Why Godmode?

At one time my ultra-cool content editor (and Godsister) Carmen asked me why I gave this novel the title “Godmode.”

The answer is a bit complicated. You see, When I first came up with the idea for this novel, I was just going to call it “Alone.” I wanted the feel of isolation that was in movies like “Cast Away” applied to a horror setting. A man is alone against a horde of monsters. That was the hook. But we were also in the middle of the whole M. Knight Shaymalan fad, where every story had to have some sort of twist ending. So I came up with the hook that this guy was the main character in a video game, but the reader doesn’t find out until the end of the story. So I was thinking of cool videogame terms, and “Godmode” was the one that stuck.

For those who don’t know, “Godmode” is usually a hidden feature of action-based games, where the character has some level of invincibility, whether it be infinite health, infinite weapons and ammo, special and hard-to find weapons, added power, or any combination of those attributes. It should allow you to breeze through the game without really worrying about getting killed. Now, in my book, “godmode” has come to embody something different, but I’ll discuss that in a minute.

My original vision for my book was a balls-to-the-wall, super sci-fi action book with crazy action scenes a la The Matrix and Boondock Saints, or anything from John Woo. I wanted my protagonist to be truly bad@$$ who would take it to all of these abominable monsters, and look cool doing it.

Problem is, that is a concept that works well in movies, comic books and video games. Not so much in Novels. So I had to totally revamp the concept of my book, and it morphed into the Godmode that saw print.

But now “Godmode” has a new connotation. There are quite a few religious, mythic and supernatural references in this story, especially for a Science fiction story. You will see elements of Greek Mythology (i.e. Minotaurs and a reference to the story of Phaetheon) and H.P. Lovecraft’s Elder Gods mythology. And one of the most vital characters in the story is a Bible-quoting, devout Christian. In addition to that, andy Bible reader knows the story of the prophet Elijah’s struggle against the worshippers of the pagan god Baal. I included those names specifically to allude to that, And there’s also a Farakkhan mention, if you look hard enough. So, there is a mishmash of religious iconography in the story, which connects loosely to the title of the book. Not to menthion the scientists in the story trying to “play God” by messing with the physiology of animals and humans alike.

So now that you know where I got the title from, how about checking the book out to see the references for yourself?