Fanning the Flames (Behind the Scenes of SOTF)

What is Sins of the Father?

Sins of the Father is a series of short stories that I've written on Prose. It's about a small suburban family (the Gravelys) living in a suburban town/city. The family consists of a mother, two daughters, and the new husband/stepfather, the devil in the flesh. Lots of drama, scares, and definitely plenty of laughs.

What inspired you?

There have been a couple of inspirations. One of them is the weird and bizarre cartoons I used to watch as a kid. But what really got me to flesh it out was the challenges generated on Prose that helped pave the way for my imagination to craft these stories. The first story, "A Dark Request", was written for some Flash Fiction challenge, and apparently that got a lot of hits. Then things took off from there with more stories set in this universe and more characters added with each new story.

What helped influence these pieces?

The show Lucifer has been the biggest influence to me. I love how the devil is portrayed in that show, and in a way I transpired that into my devil in the stories. Better yet, they are more like parodies of Lucifer the show, kinda like how the ninja turtles were a parody of the Daredevil comics. Other influences include the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and the Beetlejuice cartoon in just how this world works when regular people come face to face with the supernatural.

Some names are obviously taken from other media, scriptures, and mythologies as a callback to them. Rosemary is a play on the character from Rosemary's baby, Regan is a callback to the possessed girl from the Exorcist, even the street they live on is called 999 Milton Avenue. 999 upside down is the number of the beast, and Milton is a reference to John Milton, writer of Paradise Lost.

Characters like Lilith, Moloch, Mike, Gabi, and Legion are based on the ones from angel/demon theology. But to make them all stand out from what they are described in other media, I had to generate all new personalities that no one would ever think of for these characters. For example, I had the archangel Gabriel and crafted her as a woman with a wild side, and she is also a lesbian. Two things that will definitely piss off the fundamentalist readers (lol). 

What was the process like?

The process has been all over the place. Sometimes I'm have a 150-300 very short flash fiction story, or sometimes I will have a whole short story divided into parts because it's a lot easier for me to write that way. Heck, I'm working on Season Two stories right now with the "God's Little Princess" arc, which is probably going to be the longest arc yet with how much content I want to do.

What are you most pleased with about it?

I'm pleased with the positive feedback I'm getting. Even some prosers, who've are devoutly religious, have admitted that they greatly enjoyed these stories. Either I'm doing something right, or people are just as crazy as I am (lol). 

Which story has been your favorite so far?

Oh dang that's a tough one. I really liked writing "The Serpent" because a lot of people associate the devil with snakes, but in this story he freaks when he meets the new family pet python Slinky.

"The Babysitter" is another one I like. With that one I had the perfect set up that starts off very creepy, but by the end there's a great comedic payoff. Plus I got to use Lilith in the best way possible.

I enjoyed writing the story arcs "Brothers", "When a Demon Met An Angel", and "Keep to the Road". With "Brothers" I got to do something that no one ever thought of; have Michael and Lucifer reconcile. In the Bible it just states that they fought and that's it. What was the cause? What's the emotion? How did they feel about this? So I gave them a chance to talk things over and they became brothers again. 

"When a Demon Met An Angel" is a cute story arc. Basically it introduces one of the recurring characters Dominic, who befriends Rosemary and develops a boyhood crush on her; and who knows maybe Rosemary has the same feelings for him but I won't say (lol).

And oh boy, "Keep to the Road" is the darkest story I ever wrote. This introduces the readers and the characters (Rosemary and Regan) to the recurring antagonists of the series, the scavengers. The scavengers were kind of what I always imagined demons were when I was a kid. They're just these disgusting, deformed, feral creatures that all they do is kill and eat, and their hunger is just never satisfied. They're the lowest of the low, and they are most dangerous when they're hunger, which they always are. 

It also got me a chance to introduce what the devil actually looks like, what his demonic form looks like. This was also how I imagined the devil as a kid. Just this giant dragon/godzilla monster that breathes fire and acts like the apex predator. Everyone and everything is afraid of this beast with good reason.

But if I have to go with a favorite in all of Season 1 it would have to be "Sympathy from the Devil". This story is so down to earth, sort of speak. It's just a moment where Lu is not portrayed like the typical devil, but more like an actual parent. He's just there comforting his sadden stepdaughter who deeply misses her real dad. Out of all the stories, this one received the most likes out of all of them.

Do you have a favorite character?

Yes. I think it would have to be Lilith. She's just a very fun and sexy character. Or maybe my favorite is Legion. He's kind of the Yoda/Gul'dan of the series, very old and very powerful. But he's also very mysterious, you just don't know much about him or where his allegiances lie. 

What could you have done differently?

I wish I couldn't be so repetitive at times with my writing. I also wish I could be more descriptive when it comes to emotions or actions. Also I wish I could add illustrations to these stories just to bring more life into them, but sadly I'm not much of an artist or illustrator. Hopeful I can learn how to do so.

What do you hope will transpire from this?

I hope more and more folks read these stories because they are a lot of fun. I hope people with check out the complete first season, available in the Prose Bookstore. Heck, one day I hope that some agency picks up on it and we can add more stuff to the stories; maybe even turn it into an animated series.