Chapter 44 -- The Twelfth Window
Good evening all...
John 16:12, 15 says "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." That's pretty much one of the themes of the rest of the story of The Twelfth Window. Such a verse stood out to me that there's a bigger and wider universe of knowledge and existence and love than can be recorded into the Bible. C.S. Lewis had it right in The Last Battle: the Bible is just the cover and title page to a beautiful and eternal story.
As I avoid hateration from the parents of my minor readers, the chapter opens when Lisa and her beloved are eighteen. The first setting is a familiar one to anybody who has graduated high school. The second takes place in their temple, a scene I carried directly into the story from my own experience of God at Central Synagogue in Manhattan. If you live in the NYC area, I suggest you visit it and you will see exactly what I mean. Try to go on a sunny day so you can experience the full effect.
They told us in Sunday School that if you are good, you will go to Heaven when you die. However, there are precious little details on Heaven but most of the descriptions of Heaven come directly from Our Lord. We have committed to Jesus by baptism and/or a confirmation ceremony, and we're told to look forward to His return. As has been taught for centuries, Christ is going to return for His Bride (the Church or Israel, depending who you are) and so I thought it important to weave the eschatological with the romantic in The Twelfth Window. When you get to the end of the book it will all make sense, just like the end of the book called Earth will make sense when we get to the end.
(John 16:16, John 16:6 and Hosea 2:19-20 also play a central role in the book to this acceptance of a deeper commitment. I drew Lisa's acceptance from Luke 1:46-55).
Next blog, I will cover Chapters 45, 46, and 47. This means we are getting real close to Chapter 50, which closes out the gang's high school years and brings the story into the final Act V.
The Twelfth Window is available for purchase on www.12thwindow.com, www.authorhouse.com, www.amazon.com, and other fine places that sell books online!
--J.M. Norwood
The Twelfth Window -- Chapters 41, 42 and 43
The election is over and like other Americans, my mind and life and time are my own again. So, let's plow into the beginning of Act IV, which encompasses Chapters 41, 42 and 43.
Chapter 41 is inspired by Ezekiel 39:25-26 and John 6:15. Since the change of seasons were important to the writing of the story, I felt it a good idea to use the spring of my own senior year to convey the feeling of a "home-stretch." I'm sure that Jesus' disciples and supporters felt the same home-stretch feel upon His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Stronger than a New Year feel. I counterbalanced the grating and uncomfortable feeling in Act III with the giddiness of the final spring of high school and reconciled love. Which is why "reconciling with the one you love is its own spring."
Chapter 42 is, without a doubt, a shadow of the Transfiguration. Whereas the Transfiguration in the Bible was real, I used this chapter for the story's heroine to catch a glimpse of what the reader already knows. Many dreams are a hodge-podge of past events and conversations. Notice the scene that the declaration takes place in; it's a place of worship under construction and called a word yet unknown to that world. I was trying to show that Jesus was building His Church the whole time that He was on earth but the impact on the world was still to-be-seen. I'd be lying if I left out the reason for Lisa's reaction being unlike that of the disciples that witnessed the Transfiguration, and it has to do with conversations that I have had with some Jewish people on the subject of Jesus Christ. Even so, it is declared to her still that something will be done about her nightmares.
Finally, Chapter 43 brings the long-tenuous relationship between Michael and Mr. Chess to a head. It shows the choice that Lisa makes by the end of the chapter. She fights both physical illness and mental stress from the conflict and is healed in the end because of her decision. Our soul is also healed when we decide--even when put on the spot--to choose Jesus. Ephesians 6:1-4 and Sirach 3:1-6 both make an appearance on page 164 of The Twelfth Window.
The Twelfth Window would make a great gift this Christmas! You can purchase it from many places such as www.12thwindow.com, www.amazon.com, and more!
--J.M. Norwood
Chapters 38, 29 and 40
I know, I know. As emcee-extraordinaire Rakim would say, "it's been a long time, I shouldn'ta left you..." .
