Forum - Questions and Answers
For all the many readers of this book, I've set up this page to answer some of the questions which come up about the characters, plot, and of course, the underlying theories which inspired this.
I don't have the time to run a forum and moderate all the comments there (although I'll entertain volunteers...) But if you will send your questions to me using the form below, I'll post the best one's here along with my answers. Of course, you'll get a private email from me first, and I don't disclose your name or email on this site - for both of our privacy-concerns.
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Question: Why is the prequel about Doreen so different from the book? I liked that style of writing, but her story is written in a straight-ahead style...
Answer: Well, I wrote it the way it came out. Probably fits Doreen's character, which is a straight-ahead type of lady. The original story was meant to jump around, as that was the nature of the problem that the Factors (Roger and Sue) were trying to solve. Joe didn't just dream in one channel, or even go back to the same dream necessarily (although he does a time or two). Doreen's story was simply about the amulet and Jack the lighthouse keeper, plus the ghosts which inhabited his home. Different strokes...
Q: Are those two Jack's the same? What's a doctor doing in a lighthouse?
A: Well, that's Jack's own prequel. As I mentioned in the book's Commentary, having a prequel for Doreen just incidentally used Jack as a character - and that raised more questions. Look, I just write out the stories - I don't particularly plan these things out. That's up to my various muses. Jack is the name that came to mind, and so that's what I wrote down.
Q: Where did the idea for the Library come from?
A: That was in Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich - though again, I took some license. There's a full description of where all this comes from in the Commentary for Section 22, although this is an error - the library first shows up in Section 35. Now Hill only really says a boardroom - but I more liked the library out of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" movie because I've always liked books and lots of them. But having all manner of people come in to give advice is an idea mostly unique to Hill, but also shows up in several different philosophies and practices, which are mentioned in the Commentary (see page 325 in the paperback).
Q: How long did it take to write this book?
A: About a week and 1/2. And that had some gaps in it. But once I started, I knew that I had to get it out of my head as quickly as possible, since scenes would re-write themselves if I didn't act quickly. Also, I had a limited amount of time between other jobs, so I could spend full time at it - outside of the farm-chores I had to do daily. This was also in alignment with National Novel Writing Month, which is just another excuse to put my over-prolific fingers to task. There's a short note in the Commentary about this, pages 346-7.
Q: But then you went and wrote a commentary?
A: Well, I was concerned that it was still a bit light, even though it was already over 60,000 pages. I was considering at the time publishing to 6x9 trade paperback format and wanted a more substantial book. Plus, I always love to get those DVD's with the Director's Cut in them - lots more data than which a single film can tell in its limited 2-hour-or-less slot. So the Commentary was a way to get all this incidental data out and try to tie up some more loose ends.
Q: Are you currently planning any more prequels or sequels?
A: There is one that needs to be written about Jack and Doreen - which is between where her prequel ends and the main story starts. There's some interaction with Father Jorge/George that can be explored and wants to come out. And as well, there are a set of short stories which can be told of the legends of that valley. (Like the time the Germans tried to set up base there during WWII...)
But right now, I'm having to concentrate on the marketing of this book, so while I have access to all sorts of stories, I'm not currently set to write any of them right now. When the book takes off and I can afford to spend more time writing than my day job, I'll be more than happy to give you all some more sleepless nights with my "riveting" prose. ;)
Q: Is Joe lucid dreaming through the whole book?
A: Pretty much. I didn't realize that until I was done with the book. As I've written in an article abou how to lucid dream elsewhere on this site, this isn't as hard as people make it out to be. Almost all of my dreams are lucid now, so that is probably why this came out like it did. But I've spent most of the last decade in studying related material in self help and spiritual training, so this is no big deal to me. The incidental studies I've done since have come up with the relative simplicity of learning how to lucid dream or project.
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