Category Archives: Fantasy

About The Gates of Heaven Series

Eons ago . . . heaven decreed seven sacred sites to be established throughout the kingdom: the sha’har sha’ma’yim or Gates of Heaven. These sites were placed to prevent evil from gaining a stronghold in the world of humans, and were guarded by Keepers. Yet, over time these stone structures have been destroyed, vandalized, or abandoned, and thus evil has now spread. However, evil is no match for heaven, and so as those living in the realm confront evil in its many forms, they experience heaven’s hand guiding them, as is traditional in classic fairy tales.

Fairy tales have an uncanny staying power, and the need for the archetypes of myth has never been greater. Most traditional tales carry the message that blessings follow those choosing honorable principles and seeking heaven’s will. Fairy tales inspire hope, while at the same time impart life lessons as a hero or heroine ventures out into the world on a classic “hero’s journey.” Those of us raised reading fairy tales have had these values inculcated in us from early on, but it seems no one has taken the path of reinventing traditional fairy tales and turning them into full-length, original novels.

This is the aim of The Gates of Heaven collection of fairy tales: to draw from traditional, well-known classic tales and combine these elements with new storylines and deep characters. Designed to follow in the tradition of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia (but for a more adult and sophisticated audience), these tales meld humor, purpose, and inner struggles as characters seek heaven’s will for their lives.

The series is set in a world not unlike our own. Central to the many various villages and lands is the kingdom of Sherbourne, which is also the hub of the series. Each tale is set in a different land, featuring different characters and one of the sacred sites, although in all the books an occasional character will wander off the page and appear in another’s story. Continue reading →