Lots of personal (good, not bad!) things have been going on this summer, so I took a little sabbatical from posting. I have returned, and I'll use the same time to update here as I will be doing to write the sequel to The Twelfth Window. Before I begin, more shoutouts to Strategic Vision, LLC publicity company. They are making me put my spiritual money where my spiritual mouth is-most recently I was a guest with Coach & Joel on "The Morning Break Sports Show", on AM1240 and AM1470 in Chicago. The subject was "should prayer be legislated in public schools?" . A spirited conversation was had after being roundly booed about my vicariously supporting the New York Mets baseball team. Thank you, Coach & Joel, for having me on as a guest!
Chapter 38 begins the series of Lisa's private meetings with Michael about the events of the past weekend. I meant it to reflect Israel's repentance in the Book of Daniel, and of the experience of a faithful Catholic in the confessional booth. In Chapter 39, now that I look at it, I was being led to warn the reader against scrupulousness. (Scrupulousness is when you keep confessing sins back-to-back, like spiritual OCD.) The ending of Chapter 38 clearly shows that things are moving along the right path to reconciliation despite Lisa second-guessing herself and Michael, while Chapter 40 ends with divine assurance that I think every human being needs in order to move further into the only relationship that will ever matter this side of the grave.
It took three chapters for Lisa to move past her lowest point in the story. Maybe it has to do with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. #38's forgiveness comes after a chastisement likened unto the Book of Daniel, #39's comes in the form of a voice only, and #40's comes in human form, face-to-face, and divine. Further proof that I had some assistance in writing The Twelfth Window.
Next go-around is the beginning of Act IV of the story, where I will lay out chapters 41 through 43.
The Twelfth Window is available for sale on many fine websites including www.12windows.com, www.amazon.com, and www.authorhouse.com .
P.S.: I'm on Facebook. I dare you to friend me. XD
--J.M. Norwood
July 4 Weekend 2008
Good evening/afternoon to all!
May I just say that if you are an author and you are looking to hire a publicist to generate publicity for your book, you should hire Strategic Vision LLC, based in Atlanta? Another great publicist is Heather Dyer, based in New England with very thick connections in the Washington, D.C. area among others. Message me and I'll get you their information, twelfthwindow@gmail.com .
I'd like to take another opportunity to thank (and shout-out) Paul Matthews of KFUO and Keith Tucker of KKNW, two gentlemen who have let me grace their airwaves in the past few weeks. Paul, I am not going to quit those Bible challenges, I'm ready with a cup of coffee and Scripture! Keith, you are holding down Hip-Hop for Seattle, big ups for the friend add!
Before I go back into explaining the meaning behind each chapter of The Twelfth Window, I will point out some things that you might not have noticed that I wove into the story. They are Jewish calendar timelines and numerical symbolism. Some numerical symbols first:
- Lisa and her friends make up seven persons; at the end of the story I listed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit that each friend had all along in the story.
- The Trinity is shown/allegorized/represented here as the Michael that Lisa and her friends know, the Michael that the angels know, and the mode of presence that Michael has to either the angels or to Lisa and her friends even when he is not directly there.
- The twelve windows in the places of worship represent the twelve tribes of Israel; the unfinished twelfth window witnesses that Jesus Christ fulfills the Law.
some Scriptural Calendar items hidden:
- Jesus Christ's three-year ministry,
- the space of fifty days between Easter and Pentecost,
- the use of seasons to mark off time,
- the year of betrothal as regulated in Judaism 2000 years ago,
- the main character is a "son" of a "David,"
- the interior decoration color scheme of the diner is blue and white like the Israeli flag.
I challenge you to find some other hidden symbols; there are more. Next time around we will go back to explaining the chapters and their meaning(s).
As always, you may purchase a copy of The Twelfth Window at www.12thwindow.com, www.amazon.com, www.twelvewindows.com, www.authorhouse.com, and more.
Again, a Happy Fourth!
