Chronicles, lore. and creative insights from the desk of Thornton Sumner.
A Sixteen-Year Retrospective
Welcome to the raw chronicle of a world's creation. While the formal pages of this journal began in September of 2011, its true genesis traces back to June of 2009. The opening entry acts as a vital bridge—revisiting and documenting in chronological order every linguistic breakthrough of the Kanar language and every world-building milestone discovered during those first two foundational years at the desk.
These archival entries are being released one day at a time, exactly as they were captured, offering an unvarnished look into the deep evolution of the Batu saga. Whether you wish to trace the journey from its very first 2009 spark or dive directly into the most recent revelations, select your path below.
19: Fevered Psychoanalysis
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/11/2011
Finished scene four in “The Fever” – 2,274 words. Longer than I planned, and over 2,000 of those words were all done just this morning. Two days were wasted on personal drama – problems with my neighbors. Once my head is infected with anger or any other strong emotion, I’m no good for writing.
Rereading “The Lord of the Rings” yet again (my third time now), since my head is no good for anything else at the moment. It’s fixated on drama, and proves that I’m not the master of my own mind. I’m both its slave and victim.
But the clouds parted this morning and I started fresh again, flying right through my work. Wrote Diallo’s first fevered dream, delving into his psychology and father issues. The next and last fevered dream will be a prophetic one. This one this morning though also touched on his issues with Guma, with allusions to Alena’s ghost frog. It came out rather nicely, I think. Good material for me to expand later.
Is Guma Diallo’s creation of what he believes Mosai would view as the perfect son?
At one point Guma replaces Diallo, and Diallo becomes the ghost. Running into Guma in the dark, Diallo mistakes him for his father. Diallo’s love-hate bond with Guma is an expression of what he’s afraid to explore in his relationship with his father. Guma is both idealized offspring and scapegoat for Diallo. Some pseudo-homosexual overtones are present as well, acting as metaphors for Diallo’s impotence. All so very Freudian. And fun.
Present-Day Reflection
6/13/2026
Without drama in my personal life outside of writing, I’d have nothing to write about. It is the fuel for my story-telling engine. However, even today while in the midst of what feels like a climax in my real life story, I’m unable to focus on the fictional one. My passions swing me too far one way or another to get any meaningful work done. The best I can do is catch up on the mindless monkey-brain work of clean-up, organizing, collating, and maintenance.
Which is what I’m doing right now as I write this.
18: Bulala’s Benchmark
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/8/2011
Just Finished scene three of “The Fever”, where Bulala is gathering the cinchona bark and Wanyana’s violet. It was good work for a single day. 2,000 words in one day I think is a record for me. Plus, it turned out amazingly well. The writing is adequate for a first draft, and the imagery is excellent. The action is good. The pacing is good. The scene adds well to the overall plot and fills out the characterizations. All of which is pretty good for a scene involving only one person.
I think I’m getting better at this. Or else I just had a good day. We’ll see.
Present-Day Reflection
6/12/2026
I was right, I’d finally found my writer’s voice for the entire series that day. I haven’t always stuck with it, but that scene – which would eventually become a chapter all its own – remains a benchmark for my writing even today. There have been moments since where I’ve somehow managed to surpass that benchmark, but it still remains the standard to which I strive for.
17: Beginnings of The Fever
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/5/2011
Got the first scene of Chapter Three: The Fever done. Decided I needed to start the chapter with a fresh face – Alena’s. This also provided a nice way to establish the time lapse since the last chapter. Also lays the groundwork for the “Missing Pieces” chapter I have planned for the second book. I also added that Alena has two deceased brothers and a sister. The two brothers are Guma and Diallo, the sister is camouflage to keep the identity of the brothers from being too obvious. Plus, it puts the number of Siona’s children at the ubiquitous number four.
The diction is acceptable but nothing special. The power of the scene lies primarily in its plotting devices. Moving on to the other scenes, I’m a little worried that this chapter has so little action, and so little dialogue. It dwells heavily on the various internal worlds of its characters, which makes it a challenge to keep it lively.
Present-Day Reflection
6/11/2026
This entry reflects just how far I had yet to go in the development of the basic story.
I was still thinking Diallo would turn out to be Alena’s brother. I was still trying to avoid having to write the Ghost Frog quest, which was only going to be referred to in hindsight after Diallo contracted The Fever. The Missing Pieces chapter planned for Book Two was going to be where the details of things left unsaid in Book One would be revealed.
