Littleton explores betrayal in sequel book Fate of the Fallen
What is the Fate of the Fallen?
That is exactly what fans of Trevor Littleton’s Avonlea book series will find out in his sequel to the popular Christian fiction novel Shadows.
Already well into the creative process of crafting his second book, which follows the trials and tribulations of protagonist Zecheriah Cooper, the Avonlea clan and several brutally devious beings, the local Millersburg Christian pastor has found that developing characters both good and bad, both worldly and otherworldly, is quite to his liking.
“It’s been everything that I imagined it would be when I got started,” said Littleton of writing. “It’s been a pretty wild ride and I am having a great time. It’s just weird to have people come up to me in Walmart or in some restaurant and tell me how much they enjoyed the book. It’s amazing too, to see all of the different emotions that it has elicited from people, but when I started, I wanted to make a book that made people think beyond what they know and understand.”
The first printing of Shadows was sold in bookstores and various other local outlets, and was also available on Kindle for quite a while. Now, the book is nearly out of print, although Gospel Book Store in Berlin continues to carry copies, and Littleton himself has a few left.
More importantly, the success of the book has inspired Littleton to continue to carve out the second in what he says will be a trilogy of books intertwining worldly events with the spiritual realm.
Much like the first book, in which he wrote the entire book before scrapping it and coming up with a completely re-crafted version, Fate of the Fallen has already seen its fair share of rewrites, and Littleton said that it is very difficult to simply be happy with putting words on paper.
“You know, you’re never really satisfied with what you’ve got, because you always feel that you can make it better,” said Littleton. “I’ve got about 100 pages done so far, and I’ve scrapped at least 80. There are always plenty of little things here and there to fix, things you want to change, ideas that come up that you feel make it a more compelling read.”
Having recently finished up studies for his master’s degree in theology, Littleton said that he can now turn his full attention to Fate of the Fallen, and cherishes the opportunity to let his creative juices flow.
His hope is that the rough draft will be done sometime this fall, and that Fallen will hit bookstores by the first of the new year.
With the story line for all three books steeped in religious legends and Biblical truths, Littleton said that his goal through the books is to bring out questions about the spiritual realm that might cause people to take a closer look at what lies beyond what they can see.
Fallen will take a closer look at the challenges of humankind, and more importantly, will explore the implications that come with having to choose to side with good or evil.
“I’ve got a lot of major plot twists that I hope the reader will not see coming,” said Littleton of Fallen. “Much of the book focuses on betrayal, and takes a look at how angels and demons might respond around humans. My hope is that the books will help people connect both emotionally and spiritually to what lies beyond this world.”
Without divulging too much, Littleton said that Fallen takes little time in diving into a fray which will boldly put antagonist and fallen angel Ikon in a bad light, in a bad way.
“It’s important to develop a quick hook that gets a grip on people and draws them into the story,” said Littleton. “This is an age-old story about wanting to be God. We really don’t know what angels look like, and what they are capable of, but these books take the reader into a world of possibilities. There is plenty of action and lots of humor along the way, but hopefully it will take people a little outside their comfort zone when it comes to thinking about the spiritual realm.”
As the ideas continue to swirl, Littleton is having a blast fashioning the Avonlea family, all of his angels and demons and his earthly, flawed hero into an exciting story.
And even as he prepares to get Shadows back on Kindle, other avenues continue to open up.
“Who knows, maybe we have entertained angels and not known it, like it says in the book of Hebrews,” said Littleton. “There is so much focus on things like vampires right now. Why not angels and demons? Maybe this will make people think twice about the things that go bump in the night.”
Book Review
Shadows: Days of Avonlea
Steeped in mystery, with plenty of heart-pounding elements that keep the pages turning in Shadows: Days of Avonlea, first-time author Trevor Littleton has fashioned a winning novel in his inaugural effort.
Like well-known author Frank Peretti, Littleton utilizes both the worldly and spiritual realm to briskly move the reader through chapter after chapter.
However, unlike Peretti, who keeps his story lines between the worldly endeavors of his characters separate from the spiritual battle which reins above them, Littleton brings the action from the heavenly ranks right down to ground level, where his protagonist gets to see firsthand exactly how powerful the forces of good and evil are, as the spiritual beings showcase a variety of gifts and talents which dwarf any powers that men might utilize.
Considering that it is Littleton’s first book, the pacing and story line prove to be very worthy of any Christian fiction reader’s time. The book is an easy read, because Littleton doesn’t bog readers down trying to impress upon them a large amount of religious doctrine that can easily grind a suspense/thriller type book to a halt.
What the book does do is introduce characters and allow the reader to become connected with them, whether they are flawed hero Zecheriah Cooper, who countlessly rushes into poor decisions, the angelic crew who use wit and humor as a way of interacting with the lives they touch, or the evil entities that are vying for the right to rule over humans.
Because Littleton goes to great lengths to create believable, flawed human beings and paints very a picture of the spiritual beings that allows easy access to their heart and souls, the reader is drawn into every twist and turn. Shadows presents a book which truly gives readers a good reason to be afraid of the dark.
Unlike today’s slasher horror flicks, where unbelievable plots are simply covered up by throwing more gore and blood at viewers, Shadows utilizes the spiritual realm to drive home the point that there are forces at work which mankind simply can not understand completely. Because the spiritual world is out of our level of comprehension, the things that go bump in the night are often far more scary than anything else.
Littleton has crafted a terrific story, and lets it weave itself out little by little, allowing the reader to imagine and ponder what lies beyond the earthly realm.
