Why Did I Write The (Almost) Same Book Twice?
The Linz Testament ≈ Daughter of God ≈ The Da Vinci Code
I wrote the (almost) same book twice then The Da Vinci Code ripped them both off.
Why did I write the (almost) same book twice?
Because the first time was good. But not the way I wanted.
So like a lot of painters, I went back to the same subject.
What were the themes that needed further exploring?
(1) The concept that organized religions have become massive, self-serving bureaucracies more concerned with their own well-being than the spiritual lives of their members.
(2) The established fact that in human history, God was a woman before S/He was a man.
(3) The established fact that holy scriptures and dogma have been edited to support #1, above and to marginalize #2, above.
(4) That the conflict created by all of the above creates a real-life human drama that can be explored in fact and fiction.
So, I wrote The The Linz Testament in 1985, and continued to study history and biblical scholarship. By 1997, I realized that I had failed to mine a number of rich veins of history and theology that needed closer looks.
That’s why I wrote Daughter of God.
Daughter includes a lot more research into the divine feminine and its origins. And eliminates at least half a dozen characters and about 175 pages of older chapters and sub plots. And adds about 100 new pages.
And why did Da Vinci Code rip off those two books? For that I have no answer. Maybe because it was good?
On the other hand, The Linz Testament is now back in print.
COLD WAR THRILLER
If you liked Daughter of God, you’ll probably like Linz for the ways it’s different and the ways it’s the same.
In addition, The Linz Testament has a lot of Cold War elements that were passe’ by the time Daughter was published. But thanks to the thuggish KGB behavior o fVladimir Putin, the old Soviet Union is back as a failed, criminal state run by a state-sponsored Mafia.
Which means the Cold War is back in vogue, and so are all those pre-Berlin Wall elements that Putin is reminding us of. And the cover art, above. Hammer. Sickle. Shroud. Think about it.
NO DAUGHTER OF GOD LINK
I haven’t included a link here to The Da Vinci Code for obvious reasons. I haven’t included a link to Daughter of God for two reasons.
(1) Despite earning back its advance more than a decade ago, Forge/Tor continues to sell the book but does not pay me royalties.
(2) The Forge/Tor e-book versions of Daughter of God are filled with scanning errors and other crap that readers complain about. And Forge/Tor doesn’t care.
So, buy The Linz Testament. Finally back in print and if you find scanning errors, I will fix those immediately.