KKNW-Seattle
KFUO-AM... the aftermath
KFUO-AM
I looked at the website today; this is a strong, Scripture-based station, so I hope to be up to the task. There's no better way, really, to start the morning than with praise and with a Christian media outlet!
The Twelfth Window -- Book Review
It's a sunny and warm Memorial Day where I am. I'm taking a bit of a respite from barbecues until the next three-day weekend.
I read a review of The Twelfth Window by Becky from yabookscentral.com today. It was posted nearly a month ago but it just showed up on google. I google my own book daily to check the progress of click-thrus.
I was relieved that Becky found no wrong in Michael's character. It is very difficult to portray someone completely without sin when one is a Daughter of Eve like myself. Becky kinda-sorta understood what I was trying to put across about the Trinitarian concept of God. She saw that the protagonist of the story was a believeable, typical teenaged American girl.
Becky was honest in her review. Even at the end of the review, she owned up to the notion that maybe she just didn't "get" The Twelfth Window. That is o.k. with me because I am breaking new ground with the type of storytelling. The only thing that I take to task is that Becky felt the writing was just all right. She is wrong; it is very good writing! I think that she was so busy picking through the theology of the story that there was little room for her to get carried away in the story as a whole. She missed very important messages meant for teen readers that were conveyed. If you have been reading my blog since its inception, you will see what I am talking about. The very cover of the book, where it says "written, composed and arranged by" instead of "written by" is a huge hint that The Twelfth Window is a new way to tell an allegory using The Song of Solomon. Another huge hint is he big wedding ring on the back cover, which tells you that it is an allegory about The Divine Lover of our souls, the LORD God of Israel.
She criticizes that I used too many underlined words in the story. She must be thinking of the italics. The moment that she did not grasp that the meaning of the italicized script denotes a supernatural portion of the story, she didn't have a chance. I think that Becky read my book the way an atheist reads the Bible.
The more I muse over her review, the more I realize that it technically isn't a bad review. I think she sped through it. Perhaps this isn't her type of book. Heck, I detest anything written in the 19th Century! She had a problem with the "almost" feel of the setting. Well, anything not reality is fantasy... unless you're Hillary Clinton, hahahaha. Becky also underhandedly accused me of borrowing from Frank Peretti; let the record show that I have never once even picked up a Frank Peretti novel. But back to The Twelfth Window; I may have Becky to thank for my increased sales on Amazon this month.
...This could be my ego talking. Every author is protective of his or her book, as I am of mine. This is why I sought out reviews, both impromptu and professional, to see if I was crazy or if The Twelfth Window really is a worthy story. It is.
And it is, as Becky acknowledged, a fantastic, 5-star story; you just might have to have more of an open mind to read such a book as this one, that's all.
This weekend I will be busy with the Book Expo and a big concert that I will have to work, so I shall post another set of chapter explications either this week or next.
As usual, you may purchase a copy of The Twelfth Window on www.authorhouse.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.buy.com, www.12thwindow.com and many other places!
Chapter 36 and 37
As mentioned last week, we've reached the halfway point of The Twelfth Window. You can bypass the week-by-week breakdown and buy your own copy... www.twelvewindow.com, www.amazon.com, www.12thwindow.com ...
Let the record show that I hoped to reach teen readers in writing The Twelfth Window. I presented many of the same feelings and situations that a suburban-dwelling American teenager would face, as I did. It just so happened that a story about faith was woven into The Twelfth Window, to maybe reach a new audience or perhaps just "put the question out there" about faith, religion and spirituality. Since I wrote the original manuscript in high school, a teenaged reader can be sure that I was not talking down to him or her. I saved notes that me and my best friend used to pass back and forth in school. I looked at my high-school yearbook signatures to research the particular language of the 80s. Some items I had to update for parental sensibilities, but most have still been left in the book in order to be true to what I meant to get across in the story.
