Witches, angels, and reincarnation? The series I’ve been publishing the last several years has a wide range of subjects, creatures, and topics discussed and even merely mentioned, but what are the origins? Where did I find inspiration to create the world that became The Blasphemer Series? There will be a new series here on the website covering and diving deep underground into the research that went into my writing of these hauntingly beautiful tales and together we will discover where I kept true to the lore, where I went into my creativity to create something new, and even why I wrote the things the way I did on a deeper more investigative level. Did any of my creative writing predict outcomes in the world? You’d be surprised!
This series will cover the following creatures and lores:
fallen angels
demons
angels
the watchers
witches
witchcraft
vampires
nephilim
biblical tales
urban legends
dire wolves
werewolves
ancient mythology
historical mysteries
character breakdowns
This is a new specialized blog series starting March 12th, 2021.
This is a wonderful read, if you’re following a pagan/witchcraft path. For me, research comes as the heart of much of my writing and my choices. This is not a book for everyone. I was given this book by a close friend years ago, along with a book that went along with it that spoke of communicating with spirit. This book I read first, so I am taking the approach of reviewing as if the two books were like a series. If you’ve been following the reviews, you know I will review the first of a series instead of all the series. The book is an excellent read. Excellent if you’re wanting to begin down the above mentioned paths. It touches on all the basics that anyone wanting to start would need to know. It includes illustrations, guides, and just so much of the important foundations of modern witchcraft. I am not reviewing this to convert anyone to any path, but it was included on the recommended reads as it’s a book I enjoyed and also wanted to leave my own review since that is what I’m doing for this challenge. For those that have caught my lives and web show appearances, you probably saw this book on my bookcase behind me along with many books on occult, poetry, and other religious books.
This review is a part of my 2020 yearlong self-challenge to read and review. I have reread some books for the purpose of reviewing them on my website whereas I have read others for the first time. Check out Book Reviews and Recommendations to find other book reviews, book recommendations, and more information about the books I’m reading, have read, or are sharing.
Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? Let’s have a conversation about it.
Throughout the writing process, Maxwell Demon underwent many changes. I’ve shared that when I was back writing it I was just about finished and deleted the entire last chapter and part of the chapter before that one because it simply didn’t feel right. Along with this over time I have shared other things that have changed. This is part one of a two part post sharing some of these differences.
Some changes happened during professionally editing forever being lost for a great story and some never made it past the drafting phase. For readers, you may recognize names or scenes, but remember them differently or names being completely different from the version you read. Things change a lot during the writing process.
I hope you enjoy!
Maxwell DemonIntroduction
I had originally posted this in the group Bachman’s Blasphemers, the fan group created for fans and others that would like to stay up-to-date more regularly than the author page and the series page for the books, but for whatever reason Facebook glitched and wouldn’t allow it to be posted. I took that as an opportunity to post it on the website in a more expanded version. I always love, as a reader, hearing about an author’s process in creating a book I enjoyed or even details behind the stories that didn’t make the cut into what got published. I’m not the only one, I’m sure, so here are some behind-the-scenes and spoilers from the book, The Blasphemer Series: Maxwell Demon.
Original Beginning
The original beginning of Maxwell Demon was much different than what made the final cut and went into publication.
Raw Excerpt
Visions of wisped crimson hair across pale naked shoulders quickly burn into flames of the swords that clashed, the magic that spilled over across the field of Heaven, and blood poured like rain upon the Earth in those days. The Clash of Angels was and is still the most epic of battles. No amount of bodies upon the Earth’s soil can compare to the magnitude of loss that occurred during that great battle. Maxwell, alongside Lucifer and many others, were chained and cast from Heaven into a special pit far from the wonderful grace that is Heaven and God.
Maxwell remembered it well, the great battle and striking down his friends that had turned to the foe. As time passed, the irony of magical immortal energy beings trying to kill each other grew within him. He damned God, he damned others, but eventually he damned himself. He wasn’t alone, there were many other Fallen Angels, but he wasn’t like many of them that twisted and contorted into evil, horrible, and vile creatures punishing humankind. He and a small group took to a lighter pace of life, those like him chose to live amongst the humans they once stood up for and lost the grace of God for.
Keeping a journal, he logged every thought to pass the time. He knew he wasn’t like everyone else and he knew he was solitary in his existence amongst humankind. It was depressing to see once magnificent creatures, humans, turn against one another living with their emotions running amok and living for devious means. Greed, wrath, vanity, gluttony, and the rest were all human made creations and not of God themselves.
