WRITING 'AFTERBIRTH' Pt. 2

First introduced in The 13th Brother, the Zodiac is the group of supernatural warriors that Nara found herself a part of upon her 'merging' with Asia (now together known as Gemini). Although I had originally planned to introduce them all in The 13th Brother, I felt it was such a rich concept that it was worth saving and highlighting them in the following series.

Once of the first ideas I had for Afterbirth was that I wanted to open the story somewhere other than Earth. For the last 4 series there's been a lot of talk about the other side, but we've never seen it. Since things are nearing the end, it seemed like a good time to finally go there. Originally, my idea was to have the Zodiac all sitting in a boardroom like they were having a corporate meeting, but of course somewhere in time and space. But it didn't really convery the 'otherworldliness' that I wanted, and I was worried it might be a little confusing. I figured the best way to get the point across was to just put them on some planet that may or may not be in the spiritual realm. It leaves things open to interpretation, plus gets the point across that they're not on Earth.

Anyway, on to the fun stuff.

Probably the biggest revelation in Afterbirth was the inclusion of my characters Eve and Zaya, from my other books Lost Books of Eve and Black Harvest, respectively. This is an idea I had been toying with for a while, and have even been dropping a few hints along the way, the most obvious being the origin of Nara's nemesis Bolabogg in Lost Books of Eve. Beyond that, there are 3 specific instances of the books referencing the others.

In Black Harvest, there is 1 reference to Dead @ 17 and 1 reference to Lost Books of Eve. In The 13th Brother, there is 1 reference to Black Harvest. There may be others, but those are the ones I remember intentionally including.

First person to correctly identify all 3 will get a free sketch or a signed book, your choice! Please post your guesses in the comments!

Next up in Writing 'Afterbirth' pt. 3: Who's Who in the Zodiac!

Comments

[billy_miracle]

Arghh ive got the two in black harvest but i seriously cant find the one in 13th brother . Any clues/tips ?

[John Walsh]

My guesses:

Black Harvest:
Eve connection is Lilith ("children of Lilith are many")
D@17 connection is what appears to be angelic script on the base's computers (I'm not as sure on this one, but it's what stuck out to me.)

13th Brother:
Black Harvest connection is Jessica Webster (having sex with Asia's ex)

[Josh Howard]

You got 'em John! That was quick!

[John Walsh]

You are kidding me! I was so sure that angelic script was always just in my mind, and kept searching for something else. I'll be damned. I could have been done with this sooner if I'd just gone with my gut!

[John Walsh]

Also, at some point you're going to have to explain how exactly the Jessica Webster angle plays out, chronologically. Sometimes I have a hard time juggling the Howard-verse time line. This would be one of them.

[carlos de anda]

all I could see there is hermione from harry potter as you depict her :P

[tim morrell]

Congrats john!

serves me right for not getting on the website earlier.
I was thinking about the jessica athing also. it caught my eye when i first read it.

I acually thought the Journal in black harvest and the book "undying" in 13th brother were some kind of tie-in. because they read about the same in the discriptions.

awsome as always josh.
see you in a couple weeks at comicon
tim

[Josh Howard]

John: You are correct. There is an error in the dating. When I was making Black Harvest, I just used current dates. But in reality, it should take place in the 3 yr gap between 13th Brother and Afterbirth. Will probably have to fix this whenever I decide to re-release it.

Carlos: No Hermione in my books. I think you're referring to Eve.

[carlos de anda]

well, she looks like hermy!

any plans on doin another eve book?