaking engagements and interviews.  Once again, The Twelfth Window is available on www.amazon.com, www.twelvewindows.com, www.12thwindow.com, www.authorhouse.com, and elsewhere.  Happy reading and God bless!

–J.M. Norwood

Chapters 48 through 51 — The Twelfth Window

Good evening and happy Divine Mercy Sunday!  Hope you’ve been well.  Had some personal stuff happen but I’ve recovered and I’m back to comment on the next several chapters of The Twelfth Window.

Diving in… Lisa is savoring her new level of relationship with Michael.  I can say that this bit is part autobiographical and part to represent that each relationship that one has with Christ is unique to him or her.   The beach is back, I used it as a setting for Lisa to explain herself to Kim… again the bridge between the earthly and the eternal.  It’s not an accident that I am advocating abstinence in Chapter 48,  by the way.   But what was an accident was the writing of this chapter and my later discovery of ancient Jewish wedding/marriage customs.   The last paragraph in Chapter 48 is also semi-autobiographical–I still have the bag of shells in my house today.

Chapter 49 contains inspiration from John 16:17-18 where Jesus’ disciples are troubled when He tells them that he must go away for a while.  This short chapter ends with the word “immortality” on purpose, to hint that Michael’s going away and immortality might somehow be interconnected.

Chapter 50 was easy to write.  All I had to do was remember the last day of school for seniors at my school.  We really did have a tradition of emptying our lockers onto the floor and walking out from under the authority of the school forever.   I wanted to parallel it with the people of ancient Israel wanting to get out, forever, from under the authority of Rome.   Chapter 50 contains references to John 13:33-34 (when Michael tells Lisa that she can’t go with him where he’s going but she will have plenty of company around) and Job 33:14.   All these Scripture references to St. John, it’s no wonder I thanked him in the credits!  Anwyay, also to be found in Chapter 50 are John 13:36-37, Luke 18:31-34, John 14: 2-5, John 7:32-36, John 16:16-18 and John 22.   Look ’em up and you’ll see what I mean.

Chapter 51 shows the spiritual side of anticipation of a completion of Michael and Lisa’s relationship.  It used to freak me out that I was even writing The Twelfth Window but after the Lord showed me Jeremiah 31:32, Hosea 2:1-23 and Mark 12:25, I felt better.  Anyway, Christians of some traditions will understand what Lucius says on page 194.  In two simple words–Marian devotion.  I am trying to say that it is approved of by God because Mary leads to Jesus… but that is just one aspect of the whole story.

The Twelfth Window is available on www.amazon.com, www.authorhouse.com, www.12thwindow.com and elsewhere.   I dare you to Google it !

(Side note:  please pick up a copy of Terraforming by Gould, Black & Brown on iTunes… Phil Gould of the group has written a lot of songs that helped inspire my writing, so it’s only fitting that I give him a blurb here.)

–J.M. Norwood

Chapters 41, 42 and 43 — Act IV

The election is over and like other Americans, my mind and life and time are my own again.  So, let’s plow into the beginning of Act IV, which encompasses Chapters 41, 42 and 43. 

Chapter 41 is inspired by Ezekiel 39:25-26 and John 6:15.  Since the change of seasons were important to the writing of the story, I felt it a good idea to use the spring of my own senior year to convey the feeling of a “home-stretch.”  I’m sure that Jesus’ disciples and supporters felt the same home-stretch feel upon His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  Stronger than a New Year feel.   I counterbalanced the grating and uncomfortable feeling in Act III with the giddiness of the final spring of high school and reconciled love.  Which is why “reconciling with the one you love is its own spring.”

Chapter 42 is, without a doubt, a shadow of the Transfiguration.  Whereas the Transfiguration in the Bible was real, I used this chapter for the story’s heroine to catch a glimpse of what the reader already knows.  Many dreams are a hodge-podge of past events and conversations.  Notice the scene that the declaration takes place in; it’s a place of worship under construction and called a word yet unknown to that world.  I was trying to show that Jesus was building His Church the whole time that He was on earth but the impact on the world was still to-be-seen.  I’d be lying if I left out the reason for Lisa’s reaction being unlike that of the disciples that witnessed the Transfiguration, and it has to do with conversations that I have had with some Jewish people on the subject of Jesus Christ.  Even so, it is declared to her still that something will be done about her nightmares.

