16+ "The mingling of Titans, Gods, and mortals; threads time, souls, faiths, myths and legends.
Written in the form of three interspersed books with artifacts of history and love letters; SW Hammond’s debut novel is an epic story with exquisite prose and the depth and scope of meticulous research." - SC Schlueter, Goodreads
Content Warning: Historical battles with swordplay and the violence / gore of war
In the beginning there was love. The Goddess of Life in an elated romance with a beloved mortal. Her sister killed him. Their combined actions ripping a hole in destiny and plagued mankind with an age of unprecedented corruption, vicious holy wars, and religious absolution.
Though long forgotten by the mortals they serve, Zeus and his Pantheon continue to foster and protect mankind which is tearing itself apart—but even God isn’t infallible. After failed diplomacy, the King of the Gods is left with no choice but to take the persona of a modern man—the famed genetic scientist Dr. Hork. In an effort to preserve the future by reshaping the past, Dr. Hork uses Project Genesis—the transfer of consciousness—to send subjects back in time. However, not without devastating failures. Subjects of the experiment wreak havoc upon humanity until a familiar character is reborn to correct the course.
Reincarnated and ready to fulfill his true destiny, Joshua Bach is the catalyst the Gods have been waiting for—and Dr. Hork’s final beacon of salvation. Ferociously idealistic, the free-spirited young man struggles to come-of-age in a time and society ruled by money and corruption. Under the wing of the Gods, Josh rediscovers his purpose, along with a love that can only be considered timeless.
This epic blends human history, ruthless mythology, science fiction, and the supernatural to tell a love story of the future—bringing Gods across all faiths down to earth in the modern age and within your reach.
Every work of art is constructed in such a way that it is most easily disposed to create certain beliefs, desires, and emotions in a particular audience (and not other types of BeDE).
GUEST POST
What makes a good story?
Here’s a much different way of looking at art and storytelling—a method that your editor or writing group may never have considered, or succinctly explained.
I’m going to share with you a formula created by Dr. Todd Jones that explains what makes good art and literature. Jones is a celebrated philosophy professor with a significant background in anthropology.
Jones’s BeDE Theory of Art Criticism: Art or literature’s only function—the only thing it is good at doing—is creating beliefs, desires, and emotions (or BeDE for short). Art fails at doing anything and everything else.
The BeDE theory is designed to tell you which works of art are comparatively better than other works of art in its class, based on how well it performs its function of creating beliefs, desires, and emotions within its audience.
What makes something “art” is a social fact—such as the concept of money or Tuesday. Society agrees that “x” is art, and therefore it becomes art.
Every work of art is constructed in such a way that it is most easily disposed to create certain beliefs, desires, and emotions in a particular audience (and not other types of BeDE).
Works of art that regularly produce (more reliably produce) higher-valued beliefs, desires, and emotions are more valuable than works of art that produce lower-valued BeDE.
What determines a BeDE score and what are high-valued beliefs, desires, and emotions?
1) Certain inner emotional states are highly valued by people: often because they have been evolutionarily useful for us to have (think: joy, romantic love, nurturing love, platonic love, wonder, sympathy, relief).
2) Certain desires and goals are highly valued by people: usually because having them tends to produce the valued emotional states (think: survival / keeping yourself alive, finding a mate, eating good food, treasure).
3) Certain beliefs are highly valued by people: usually because having these beliefs helps us satisfy our desires (think: hard work leads to riches, life after death, beauty can be deceiving, David defeats Goliath)
Who are “people”? People can be a group as small as yourself, or as large as the world. Start with “you” (in the current moment) and then think about what is valued (on average) by progressively larger groups that you are embedded in. The idea is to find the highest BeDE value for the intended group—the more widespread and universal your values, the more people that will be included in your group.
Notice how beliefs impact desires, and desires impact emotions. A good story contains multiple chains of universal and highly valued beliefs, desires, and emotions. Creating a story based around a strongly held belief, that impacts a commonly held desire, that creates a strong primordial emotion is usually a recipe for success. In the lame example above, say the underdog David defeats Goliath, which keeps him alive and this heroism helps him find a mate, which leads to romantic love.
Creating BeDE is the storyteller’s primary (only) job; to consume and impassion the audience with beliefs, desires, and emotions. An authentic story with universally high-valued BeDE will have the most appeal.
EXCERPT
From Chapter 23 -
Transmigration - The Final Book: Gods
“Seriously
though, Billy. What’s going on? Unless you’re looking for a space monkey, what
do you need me for?”
“Give
yourself some credit. I just thought you might like to come along for the ride.
