Guest Blogger Misty Evans ~ Dealing with the Devil

I was raised in a Southern Baptist household and cut my teeth on Old Testament stories full of the Devil and damnation. Having an active imagination and a strong desire to find good in everyone, I was particularly taken by the story about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. To me, it was a love story, maybe the greatest ever told. Adam gave up enjoying heaven on Earth to be with Eve after she ate from the apple. He could have resisted her and temptation and hung out with God, but he was so enamored by Eve, his good sense went out the proverbial window and he damned himself right along with her.

Destined to be a writer, I transformed many Biblical stories in my head, and questioned what might have happened if things had been different. What if the original garden had been the Garden of Evil and it was God who had to tempt Eve to eat from the apple (or Triple Chocolate Cheesecake) in order to create heaven on Earth? What if God sent Adam and Eve back to Earth for a redo and once they got here and hung out with all of us, they had to decide if wiping out sin—which would include all of us born in sin—was a good deal?

In my novella in the Tickle My Fantasy Anthology (available this month), WITCHES ANONYMOUS, I played with a couple of those ideas, letting Adam come back to Earth and find the perfect Eve (who happens to be named Amy). I took the Devil and gave him the ability to love, which in some religions, he was capable of as an archangel. And I flipped the ideas of good and evil on their heads, just to see what would happen.

The story reminded me that good and evil exist in each of us, and it is our choice to resist or give in to temptation, whatever form it appears in. (Personally, I’d prefer it in the cheesecake form.) WITCHES ANONYMOUS is a comedy because, having been raised on Old Testament beliefs; I can tell you laughter is the best way to deal with the Devil.

Misty Evans is an award-winning, multi-published author of suspense and paranormal comedy. She likes her coffee black, her Biblical stories juicy, and her cheesecake decadent. You can visit her at www.readmistyevans.com or www.twitter.com/readmistyevans .