That being said, Chapter 36 is Lisa Chess' lowest point in the story. She has surrounded herself by the worst people and suffers for it. She wants to be free of it but doesn't know how... and then something happens like a miracle. But she is ashamed about what has happened and does not fully embrace it. While I wrote this chapter and Chapter 37, I had in mind the freeing of the people of Israel from their hardships in a foreign land while God punishes those who enslaved the Hebrews. I had a blast writing the whole book, but these chapters stand out to me as some of the more fun to write. My editor, Rachel Crick, deserves much of the credit for pushing me to really dig into the scene. She knew at the outset that it was a pivotal moment of the story. Call me old-school, but I think the pivotal moment in a narrative should be in the exact middle of a book, and so Chapters 36 and 37 are.
...Bible verses that were alluded to in these chapters were: Sirach 31:39-30, Psalm 38, Revelation 20:7-10 and Hebrews 10:31.
--JM Norwood
Chapters 28 through 35... halfway point reached!
Before I begin, I figure I help line Hallmark's pockets by reminding my readers that next Sunday May 11th is Mothers Day (US).
If you would like to purchase a copy of The Twelfth Window, as I am sure you are wondering, it can be purchased many places online including www.authorhouse.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com; www.12thwindow.com, which is how you got to this blog, lists all the major places online that it can be found.
Shout outs to: everyone at Black Christian Book Promotion, my new publicist Heather Dyer, Kim and Becky Laney from www.yabookscentral.com, and Phil Gould from the original lineup of Level 42.
Now, the Bible verses referred to in this post will be Matthew 26:53, Psalm 13, Isaiah 63:17, and John 11:21-37. Please do not think that I am some sort of Biblical scholar. I think I am fairly familiar with Scripture, but not in the I-have-a-degree-in-theology sort of way. If you have made it this far into the blog, then it should be obvious that I had some Help in writing The Twelfth Window!
In The Twelfth Window, the increased tension in the story between Lisa and her friends, including Michael, kicks in at this point. I was trying to show that once you go down that slippery path in the Wrong Direction, defiance becomes increasingly easier. That goes for the individual as it seems to me that it did for the House of Israel. In chapter 29, Lisa's reaction to the news about the fight in the hallway shows her vanity. In hindsight, this is common; we want God to fight our battles for us. Michael's parting words to Monty Ray after the fight were my way of saying that God honors our free will. This hardens the hearts of many, methinks.
Chapter 30 is my way of reimagining Matthew 26:53, both in the context of Scripture and in the context of the storyline of The Twelfth Window. OK, and also in the context of the fall of Lucifer.
By Chapter 31, Lisa has spiritually hit rock-bottom. Even when we hit rock-bottom in defiance and sin, as I am trying to show, God does not decimate us. Just as He did not decimate the House of Israel. Lisa's friends serve as the surrounding nations of ancient Israel, doing a little armchair quarterbacking as I am sure that the peoples of other religions may have done.
Chapter 33 shows that despite all of the bad that had been going on in the world, despite Israel's sins, God stuck by His Plan of salvation. There's a little of Hebrews in there, now that I think of it. Hebrews 2:9 and Hebrews 2:16.
Chapter 34 gave me a chance to show that Dormey is starting to get an inkling of who is best buddy really is. Just as the old prophets had an inkling of Who the Christ would be. I wanted to show that death saddens God more than it does us, because He is the only One Who knows the real cause and origin of it. I also wanted to show that God is also supreme over science, and that no matter how advanced science gets, it will never be able to solve the mystery of death.
Chapter 35 is simply portraying that the algebra textbook represents Scripture, Dormey represents the prophets handing it repeatedly to Israel, and Monty Ray represents the enemy, who kicks it away. If you read the chapter, the meanings fall neatly into place. Truth be told, this was one of my favorite chapters to write.
My godmother asked me if Monty Ray represents the Devil, or what? Well, he represents (what is) evil in the world, while Uriusa (mentioned in a couple of places in the story) represents the Devil.
I give you permission to congratulate yourself because you are now more than halfway through The Twelfth Window ! 
--JM Norwood