Night after night his heavy boots stomped the streets of New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, but he found a home in the City of Angels, another irony that wasn’t lost on him. Night after night he found himself reflecting upon his memories of better times and her, Lilith. Sitting upon the middle of the H on the Hollywood sign, his head tilted back and his eyes shut, it was exhausting prancing around the world using his energy to mask his demonic form.
“You’re thinking of her again, aren’t you Maxziel.” A low voice interrupted his rest from a black hovering mist. As the darkened mist moved closer it transformed into a human wearing a long black trench coat, jeans, boots, and a white shirt mirroring Max’s own apparel. “I’ve lost count on how long it has been, but you eventually have got to stop thinking about her. No one has heard from her in countless centuries. She just stopped existing. If she had changed planes of existence we would’ve heard something.” The man then kicked Maxwell’s boot to get his attention.
Max’s eyes finally opened and stared across from him at the other Fallen Angel, “She couldn’t have just stopped existing, that’s now it works. Perhaps her soul went elsewhere? Azriel, she’s in the world, I just don’t know where. She can’t just be simply lost to time and space. God doesn’t do that, they don’t work that way.”
The scene continued into him finding Adele, but I removed all this and started over, this isn’t unheard of for me to do. What I had written didn’t feel right and I had shelved the entire project until I decided to start over. I do like how this scene showed a love/hate of the Fallen Angels, but I didn’t like how Azriel wasn’t more aggressive. I saw him as a forceful type of being, an in your face ‘admit it’ type.
This book is a shameless plug, but it’s a book. Maxwell Demon is the first book in my series The Blasphemer Series. The synopsis is merely the squishing down summarizing of how deep this story goes. When writing it I cried, I laughed, and really enjoyed the process that, for most writers, is never seen, but if written right the readers can pick up emotionally. The reviews say I wrote it well, but I leave it up to you, the person that may pick up the novella, to determine if you enjoyed my writing style.
This book in my words is a story about a fallen angel that fell in love with the first woman, Lilith, and fought in the Clash of Angels, but on the wrong side. He didn’t accept his punishment, being sent to Hell and the mutilation of his wings, and found himself a way back to Earth. He learned that Lilith too was punished but with reincarnation forever to live and die until she learns why she was punished. He believes if he can find her and help her learn then he can prove redemption and forgiveness is possible, even for her.
His has found her many times, but always too late. He has seen the soulmate die many times and in many ways. This book is her last life recorded, he learns that she will be given no more lives and she will be doomed to Hell, the place for the truly unforgivable. Maxwell goes to Hell when she is kidnapped, he goes through a mythical fantasy realm full of fairies, talking trees, and mythical creatures, and Earth to help her.
It’s more of a dark fantasy story with horror elements than a horror piece. There are references to so many creatures, here’s a small list of them that are in this book and this series:
Angels
Demons
Vampires
Werewolves
Fallen Angels
Witches
Fairies
Talking Trees
Unicorns
Boogeyman
Ghosts/Spirits
Synopsis:
Maxwell, an angel who fell from Heaven for his part in the corruption of mankind walks a plane of uncertainty on Earth. He was unwilling to fully accept his damnation, so he set out on a mission to save the soul of the woman he loves, Lilith. Now, more than a millennium has passed, and this is his last chance to save her and prove that no one soul is beyond redemption. From the gates of Heaven to the fires of Hell he has traveled to save her. He is bound to her by his heart and he will face the ones he once called brothers to rescue her. He will complete this mission.
She is now known as Adele, with no remembrance of him, their love, her betrayal, and it is up to him to show her that her life is worth more than she could ever imagine. He rediscovers why he fell in love with her and along the way, wages war against Hells greatest demons to remind her.
Who is destined to die? Who is destined to live? Who is the real enemy? Is one soul worth the world?
Dante’s life consisted of living off of the royalties of commissioned art, and the occasional blackout from something undiagnosed. That is until his grandfather passes. Shortly after, he is approached by an apparent collector, who turns his word much darker than he ever believed. He finds he is not merely a painter but so much more than that. He has a gift of sight beyond what is normal… and he is not the only one.
Briar, one of the chosen gifted, receives a desperate message from a village in another mythical realm that something evil is attacking them. She is to be there only hope of survival with the help of other supernatural beings they must face an evil dark witch and her army of minions.
Imogene has been running away from her gift her entire life and drowns the sorrow of her past in bottles of alcohol. Now with her past coming back to face her once more, she has to pull from her inner strength to survive.
The end has just begun in this exciting follow up to Maxwell Demon.
The Official Website of L. Bachman 