Unless this sort of thing is in Milan or Dubai, Pom could care less. Plus
there’s someone there I want you to meet. Or rather, who wants to meet you.”
Josh
twisted his brow with confusion but remained quiet allowing William to
elaborate.
“Her
little joke, attending the Space Symposium. She’s a longtime friend.”
“So
what, you’re setting me up?”
William
roared with laughter. “No, not that! She’s…she’s a very interesting woman. I
told her how you and I have been spending a lot of time together, talking
philosophy. We’ll just grab a drink after and say hi.”
“That’s
fine… But I still don’t get it.”
William
tried to explain. “She sees the world in a very unique way. I thought you might
appreciate that. No big deal.”
“Okay,”
Josh agreed, feeling there was more to the story. “Let’s hope I don’t
disappoint.”
“Oh
and, Josh”—William looked over at him—“let’s keep this between you and I. It’s
nothing underhanded, just avoiding unnecessary trouble. Ana and I have a bit of
history, which Pom is fully aware of, but it will always be tender… No sense in
stirring the pot.”
Josh
remained silent, uncomfortable with William’s request. He didn’t like the
thought of lying to Pom, as she and he had become quite close, just as he and
William had. Also William’s infidelity irritated him; he couldn’t understand
how someone’s eye would be able to wander with a woman like Pom at home. But,
most importantly, he was disappointed that William placed him in the middle.
Regardless of William’s affairs, Josh didn’t want to be an accessory to
something that could potentially upset Pom.
“I
know what you’re thinking,” William said, “and it reaffirms my decision for you
to meet Ana. I know you’ve grown close with Pom. I also know you’d do things
differently than me, and that’s why I’m proud to call you my friend. But life
isn’t so cut and dry, Josh. Temptation isn’t your vice…” He paused as he tried
to conjure up the appropriate words. “Without Ana, we wouldn’t have our amazing
daughters who have had a tremendous impact on the world. I’m not exaggerating
when I say that those girls have changed the lives of millions of people. The
world is a much better place because of my weakness. Yes, that came at the expense
of Pom, but what’s the greater good? What’s most important?”
William
had never opened up to Josh about his personal affairs and Josh wasn’t quite
sure how to respond. He felt tremendous objection with William’s
rationalization of his actions, but didn’t want to outright judge the man.
“I
don’t know, Billy,” Josh began. “Honesty is usually the best policy. It sounds
like you’re justifying poor judgment by the serendipitous outcome of superb
offspring… I mean, what if your children with Ana grew up to be heinous, or
even normal. Would those ends justify the means?”
“Well,
that’s the odd thing about destiny: it’s inevitable,” William replied. “Those
girls had to be born, they were needed. Destiny exploited my weakness, a
character flaw of mine, in order to put forth what the world needed.”
“Wow,”
Josh said, taken aback by William’s explanation. “You’ve done a lot of great
things, Dr. Hork, almost other worldly things. But you’re speaking as if you’re
chosen. The odd thing about destiny isn’t that it’s inevitable, but it’s that
we don’t know what it is. It’s not like we have a map or checklist of the
future.”
“But
what if you did? What if you did know your destiny? Would that still make my
actions dishonorable? Knowing the outcome of the greater good?”
Josh
turned to look out the window. “You’re suggesting that you have a crystal ball
and there’s only one way to do things. That almost makes it worse. Knowing your
destiny and still not finding an honorable or honest solution with Pom to
achieve the same outcome.”
William
remained quiet, allowing Josh to explain himself.
“Destiny
is an excuse for poor actions,” Josh continued. “It’s a self-fulfilling
prophecy. You believe in your destiny, so therefore you actively seek it out,
and it eventually becomes you. By adding the ‘cosmic mystical’ element, you
relinquish accountability and responsibility. You just blame your actions on
the gods. It was their will for you to sleep with that woman, not yours.”
“How
would one honorably explain conceiving a child with another woman?” William
asked, looking over at him out of the corner of his eye.
“That’s
my point—you can’t now. Honesty has to start from the beginning. If you knew
that infidelity or flesh of another is your vice, perhaps you shouldn’t have
married. It’s selfish, Bill. You placed your desire—your ‘destiny’—above your
wife.”
There
was a long pause.
“Who’s
to say you couldn’t have had those amazing daughters, who changed the world,
with Pom?” Josh added.
“Their
mother for one,” William quickly replied. “Those girls aren’t great because of
me, it’s because of Ana.”
Josh
was silent, still looking out the window to avoid William’s eyes.