That is exactly what fans of Trevor Littleton’s Avonlea book series will find out in his sequel to the popular Christian fiction novel Shadows.
Already well into the creative process of crafting his second book, which follows the trials and tribulations of protagonist Zecheriah Cooper, the Avonlea clan and several brutally devious beings, the local Millersburg Christian pastor has found that developing characters both good and bad, both worldly and otherworldly, is quite to his liking.
“It’s been everything that I imagined it would be when I got started,” said Littleton of writing. “It’s been a pretty wild ride and I am having a great time. It’s just weird to have people come up to me in Walmart or in some restaurant and tell me how much they enjoyed the book. It’s amazing too, to see all of the different emotions that it has elicited from people, but when I started, I wanted to make a book that made people think beyond what they know and understand.”
The first printing of Shadows was sold in bookstores and various other local outlets, and was also available on Kindle for quite a while. Now, the book is nearly out of print, although Gospel Book Store in Berlin continues to carry copies, and Littleton himself has a few left.
More importantly, the success of the book has inspired Littleton to continue to carve out the second in what he says will be a trilogy of books intertwining worldly events with the spiritual realm.
Much like the first book, in which he wrote the entire book before scrapping it and coming up with a completely re-crafted version, Fate of the Fallen has already seen its fair share of rewrites, and Littleton said that it is very difficult to simply be happy with putting words on paper.
“You know, you’re never really satisfied with what you’ve got, because you always feel that you can make it better,” said Littleton. “I’ve got about 100 pages done so far, and I’ve scrapped at least 80. There are always plenty of little things here and there to fix, things you want to change, ideas that come up that you feel make it a more compelling read.”
Having recently finished up studies for his master’s degree in theology, Littleton said that he can now turn his full attention to Fate of the Fallen, and cherishes the opportunity to let his creative juices flow.
His hope is that the rough draft will be done sometime this fall, and that Fallen will hit bookstores by the first of the new year.
With the story line for all three books steeped in religious legends and Biblical truths, Littleton said that his goal through the books is to bring out questions about the spiritual realm that might cause people to take a closer look at what lies beyond what they can see.
Fallen will take a closer look at the challenges of humankind, and more importantly, will explore the implications that come with having to choose to side with good or evil.
“I’ve got a lot of major plot twists that I hope the reader will not see coming,” said Littleton of Fallen. “Much of the book focuses on betrayal, and takes a look at how angels and demons might respond around humans. My hope is that the books will help people connect both emotionally and spiritually to what lies beyond this world.”
Without divulging too much, Littleton said that Fallen takes little time in diving into a fray which will boldly put antagonist and fallen angel Ikon in a bad light, in a bad way.
“It’s important to develop a quick hook that gets a grip on people and draws them into the story,” said Littleton. “This is an age-old story about wanting to be God. We really don’t know what angels look like, and what they are capable of, but these books take the reader into a world of possibilities. There is plenty of action and lots of humor along the way, but hopefully it will take people a little outside their comfort zone when it comes to thinking about the spiritual realm.”
As the ideas continue to swirl, Littleton is having a blast fashioning the Avonlea family, all of his angels and demons and his earthly, flawed hero into an exciting story.
And even as he prepares to get Shadows back on Kindle, other avenues continue to open up.
“Who knows, maybe we have entertained angels and not known it, like it says in the book of Hebrews,” said Littleton. “There is so much focus on things like vampires right now. Why not angels and demons? Maybe this will make people think twice about the things that go bump in the night.”
Book Review
Shadows: Days of Avonlea
Steeped in mystery, with plenty of heart-pounding elements that keep the pages turning in Shadows: Days of Avonlea, first-time author Trevor Littleton has fashioned a winning novel in his inaugural effort.
Like well-known author Frank Peretti, Littleton utilizes both the worldly and spiritual realm to briskly move the reader through chapter after chapter.
However, unlike Peretti, who keeps his story lines between the worldly endeavors of his characters separate from the spiritual battle which reins above them, Littleton brings the action from the heavenly ranks right down to ground level, where his protagonist gets to see firsthand exactly how powerful the forces of good and evil are, as the spiritual beings showcase a variety of gifts and talents which dwarf any powers that men might utilize.
Considering that it is Littleton’s first book, the pacing and story line prove to be very worthy of any Christian fiction reader’s time. The book is an easy read, because Littleton doesn’t bog readers down trying to impress upon them a large amount of religious doctrine that can easily grind a suspense/thriller type book to a halt.
What the book does do is introduce characters and allow the reader to become connected with them, whether they are flawed hero Zecheriah Cooper, who countlessly rushes into poor decisions, the angelic crew who use wit and humor as a way of interacting with the lives they touch, or the evil entities that are vying for the right to rule over humans.
Because Littleton goes to great lengths to create believable, flawed human beings and paints very a picture of the spiritual beings that allows easy access to their heart and souls, the reader is drawn into every twist and turn. Shadows presents a book which truly gives readers a good reason to be afraid of the dark.
Unlike today’s slasher horror flicks, where unbelievable plots are simply covered up by throwing more gore and blood at viewers, Shadows utilizes the spiritual realm to drive home the point that there are forces at work which mankind simply can not understand completely. Because the spiritual world is out of our level of comprehension, the things that go bump in the night are often far more scary than anything else.
Littleton has crafted a terrific story, and lets it weave itself out little by little, allowing the reader to imagine and ponder what lies beyond the earthly realm.
Published: July 14, 2011