I’m not sure why I thought that was a good idea.
16: Money In the Bank
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
11/3/2011
I hadn’t realized it’s been two weeks since I last made an entry here. I’ve been busy writing Chapter Two: Kumbella. It turned out well. Much better than Chapter One: Alena. There was a lot of fixing and tightening on the rewrites of Chapter two, but it’s essentially there now. I’m happy with it. It came in at 11,157 words, which is even longer than the prologue, and has three more scenes than what I’d planned in the outline. The extra scenes are really just dividing up the one ritual scene into three parts though. My total word count for everything so far is 29,145 words. And I’m just now starting Chapter three.
This could be a long book. I’m shooting for 10,000 words per chapter, so with the prologue and epilogue, and fables, it should be under 200,000 words.
For Chapter Two: Kumbella, I finished scene one on 10/20, where Diallo runs into himself. Scene two was a long one, finished on 10/22. Long, but straight forward. Scene three was slightly longer, but much more difficult. The whole ceremony sequence (comprising scenes 3-5) and the dialogue in scene six all required two days of just collating ritual details and mapping out the sequence of events.
The dialogue of scene six was also written out before hand, which actually altered some fundamental story concepts. Like the women’s conversation really being about Alena, not Guma or Diallo. This also made me make Siona the buroho instead of Bulala. So, Scene two needs to be updated to reflect that.
Anyway, the best thing in the whole chapter is scene three, where the village is in complete darkness and the two boys are climbing up the tree and above the fog (ala Jack and the Beanstalk) to see the stars for the first time. Finished this scene on 10/29.
Scene four was Siona’s dance, my least favorite of this chapter, needing a lot more work on the rewrites. Finished on 10/31.
Scene five, the augury/haruspication of the hare was better, but still needs a lot more work, too. Reads like it was written from a recipe of notes, which it was. Finished on 11/1.
Scene six, the women’s dialogue was the easiest since the essence of it was already done. It just needed fleshing out and adding Diallo’s contribution. Finished on 11/2.
Scene seven, the last one, I finished just tonight (actually, 2AM), 11/3. It’s one of the better scenes, but also the shortest and least encumbered by outlines and information filler.
Overall, I’m pleased with the work so far, despite its need for major touch-ups down the road. I only wish the pace was quicker. Chapter Two: Kumbella, alone is 35 pages, and it took two weeks and about 70 hours to write. Two hours on average per page. It’s a bit frustrating on one hand, but on the other hand I’ve got some good writing due to taking care, which will hopefully mean fewer rewrites. I think I even wrote every day, except for one. So, at least I’m staying on task. Adding another drop into the bucket each day.
Present-Day Reflection
6/10/2026
My steps are getting bigger. What I got done in the 70 hours recorded here in that entry was the largest step forward with the main narrative so far. It will all be dramatically reworked, but the skeleton was there. It advanced my sense of the story, its structure, and their world in big ways.
I smile though now as I think of all the hours I spent doing word counts back then. I had no computer, and everything was written with pen and paper, my word count being a painstaking process with each version of a chapter I wrote. It was important for me to maintain an accurate sense of scope, not trusting page numbers alone. Part of me enjoyed the word counts, however, looking upon it as “getting my money” – as if every word was money in the bank of my authorial legacy. As if every word was bringing me closer to my goal.
All those word counts feel meaningless now though, everything back then having been reworked – vastly expanded or deleted – so many times that the scope of things from then reflects nothing about where things stand today.
15: Ignorance Is Bliss
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/19/2011
Finally finished Chapter One: Alena. With a word count of 5,561 it is only half as long as the prologue. It really isn’t long enough when there’s only 16 chapters in the book. But I guess I can flesh it out later.
Two things surprised me though: 1) I haven’t worked on the chapter in five months! My last scene dated 5/12, I hadn’t realized it’s been so long. And 2) the quality of my earlier writing was terrible. What I just wrote is far from perfect, but it’s miles ahead of what I wrote back in May. I’m not sure if this is due to the books on writing fiction I’ve been studying, or the actual fiction I’ve been reading lately. Maybe I’ve just been in a more inspired mood. Whatever the reason, these last two scenes I rewrote are a lot better than their original drafts. The original versions read like a child’s homework assignment for a creative writing class.
