Tuesday, December 29, 2009

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 .

12 comments:

Skylar Kade said...

Misty,

Thanks for blogging with us! Witches Anonymous is definitely going in my TBR list -- it sounds hilarious!

Skylar

Misty Evans said...

Thanks, Skylar, for hosting me today and for adding WA to your TBR pile. It just received a great review from Bitten By Books too.

Misty (who's having cheesecake for lunch)

Meg Benjamin said...

What an interesting concept! Sounds like a very cool book.

Keith Melton said...

Witches Anonymous was great--the first book I ever read by Misty. I urge everyone who hasn't read it yet to check it out. ^_^

Misty Evans said...

Meg, WA allowed me to channel my inner witch and play with Lucifer. ;-)

Misty Evans said...

The Keith has spoken! Like The Donald, he shall not be ignored.

(Thanks, Keith. Someday I have to challenge you in Mario Kart. Hehehe...)

Chiron said...

Hello Misty!

I love the idea of playing around with myths and legends. In Grecian times, all the Gods and Goddesses displayed the full spectrum of attributes, which always struck me as much more realistic. ;-P

Love, love, LOVE Witches Anonymous. My temptation can come in the form of Creme Brulee, the dessert that was pretty much my downfall at Disney World. :-D

--Chiron O'Keefe
Weekly Motivation for writers at The Write Soul: www.chironokeefe.blogspot.com

Misty Evans said...

Yum, Chiron. Creme brulee is perfect for our cold, winter nights! Hubby just brought home Mississippi Mud pie, so I'll be dipping into that after dinner.

Thanks for stopping by!

kelly said...

Thanks for being here as a guest Misty! Witches Anonymous sounds so cool! My Sony reader filleth up...

Misty Evans said...

Thanks for having me as a guest, Kelly. I hope you enjoy all the books on your Sony reader. I'm adding quite a few from this group to my Kindle. You can never have enough good stories to snuggle up with this time of year. :)

PG Forte said...

I dunno...I think a really good creme brulee is a temptation too good to resist. Witches Anonymous sounds very intriguing. How about a buy link?

Erin Nicholas said...

Whew, I almost missed saying hi to Misty! But I won't miss WA... sounds like the perfect thing to put on my new Kindle (yay, Santa!) *G*
Erin