Where did that come from?

In the spirit realm world of Yahlandice, names and titles change with the cultural changes on earth.  Since both the Agents of Light and the Agents of Darkness have to function and work on earth, they must talk, act, and to an extent, think like the world they work in.  People have asked me why I have such unusual names in my books for things in the spirit realm, and it’s because it reflects the times they presently work in.  Throughout the ages, names and titles change as the world changes.  The names of the agent training classes change periodically as students try to keep things contemporary with the work they do on earth.  Even some major things that seem like they should be eternal titles get changed occasionally to better reflect the times they are in.  For example, the eternal paradise that is called Heaven in the Bible, has been called many different things by agents throughout time.  Usually, it’s something that symbolizes paradise at the time.  When Matt Zampolos arrives in Camp Omega, where he learns that he has been drafted to train and become an Agent of Light, they refer to the final reward as Tahiti.  Tahiti is one of many names it has been called throughout time.

One of the biggest name changes people discover in The Judas Sword and The Perspicacious Quandary is the name for Satan.  He has also been called many different names throughout time, but for the present, he’s called Bill.  Why Bill?  It’s simply a way to both make him real and at the same time rob him of some of the mystery, magic, and fear.  No one on his side of Darkness would ever call him Bill to his face – because it is meant to be insulting and demeaning.  He certainly doesn’t think of himself as ordinary or common place.  He clearly needs to be feared and respected, but the Agents of Light enjoy giving him even a small blow to his super inflated ego.

He has seven Senior Dark Agents who carry out his every demand and lead his armies of Dark Agents.  Where did the seven come from? Remember the story Jesus told in Matthew 12:43-45 about the house that was cleaned and swept, but left empty?  Because it wasn’t filled with the right things, the evil spirit comes back with “seven other spirits more wicked than itself” and fill up the house making it worse off than it was before it was cleaned.  Who were those seven spirits?  I just gave them all names and made them characters in my book.  I named them Helos, Thanos, Lucius, Capthane, Methros, Janus, and Demas.  Why? I thought they were all cool and ancient names.  My publisher suggested I change the name Thanos to something else because it’s the name of a famous bad guy in the Marvel world.  I didn’t want to change it. I just decided he had the name thousands of years before Stan Lee used it, so why change it now.  Okay, so I only wrote it a couple years ago, but in my mind he’s thousands of years old.  Wait?  Is that mixing fantasy and reality?  Welcome to the world of the fiction writer.  When I realized I had a terrible mistake on the back cover of my book – I called the Prince of Darkness the Princess of Darkness – it made me sick, then it made me laugh!  Did it offend Bill?  Good!  Does it open up a whole new world of writing possibilities?  Why not?  Bill or Billy – does it matter?  Maybe it’s time for another name change.