“You’re
right, though,” William muttered. “I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t
handle things properly. I hurt Pom, and I’ll always feel terrible for it. I
wish I had as much wisdom at your age…”
Josh
sighed. “Billy, I wasn’t trying to insult you. You and Pom have your own
relationship and arrangement. I don’t know the complexities and it has nothing
to do with me… I just don’t like being put in the middle.”
“Fair
enough,” William said as he stared blankly through the windshield. “Sometimes I
forget who I’m talking to. Someone who actually practices what they preach…
Speaking of preaching, I guess you’d have to believe in God to believe in
destiny, then?” He eased the conversation away from his personal affairs but
was enjoying Josh’s thoughts on morality.
“Abstractly,
destiny’s just a really fortunate excuse for a lot of people to do a lot of bad
things. That’s the problem with man mingling with Gods, or religion.”
William
was intrigued. “Explain.”
“Beyond
diminishing personal accountability, an unintended consequence or not, once you
cut through all of the ritual and teachings, the bottom line is that religion
completely devalues life. The entire premise of there being something after
this world inherently makes the existence we’re currently living less important
or less precious. With the promise of something more after life, something
greater, it makes death much easier to accept.”
“Interesting
observation.”
“A
religious authority, priest or bishop, can paint the picture of a glorious
afterworld and use that to manipulate followers into either being good to one
another, or to wage horrific wars. If you die along the way, which we all will
one day, that’s actually a good thing because now you’re home with God. And who
doesn’t want to be with God?” Josh said sarcastically.
“Why
do you think people go along with this notion?”
“They’re
seeking a cause and effect to existence, an explainable reaction. They try to
understand unfathomable things that happen during life, creating reasons to
justify man’s relevance on a cosmic level—usually by attributing their lives to
a larger concept such as religion or destiny. The only way to ease the guilt of
bad decisions, things that can’t be reversed or reconciled here on Earth, is to
atone to an unearthly being. The thought of being completely insignificant in
the universe is more difficult for the human mind to accept than a utopia
governed by a bearded man in the clouds.”
“So
I take it you don’t believe in God, then?” William cocked his head with the
question.
“I’m
not foolish enough to say that. I can tell you with all certainty that I don’t
believe in any religion operated by a mortal man, but I’m wise enough to say
that I don’t know about God. I’m able to admit that I don’t understand. My mind
is completely open—literally anything is possible because I have no way of
knowing one way or another.”
“Without
God or a greater purpose, what’s the point of getting out of bed?” William
pushed.
“By
having tremendous value and respect for the life you currently have,” Josh
replied. “By understanding that being alive is completely unique and
precious—something to be worshiped, to be celebrated. Our singular personal
existence in the vast universe is so rare, so exponentially unlikely, that it
shouldn’t be wasted by lying in bed. You won the lottery just by being born.”
“That’s
a pretty sober way to look at things. Uncomplicated.”
“I
think that’s a big problem with religion as we have it, it’s been manipulated
into a tool of social control and discipline rather than a source of profound
thought on the human experience. When did the belief of God become synonymous
with marriage or shellfish, even goodwill or war? God doesn’t have anything to
do with those things.”
“Or
interchangeably he has everything to do with all things…” William added.
“Right.
And that’s a completely valid argument as well,” Josh agreed. “But remember
that slippery slope because you can’t pick and choose God’s miracles. If he has
everything to do with all things, then he’s then equally responsible for
healing the sick as he is for murders at an elementary school shooting.”
“What
do you think, Josh?” William questioned him intently. “Do you think God has
something to do with the murders of children?”
Josh
took a deep breath and tried to articulate an answer. “No. My vision, or ideal
of what God is or would be, wouldn’t be involved in that. I feel that God is
removed from our daily activities. I see him as a creator and protector of
humanity, but not as a personal babysitter. While he may have given life, he’s
not in control of my soul or who I am. I don’t feel he has any interest in or
control over my personal ‘destiny,’ though I’m sure he wishes general goodwill
to everyone—like a father wishing his sons the best in life, though boys can
still grow up to become murderers and rapists… I don’t know what God is…” He
then hesitated. “I’m not sure if he’s from the ‘other side’ or if he’s just
from another world… Maybe that’s one in the same? I don’t know, I see him being
more human than a fairy tale. He couldn’t have been perfect if he created us in
his own image.”
William
let out a wild grin and found a bit of humor in Josh’s comment on perfection.
His approval encouraged Josh to keep going.
“You
know how history tends to paint a glorious picture of the past, elevating
certain battles or men above the rest—like our founding fathers? Somehow the
realism of them as humans, with all of their many imperfections, mistakes, and
outright terrible deeds have been lost over time? I think that’s happened with
God exponentially over the thousands of years. We choose to only remember the
good stuff.”
