Building The World of Kedoshim - Part Three (Tying Everything Together)

Greetings, 

This is the final posting on The World of Kedoshim for the time being. I'm sure there will be more as time allows, but once this is published, I have a number of other blogs to write about Finding Philemon, my Episodic Series, and other stories. If you have not read Part One and Part Two of this series, I encourage you to do so. There is so much to this world to build and those posts will give you a pretty good idea of where it all came from. Today, I'm going to share some information about the future of Kedoshim.

One of the things that I have not been shy about is the fact that I have way too much going on inside my head regarding The World of Kedoshim. Honestly, I'm still determining where it all came from. Right now, I have ideas for at least sixteen different stories to create. Each one has its own unique voice and purpose, while still maintaining continuity with the Book of Acts and the other stories that will be written. Every story will have some type of connection to at least one or two other stories once they are all written.

Not all of these stories will be episodic or novel writing either. As a matter of fact, The World of Kedoshim includes short stories, mini-series, novellas, and even one (or two) trilogies. There is plenty of material for me to continue building even after I finish the sixteen stories stuck to my wall right now. And yes, you read that write, (see what I did there). These stories will take time though, as writing them will require a great deal of research on my part, and who knows, I may include others in that part as well. 

The research required to write these stories has been the busiest part of this whole process for me along this journey so far. There are days when I can spend hours just researching things and not even realize, oh I forgot to write that blog… cough, cough…hence why this is a day, or two, later than expected. This is not a bad thing for me at all though, because I love researching Biblical topics. Even in college, I was that student who tried to disprove everything the professors tried to teach me. If something didn’t make sense, I was the one you asked all the crazy questions. Today, I find myself doing the same thing, except I’m arguing with myself and not a professor. 

The purpose of ‘The World of Kedoshim’ is to create a world that connects the dots in scripture with each story that is written. It builds out fictional possibilities about what could have happened with many of the lesser-known characters in the Early Church. One of my main characters is actually John Mark and if you have read any of the later episodes of Finding Philemon you know he’s already made his debut. Researching the biblical timeline and putting my own twist on how everything came together encourages my imagination and enables me to tell stories that I honestly believe need to be seen, regardless of how real they actually are. I wanted to build something relatable. 

The ‘World of Kedoshim’ will bring potential realities to the page in a way that is raw and real. Each character I create (or adapt) in this world I feel so passionate about will be as real as the person reading their stories. It is my hope that others may even find they could have had things in common with these characters who lived and served during the days of the early church. Well-known characters will have their roles in the stories as well because they are the founders, but I honestly felt led to focus more on those who served alongside them in the early church. They all played significant, yet smaller, roles in building the foundation of the church Jesus left for us all to be a part of. 

There is so much more to it than just making up the stories that could have taken place. The idea is meant to bring the early church story to life in an unexpected, but engaging way that will help the reader, and even myself, see the humanity of the stories we have all grown up hearing. I know for me, it was always hard to relate to the characters in scripture, because I only saw them as the best of the best. What I have slowly begun to realize, over the years, is that every one of the characters I grew up thinking I could never understand was human. They had their own struggles and much more to overcome than I ever really understood. 

So, with that, I am aiming to unleash the stories built within ‘The World of Kedoshim’ on a pretty regular basis starting with the rest of Finding Philemon before 1/1/24 and then The Cyprus Journal around Spring 2024. There are two other stories on the docket to be written in 2024. One of them may be a Winter 2024 release and the other is still up in the air at this point, but I’m quite ready to get them all out, like tomorrow— If only there were three of me. 

---

Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room,"

M.J.E.

PS (You can find all episodes of Finding Philemon that are currently available to download at this Affiliate Link. You can also follow my author hub, Writing the Journey,  on Facebook.)