[Welcome to the first ‘Introducing’ series, where we’ll take an in-depth sneak peek at the main characters of Celestial. No need to worry. No plot spoilers here!]
Who is Jediah?
Jediah is the main protagonist of my book, Celestial. He’s a soldier angel. He’s one of the most upstanding among his fellow warriors, and he earned the rank of Captain after subduing demon lord Appolyon in the Scorpion Wars.
What were the Scorpion Wars?
It’s a war I made up based on my own Biblical speculations. In my fiction, this war took place somewhere between the Fall of Eden and the Great Flood. Appolyon (a shape-shifting cherub with a penchant for scorpions) attempted to wipe out Adam’s line during its infancy. However, both Appolyon and his massive army are now imprisoned in the Abyss until God uses them as one of the later plagues during the future Tribulation. The fact that God appointed Jediah, his captor, as his warden just adds insult to Appolyon’s injury.
What’s it like for Jediah to guard the Abyss?
Pretty uneventful as far as action goes, but Jediah prefers it that way. No mayhem in the Abyss. No trouble in the Abyss. Besides, with rambunctious troops like Laszio and Eran to manage, it never gets too quiet for him. He’d say ensuring his battalion stays prepared and sharp keeps him on his toes anyway.
What inspired Jediah’s creation?
When I started scripting my plot for Celestial, I recognized the opportunity to reverse-engineer a very common Christian fiction trope. You know how often the main protagonist in a Christian fiction is a non-believer who scoffs at Christ’s salvation at first then eventually becomes saved? Well, what if you had the precise opposite? What if you had a character who greatly wants Christ’s salvation, but because he’s an angel he can’t have it? I thought that kind of protagonist arch would not only be a refreshing switch up to the typical fare but invite readers to look at salvation at another angle they may never have considered before.
Who did you base Jediah off of?
To be honest, I didn’t have a particular person in mind at Jediah’s first conception. I just started with a simple framework. He’d be a noble warrior - kind to his loved ones, dauntless to his enemies. Later on, though, I started viewing him as a King David meets Captain Steve Rogers meets Aragorn type. Then I noticed something I didn’t really plan on that began occurring in his character while I was writing. Jediah began adopting flaws similar to my own. He was becoming partially like me.
So is Jediah your gender-bent self-insert?
No. Certainly not. There are plenty of differences between him and me. However, there were a few very regrettable moments in my life that I’m really not proud of that ended up informing the more tragic bits of his background. I guess you could say we both learned certain difficult lessons the hard way. We’re not the same, but if Jediah existed, we could relate to each other a lot.
What was the hardest part about writing Jediah?
It was hard coming up with enough unique traits to set him apart from all the other countless fiction heroes without undermining the respect the other angels are supposed to have for him. Balancing his hardened officer side with his soft vulnerable side proved quite tricky too. Sometimes I thought Jediah acted too harsh. Other times I felt like I overly sissified him. However, that mood tug-of-war I had while writing him did help me astronomically in nailing Jediah’s constant inner conflict. Part of his character involved his constant deciding between acting dutiful or being relational with his brethren anyway. So it fit.
I certainly do hope the readers will like Jediah and find him unique. We’re in desperate need for more interesting White Knight characters in our modern media today. They’ve become an all too rare breed.
I hope you liked this article! Please consider liking, sharing, and leaving a comment! Celestial comes out on May 12th next Thursday, so find and preorder it on Amazon, Goodreads, Applebooks, and Barnes & Noble; and please consider subscribing for my free, non-spammy newsletter below! Thank you!