“Your
God sounds pretty down to Earth,” William said, as he continued to smile. “He
could be living among us and we wouldn’t even know.”
Josh
smiled back. “Of course. Or, you know, we could have evolved from sludge…
Here’s one thing I don’t get about modern religion. God has helpers—angels,
right?”
William
nodded.
“So
basically the whole monotheism and polytheism is pure semantics. Everyone knows
Zeus was king, or the Abrahamic God is big chief god, so what’s wrong with
showing his helpers, Poseidon or Gabriel, some appreciation? All of the
religions have ‘angels’ or saints that perform the same functions as the Greek
and Egyptian ‘gods,’ yet it was worth killing everyone and decimating cultures
over that nonsensical subtle difference.”
“Religion
isn’t about logic, it’s about faith.”
“I
guess that’s my problem. I have an unwavering belief and faith in life. I think
God does, too—that’s why he bothered creating it.”
“The
end doesn’t justify the means…”
“Exactly.
Faith is an awesome thing, having belief in something is powerful and unifying.
However, when that faith is tied to an organization that is responsible for
millions upon millions of deaths throughout history, the little bit of good
they do does not outweigh the bad. It has nothing to do with forgiveness or
reform, some things just simply can’t be undone. Faith and ideology are not
justifiably worth dying or killing over, and I’ve never understood how someone
can convince themselves that it is.”
“What
could be more honorable than dying for God?” William asked.
“Are
you serious?” Josh scoffed. “God doesn’t want you to die for him, that’s not
why he made you. That’s like fucking to preserve virginity. He didn’t create
humans so they would kill each other over abstract concepts. Dying to protect
life—the thing God created—or fighting against the oppression of the
inalienable rights of life, I’d consider that much more honorable.”
“Kind
of like our government, then.”
Josh
rolled his eyes. “If you believe in the liberation of oil fields and other
strategic resources, sure. The government doesn’t care about life unless it can
tax it. Our government took a crafty lesson from religion. It has exploited the
fundamental concept of freedom to propel its own agenda. Instead of using the
word ‘god’ like religion does, they just insert the word ‘freedom’ and the
propaganda is the same.”
William
chuckled. “You don’t believe in government or religion… What’s left, anarchy?”
“As
soon as any organization—religion, government, corporation, nonprofit, or a
person starts to manipulate their own beliefs to acquire power, conceal motives
or agendas, lie, threaten, oppress, condemn—it’s corruption, Bill. I can’t
support an institution that’s lost its virtue.”
“The
picture of young Joshua Bach is becoming a bit clearer,” William remarked.
“Such principles aren’t going to make life easy.”
“Tell
me about it. I’m basically thirty years old and can barely support myself. I
can’t stand our financial system… Do you know how hard it is to not have a cent
of debt to your name? The bank isn’t my master. I refuse to be a part of an
institution that is more concerned with share prices than the product they’re
creating or service they’re providing.”
“That’s
noble, but not entirely realistic.”
Josh
raised his voice. “Why not? All it takes is for people to stop believing. Just
as religion can’t exist without faith, neither can our system. If people, one
by one, no longer allowed their good intentions to be exploited, no longer fed
a system that was corrupt and broken—it would vanish. It can’t operate unless
people believe in it and perpetuate it.”
“I
suppose that’s easier to say if you have nothing to lose.” William paused. “If
you had a business, house, family—established roots into the system, it’d be
harder to turn your back on it.”
Josh
was silent for a moment, then continued. “I agree. You know the types of things
I think about? I’m afraid that I’m too poor to fall in love. Not only would I
have to fully step into the corrupt system—meaningless job, underwater
mortgage, vehicles with an expiration date—but if we decided to have children,
I’d have to bring them into this cycle. I wouldn’t be able to afford a private
school or tutors, so they’d be educated by one of the world’s most mediocre
school systems—by design—that teaches them just enough to get by, so they can
find another meaningless job and start the process all over again with their
children. It’s so complacent. Everyone knows it’s wrong, everyone knows it’s
broken, but no one has a gun to their head. There’s no immediate threat, so no
one does anything. It’s a slow cancer. As soon as it gets bad enough to take
action, it will be too late.”
“You
do have your freedom,” William’s tone was hollow. “What if your child breaks
the cycle? It just takes one—Spartacus.”
“Why
can’t I be the One? Why my son? Why always the next generation?”
William
looked over at him out of the corner of his eye. “You speak of revolution, my
boy.”
