gmhTODAY 21 gmhToday Aug Sept 2018 | Page 51

Author ’ s Corner

An Epic Trilogy …

Blending Fantasy and Scripture

Written By Jordan Rosenfeld

T

hirty-year-old Morgan Hill Author Daniel Reyes didn ’ t set out to write a book ; the self-proclaimed movie buff first wrote a screenplay of an idea “ loosely based on a Biblical story of the angel Lucifer ’ s rebellion from God in Heaven ,” he told gmhTODAY . Friends and family liked it so much they suggested he turn it into a book that might be able to catch a director or producer ’ s eye .

Reyes liked that idea and began to flesh out the story of the angel Lucifer ’ s ultimate schism from God , told through the perspective of the angel Uriel . His fantasy novel , “ Essences ,” was published in 2016 , the first of a planned trilogy . He hopes the second book , with a loose , working title of “ Time is of the Essence ,” will be published early in 2019 .
Inspired by J . R . R Tolkien ’ s fantasy Series “ Lord of the Rings ” over three years , Reyes worked on his similarly epic fantasy , attempting to draw a sharp line between good and evil and ultimately write a “ wholesome ” book where it was very clear “ who were the good guys and who were the bad guys .”
“ My faith means a lot to me ,” he said , “ and there are so many stories out there that don ’ t have any value .”
Though Reyes drew on his own study and practice of Catholic scripture as well as his love of a good story , he said his version of Lucifer-as-Satan ’ s attempt to turn the other angels against God is not a religious book and he does hope to entertain .
Satan , who is often pictured in scripture with a trident or a pitchfork , begins his nefarious plan by stealing four “ essences ”— sacred weapons given by God to the four archangels , which begins a civil war in Heaven .
A prophecy suggests that if the essences become separated from the union of the four archangels , a dark time would come into heaven . “ So Satan embarks on a plan to kickstart that dark prophecy ,” Reyes explained . “ Satan gathers angels to his cause and sets out on a mission to steal these essences that symbolize God ’ s power .”
Reyes is fascinated by the story of Satan ’ s fall from Grace . “ He ’ s God ’ s favorite creature , and he ’ s jealous that God has plans to create human beings . Angels aren ’ t able to have kids but
humans are . Angels don ’ t have a choice but to follow God , but humans have a choice .”
Just like rebellious children with their parents , Satan is successful at winning over other angels to his cause .
However , it was very important to Reyes to do one thing differently in his retelling ; in many other stories about the fall of Satan , he said , “ They made Satan the hero of the story and I wanted to make sure he ’ s not the hero .”
Book One ends “ in a big catastrophe that occurs in the material world ,” he said . The reader will be unsure which side protagonist Uriel is on , since he is documenting both sides . But in Book Two , “ you see what side he ’ s actually on and where his loyalties lie .”
Book Two picks up after the big catastrophe in the world where humans have just been created . “ Angels are reconstructing the earth . Uriel is trying very hard to stay faithful to God but leaving God is the cool thing to do .”
Reyes also recently completed the Spanish translation of the book , which he hopes will be published soon . This will be good news to friends and family back in his native country of Bolivia , where he spent his first fifteen years . He moved to the United States , his father ' s native country , when he was fifteen , and attended Live Oak High School and Santa Clara University .
When he isn ’ t dreaming and writing , Reyes works in the sales and service department for Cintas , a Gilroy-based company that rents uniforms .
Though Reyes never anticipated being a writer , despite a few stints on high school and college newspapers , the publication of his first book gave him a taste for it , and exceeded his expectations . “ I had hoped just to promote my book and send it to certain movie makers , but I didn ’ t expect it to sell as many [ copies ] as it did .” He ’ s been especially gratified to receive book reviews from as far as Europe .
Every couple of months he doggedly sends another copy of the book to another movie producer with big hopes that it might one day hit the big screen . His dream director would be Peter Jackson , who adapted Tolkien ’ s “ Lord of the Rings ” for the screen .
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018 gmhtoday . com
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