Approximately 14 years ago, I started writing a story. I didn't have a great idea of how I wanted the plot to go, nor did I have the necessary tools to fully understand how to write a series of full-length novels. I didn't do well in English class, and in fact, I hated reading. That was until I stumbled on a few books that broke barriers in my head. I realized the reality of book-writing wasn't cut in stone.

When I truly believed that being an author was having the creative freedom to write whatever I wanted, a whole new world opened to me. I could have my characters say or do whatever I wanted them to. It was amazing!

This led to the release of my first book, Dreaming, of The Gods of Chaos series. It told of a slacker named Jackie Boy going through the steps of transitioning from Reality into this Djinn World. I had already written the first draft of the entire 5 part series out by this point, but there were so many loop holes and concepts that weren't fully developed that I really felt nervous. Even with quite a few positive reviews, I still felt anxious. It didn't feel like a finished product in my head. The Djinn World was still as elusive as a Dream.

I subsequently released the direct sequel to Dreaming called Netherworld. This had numerous readers telling me it was good, but a few mentioned it was a bit slower. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but it was the feedback I needed. In building a universe, I managed to create an interesting story, but not as interesting as I wanted. So in an effort to step out of the box, I decided to momentarily step away the series and outside the first person perspective of Jackie Boy.

I then wrote and released two novels for my independent story collection called The Djinn Trials. Azazel was a high intensity action thriller and followed a man who had lost the will to live. He was forced to face his deepest secrets in a sadistic form of redemption with a man naming himself Lucifer calling the shots.

The second novel of The Djinn Trials is Poacher Hunters. The interesting thing about Poacher Hunters is that it was my first novel written within 6 months. All my other stories were patchworks of stories written over years. Azazel was done in two distinctly separate times, about 4 years apart. Poacher Hunters is also arguably my best work, possibly due to the undivided focus. Through this process of becoming an author, I finally understood how to tell the story I really wanted. The nuances, the character flaws, the subtle characteristics that I had sort of looked over before had come to the forefront. 

It was with Poacher Hunters that I understood my new world, my Djinn World. I created an entire timeline of an outline to help guide the background of future entries and maintain a continuity needed to bring together a huge world of separate stories.

I now understand how Marvel's Avengers works alongside it's individual characters. The base must be built before the entire story. I did this backwards, writing a long story before understanding it. Now I have to put in extra effort to make the details match, but in the long run, it'll be completely worth it. My Djinn World will be an ever-evolving story with parts that are meant to be able to stand alone or work together.

Today, I am more excited for the future of this book series (or duo of series), and I will continue developing interesting and unique content until Narkissos no longer fills my dreams with ideas. And it all changed after I stopped giving a fuck about marketing and reaching large numbers of readers. If it's good writing, I now have faith my audience will grow.

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-Jack Thanatos, 7/5/2016