“Billy,
I don’t want to wage a war… I just want reform, an awakening. Has mankind
always been so dishonest and self-serving? When did prophets become profits?”
Josh said with bitterness.
Another
long pause filled the traveling automobile, as Josh looked through the window
at the city streets intently with a grave scowl.
William
finally broke the silence. “I got you pretty worked up, didn’t I?”
“I’m
not asking for perfection, Bill. You and Pom are a perfect example. Mistakes
were made, intentional or not, but at some point you had to be honest with one
another. You had to agree on the future you wanted to create together and put
the past behind you. You had to do what was right for your children, and I’m
sure it was hard. I’m sure it still is. But look what you’ve done. Things at
one point were broken, and you fixed them. I don’t know the young William Hork,
but I know the man next to me now and there’s no one more honest and virtuous.
You’ve matured into an individual with compassion, foresight, strength,
experience and wisdom. You’re not perfect, but you’re damn close. I want that.
I want that for man, for society. I want humanity to mature into what I know it
can be.”
William
looked over at Josh and without question saw the man he once knew over 2,000
years ago. Sitting in his car beside him was the spitting image of the young
Israelite with his soul on fire. His bleeding heart and passion had been masked
by the youthful exterior, but there was no denying the complete transmigration
of Lesous Nazareth into Joshua Bach. The young man’s words, his conviction, and
his virtue made it clear to William that the second coming was upon him and
that Lesous was finally ready to fulfill his destiny.
“I
don’t know what to do, Bill.” Josh’s tone had become disheartened. “I don’t
have a bottomless playbook full of answers, but you know when something is
wrong or when it is right. The truth is absolute. It’s like the weather—you
can’t control or manipulate truth. It just is.”
William
smiled as he pulled into the entrance of the Broadmoor Resort, where a parking
valet waited. “I think Ana will be quite pleased I brought you. Long overdue.”
Josh
let out a deep breath of air, trying to calm himself. “I’m sorry, Dr. Hork. I
usually don’t get so riled up, I prefer the rhetorical debates.” He then
smiled. “I hope I didn’t offend you. You know how much I think of you and Pom.”
William
laughed. “Offend? Josh, my boy, I feel
as though I’ve been searching for your honesty for millennia! I enjoyed every
word and know there was no malice behind it.”
“I
respect you. Pom, too. I just don’t want anything to mess that up.”
“A
man of conviction,” William said. “I crossed the line by trying to cover my own
hide and you corrected me. I admire that. Not many have the gumption to speak
up…to not allow someone to stand in the way of doing the right thing.”
About the author:
Sean William Hammond is the author of The Final Book: Gods and The Mixtape Manifesto: A Pop Culture Confessional. He is also a freelance writer contributing to music zines, adventure and lifestyle magazines, and new media technical websites across the world. On his official website, SWHammond.com, you’ll find a mix of his articles, essays, and personal memoirs that encompass pop culture, politics, relationships, and thoughts on life.
SW’s writing style, particularly within his commentary, is often compared to Chuck Klosterman with countless references to pop culture, especially music. Hammond’s honest approach creates an easy camaraderie with the reader, then tests the boundaries with sensitive subject matter. Philosophy, ethics, and virtue continually square off against an instantaneous hedonism celebrated throughout society—with Hammond in the middle, struggling to keep his head above water.
SW’s fictional writing makes a conscious effort to blend perception, rumor, and fact leaving the reader to question reality. His stories are often rooted in truth, taking place in historical settings or by playing on modern headlines, making use of common and relatable themes to drive home critical points about the human condition. Though grand, epic, and futurist, the backbone of his novels hinge on basic principles of morality, or lack thereof.
Hammond has a unique background as a music and sports industry professional. He has worked in the Commissioner’s Office of Major League Baseball as a Marketing Coordinator, was an Assistant of Arizona Operations in the Kansas City Royals farm system, and operated Spring Training stadium audio for the Los Angeles Angels. He is also credited as a Marketing Representative for Sony Music Entertainment, a Senior Tour Manager for the Vans Warped Tour, and an intern at WAR Records / United Interests Management.
Born just outside of Denver, CO in 1983, Hammond hasn’t settled down much since. Aside from Colorado, as a child he also lived in Maine, California, and Utah. As an adult he returned to Colorado and Utah, also adding Arizona and Nevada to the list. He has visited 49 of the 50 states, vowing to make it to Alaska one day soon. Seemingly only content while in motion, Hammond’s dream is to one day own a catamaran and sail it around the world. He currently resides in Las Vegas, NV studying philosophy at UNLV. Hammond has never been married and has no children.
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