Finally, Chapter 43 brings the long-tenuous relationship between Michael and Mr. Chess to a head.  It shows the choice that Lisa makes by the end of the chapter.  She fights both physical illness and mental stress from the conflict and is healed in the end because of her decision.  Our soul is also healed when we decide–even when put on the spot–to choose Jesus.  Ephesians 6:1-4 and Sirach 3:1-6 both make an appearance on page 164 of The Twelfth Window. 

The Twelfth Window would make a great gift this Christmas!  You can purchase it from many places such as www.12thwindow.com, www.amazon.com, and more! 

–J.M. Norwood

Chapters 38, 39 and 40 — The Twelfth Window

I know, I know.  As emcee-extraordinaire Rakim would say, “it’s been a long time, I shouldn’ta left you…” .

Lots of personal (good, not bad!) things have been going on this summer, so I took a little sabbatical from posting.  I have returned, and I’ll use the same time to update here as I will be doing to write the sequel to The Twelfth Window.  Before I begin, more shoutouts to Strategic Vision, LLC publicity company.  They are making me put my spiritual money where my spiritual mouth is-most recently I was a guest with Coach & Joel on “The Morning Break Sports Show”, on AM1240 and AM1470 in Chicago.  The subject was “should prayer be legislated in public schools?” .  A spirited conversation was had after being roundly booed about my vicariously supporting the New York Mets baseball team.  Thank you, Coach & Joel, for having me on as a guest!

Chapter 38 begins the series of Lisa’s private meetings with Michael about the events of the past weekend.  I meant it to reflect Israel’s repentance in the Book of Daniel, and of the experience of a faithful Catholic in the confessional booth.  In Chapter 39, now that I look at it, I was being led to warn the reader against scrupulousness.   (Scrupulousness is when you keep confessing sins back-to-back, like spiritual OCD.)  The ending of Chapter 38 clearly shows that things are moving along the right path to reconciliation despite Lisa second-guessing herself and Michael, while Chapter 40 ends with divine assurance that I think every human being needs in order to move further into the only relationship that will ever matter this side of the grave.

It took three chapters for Lisa to move past her lowest point in the story.  Maybe it has to do with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  #38’s forgiveness comes after a chastisement likened unto the Book of Daniel, #39’s comes in the form of a voice only, and #40’s comes in human form, face-to-face, and divine.   Further proof that I had some assistance in writing The Twelfth Window. 

Next go-around is the beginning of Act IV of the story, where I will lay out chapters 41 through 43.

The Twelfth Window is available for sale on many fine websites including www.12windows.com, www.amazon.com, and www.authorhouse.com .

P.S>:  I’m on Facebook; I dare you to add me to your friends list!  🙂

Chapters 36 and 37

Happy Mothers Day! (US only),

As mentioned last week, we’ve reached the halfway point of The Twelfth Window.  You can bypass the week-by-week breakdown and buy your own copy… www.twelvewindow.com, www.amazon.com, www.12thwindow.com …

Let the record show that I hoped to reach teen readers in writing The Twelfth Window.  I presented many of the same feelings and situations that a suburban-dwelling American teenager would face, as I did.  It just so happened that a story about faith was woven into The Twelfth Window, to maybe reach a new audience or perhaps just “put the question out there” about faith, religion and spirituality.  Since I wrote the original manuscript in high school, a teenaged reader can be sure that I was not talking down to him or her.  I saved notes that me and my best friend used to pass back and forth in school.  I looked at my high-school yearbook signatures to research the particular language of the 80s.  Some items I had to update for parental sensibilities, but most have still been left in the book in order to be true to what I meant to get across in the story.

That being said, Chapter 36 is Lisa Chess’ lowest point in the story.  She has surrounded herself by the worst people and suffers for it.  She wants to be free of it but doesn’t know how… and then something happens like a miracle.  But she is ashamed about what has happened and does not fully embrace it.  While I wrote this chapter and Chapter 37, I had in mind the freeing of the people of Israel from their hardships in a foreign land while God punishes those who enslaved the Hebrews.  I had a blast writing the whole book, but these chapters stand out to me as some of the more fun to write.  My editor, Rachel Crick, deserves much of the credit for pushing me to really dig into the scene.  She knew at the outset that it was a pivotal moment of the story.  Call me old-school, but I think the pivotal moment in a narrative should be in the exact middle of a book, and so Chapters 36 and 37 are.  

…Bible verses that were alluded to in these chapters were:  Sirach 31:39-30, Psalm 38, Revelation 20:7-10 and Hebrews 10:31.

–JM Norwood

The Twelfth Window — in eBook form!

The Twelfth Window is now a part of the 21st century!  You may purchase The Twelfth Window in eBook form exclusively at www.authorhouse.com.