Well, that’s what rewriting is for I suppose. Hopefully this will continue so I can push out more chapters. I’ve been wasting way too much time on other stuff. The other stuff may be important eventually, but right now I think it’s crucial that I just push out the first draft for this first book ASAP. I got to get it down as a foundation. Otherwise, the whole enterprise is just a daydream in my head, sketches and vignettes lost among my notes and letters to family. I HAVE TO WRITE THE STORY NOW!
Present-Day Reflection
6/9/2026
I know how he feels, the guy who wrote that journal entry 15 years and 4 months ago. Luckily, I’ll never be in that headspace again, but I remember it. I’ll always have new writing that needs to be done that I’m ignoring as I work on other things. But having the first book done these days places me in a vastly different position than I was in back then. Back when it was still mostly “a daydream in my head.”
The characters are real now, and the first part of their story is completely fleshed out and written in stone. There will be no more major rewrites or reimagining of the saga’s introduction. For better or worse, their foundation is established.
Chapter One: Alena, which I had just finished back then, was a big step, but it would be completely reworked down the road. Diallo and Alena were still 2-dimensional, Alena in particular still being a goody-two-shoes paragon of virtue with no human stain. Diallo and Guma’s opening chapter wasn’t even conceived yet. Nor was the introduction of the jola, which would push Alena to Chapter 3 instead of 1. None of the other three primary characters: Tamal, Dougga, or Bakar made their entrance back then until I got to the night of the Twa Yal-Jukun when Siona did Diallo’s reading.
The entire structure back then was vastly different and simplified, where the Twa Yal-Jukun was merely one chapter instead of Part II – today consisting of 18 chapters and a fable.
If I knew then what I know now, I’d probably be overwhelmed by the amount of work remaining ahead of me just to finish all four parts of the first book. Ignorance is bliss, they say. This leaves me wondering though about how lucky I may be right now, not knowing what lies ahead of me with the remaining books to be completed.
14: Finding My Premise
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/17/2011
Two days ago I decided to review my outline to make sure I had a consistent premise that all my chapters adhered to. And keeping it to one premise per book didn’t make it much easier. My outline for the first two books is 116 pages. It took time to synthesize each chapter of the first book into a two-sentence precis, then summarizing the consistent themes within each of the four parts. Only then could I look at it to determine what the book’s premise was.
I ask four questions: 1) What is continually testing Diallo? (Other people’s expectations) 2) What is he struggling to resolve that involves great risk? (Trying to create a life for himself of his own choosing that also satisfies societal expectations) 3) What is the result of the struggle? (Disaster) 4) What is the story trying to demonstrate or prove? (The needs of the individual are not always compatible with society)
So, the premise for the first book is: “A boy who is trapped by familial baggage and ancient prophecies feels he has no control over his life, and as he grows into a man and believes he’s finally managed to integrate his needs with the needs of his society, he realizes painfully that they are not mutually compatible.”
I don’t have to alter my outline at all for this premise to emerge, but now that I see it more clearly, I can emphasize it as I flesh out my chapters. It feels good to have this hook as I reenter the writing process of my main narrative. Which I should be doing here shortly.
Present-Day Reflection
6/8/2026
It took me a while for the lessons I was reading about on the craft of fiction to truly set in. Things like, let your first drafts come fast and easy without editing as you go. Things like, to write about everything is to write about nothing.
It’s not that I didn’t believe or trust the authors I was studying under when they told me these things, it just proved easier said than done. I have so many things I want to say and get out on paper it’s hard to restrict myself to writing an entire book with only one central premise.
It’s similar with painting. Galleries or publishers of art books like to see a pattern within a large body of work with a consistent theme or distinctive voice that binds it together as a unique whole. I’ve never been good at that. And with writing fiction it’s even harder, where the demand for a solitary premise is even greater. Every scene in every chapter has to be working together toward posing a single question about human nature. And though potential answers to that question may be ambiguous or conflicting – which the author would be well advised to avoid taking sides on – the central question itself should never be in doubt by the end of the book.
13: Finishing The Song of Alodia
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/15/2011
“…so it was that the little hare I did so cherish never did return.”
And so, the tale ends. I finally finished The Song of Alodia. Thank god, I finally finished something. The first draft anyway. 53 pages and 92 footnotes. Man, it feels good to have that monkey off my back. Though I still have plenty of other monkeys to tend to now.
