The Idea Behind The Soulkeepers

Rebellion is brilliant.

I know, I know, if you are a parent of a teenager, you might not think so. You might be pulling your hair out, cursing the rebellious years.  But as a mother, RN, and someone who volunteers with young people, I can tell you it's the truth. Teenage rebellion is brilliant because it's a sign that a person is developing an independent identity and thinking for themselves.

Several years ago I was talking to someone about the creation story.  I was raised Catholic so for me, the story was of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  I'd heard this story told hundreds of times as a kid but for some reason that year something new occurred to me.  The Garden of Eden was supposed to be this perfect place, the safest place created by God.  Who let the serpent in? It doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about.  Why would evil be hanging out right next to the tree of life?

          
My mind continued down this path and I was awestruck by the number of imperfections our minds have to overlook to make sense of our lives.  We live in a tough world.  Each of us deals with things about ourselves that we wish we could change.  I haven't met a person yet that didn't struggle with at least one member of their own family.  We often disagree with public policy and are at odds with our community, and no matter who or what religion you are, if you have faith it's not because everything you've been told makes perfect logical sense- it's because you've made sense of the imperfections.

          
I firmly believe that you can take any two people from any two religions, even if they are sitting next to each other in the same church, temple, or prayer circle and if you dig deep enough you will discover that they really don't believe exactly the same thing. That's because regardless of religion, each person connects to their higher power (or chooses not to) in a deeply individual way. Nature abhors sameness.  We were made different for a reason.

Back then, I had the idea for a story but I didn't know my character.  As I researched the market, I recognized that YA books seemed to either avoid the issue of God all together or else were very prescriptive about one specific religion.  I wanted my character to be real and I believe that real teenagers are all about questioning. So, I wrote a character who drove the events in my story in the throws of inner turmoil about who he was and if his life had a greater purpose. 

          
Jacob sees imperfection everywhere - in himself, in his family, in the new town he lives in, and he's completely written off any possibility that there could be a God. But Jacob is rebelling, he's searching, and he's deciding how he's going to make sense of his world...a world that is invaded by the supernatural.

Once I came to know Jacob, I knew I needed to tell his story.  I hope you'll enjoy the result as much as I do.