J: I understand the idea for Khepera Rising came from an incident on Fish Hoek Main Road where a stranger said to you, “Jesus loves you” and you wondered what if you were the thing she feared most. I have to admit, I heard that story, Nerine, and I was fascinated. Is your protagonist James the thing this lady would fear most? Can you tell us why he needs or craves that reaction?
N: To be quite honest, I had absolutely no idea who or what my protagonist would be up until that moment. I had vague inklings that I wanted to write about minority culture in my stomping ground but had no clear ideas. I knew there would be magic and alternative dream realities involved but no knowledge as to how I'd execute the story. Jamie provided the conflict just by being, well… Jamie.
I found it ironic that this lady stopped me in the street… or tried to, with her preconceived notion that I needed or would welcome her brand of “help”. Jamie is a conglomeration of all the terrible stories you'd hear about “those evil satanists”. However, he is highly intelligent and does have a great deal of empathy toward living creatures. I'd say he's most closely based on the concept of La Veyan satanist, however, with a more fervent belief in his magical arts in the sense of a ceremonial magician. He wouldn't hurt a living, sentient being but if a human were to cross him, he'd not shrink from gaining revenge. He is completely decadent and, as SA author Sarah Lotz put it, “deliciously morally ambiguous”, and thrives on creating a stir wherever he goes.
Does anyone have the ISBN-13 for this book? Please leave it as a comment below – thanks!
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