It turned out well I think, too. I’m optimistic about its future drafts and the potential for refining it into something quite special. But for now, I’m tired.
Present-Day Reflection
6/7/2026
The Song of Alodia was the first piece of the Batu puzzle I actually finished. Though it’s the second part of The Napatawalata, it can stand alone just fine as is. The first part of The Napatawalata is still unfinished to this day, though I Just today transcribed to my computer what I’ve got done. The Song of Mugasha will be of a different flavor, but I believe it will hold up just fine by comparison. Looking forward to getting back to that.
12: Empathy For the Children of Batu
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/13/2011
Another eight-plus hours with Tapu. I’ve grown fond of that hare. On page 50 now. He’s running for the river of fire with Damu right behind him. I feel bad for Tapu and what I’m about to do to him. But it was his fate from the beginning. Poor little hare. I think I’m finally beginning to find my voice. Finally, now at the very end.
Present-Day Reflection
6/6/2026
I always feel bad about what I do to the children I a gave birth to in my fiction. Empathy is the only thing that allows it to work, and it’s the thing that keeps me coming back to it. Whenever I leave my work sitting off to the side of my life, I’m always drawn back by their need for me. I can feel their silent eyes boring into me from the shadows, waiting off in the wings for me to return so they can continue to finish living out their lives.
Even now, I feel their eyes upon me.
11: Looking For the Unanticipated
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/12/2011
Over eight hours of writing on The Song of Alodia today. Got some good stuff down, I think. I got Tapu with Ardra, and she just finished explaining the retying of the knots that draws him closer. Now Tapu has to make his request and pay his price. I’m on page 44 now. Getting closer, bit by bit. I should finish it this week. First draft.
Present-Day Reflection
6/5/2026
The scene with Ardra was probably my best work with The Song of Alodia, which is probably appropriate since it sits as the climax for the story. It was also not part of my original outline for it. This happens more than I’d care to admit, that my best work is not planned ahead of time but comes organically from the needs of the story as pleasant surprises.
Such is life outside of writing fiction as well. I just need to keep an open mind and pay attention to where I find myself at any given moment.
10: Negotiating Expectations
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/07/2011
Five hours of writing on The Song of Alodia tonight. I only got 3 ¼ pages out of it though. Got Tapu into The Field of the Fallen. He’s about to find Damu. Want to catch that when I’m fresh. I’m getting there, slowly but surely. So far this story of Tapu is 34 pages long, but I’ve got 75 annotations along with it. Will be over 100 by the time I’m done. But that’s only part of the reason this is taking so long to write – juggling the material from my notes I want to squeeze in.
Really, it’s the phrasing that takes so long. The diction and syntax. I’m too anal and too much the perfectionist. I’m not sure how to stop it. I tell myself I’m just going to race through it then clean up the pros on the rewrite, but I can never stick to that. I can never just write it like I am right now in this journal, or like my personal correspondence. If I could write that fast, all four books would be done by now.
Present-Day Reflection
6/4/2026
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Fifteen years later and I’m still living with the mismatch between my expectations and reality. I thought I’d have typed The Song of Alodia so I could upload it to this website over the last couple days, but I never even touched it. I got drawn into getting The Yara prelude posted to my home page as a free writing sample, then the rest of that day getting my newsletter linked at the bottom of The Yara page. Creating an account and formatting the automation for my email campaign with free chapters from Wings of Providence kept me up until midnight.
It took a while because I had no idea what I was doing. Two months ago I’d never even been on personal website, let alone known how to design and build one with blogs and newsletters.
Then yesterday, I had errands to run in the real world – always on foot with no car in the city. I was out getting kitty litter when I got stuck for a while browsing Twice Sold Books up on Capitol Hill, just up the street from the pet store. When I finally got home and back to work, I ended up working on getting content for my Batu Companion uploaded until 11PM.
Both mornings were spent fixing issues with this Author’s Journal section of my website, as well as posting my latest entries. Like this one.
The main difference between now and fifteen years ago is that I’m more comfortable with not meeting my expectations. These days I tend to view them more as options than must-dos. So long as I get good work done and closer to my goals, I’m happy.
9: Chasing Names Among the Vodun
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
10/03/2011
Thought I’d work on my Vodun profiles tonight and finish them off. I also thought it would only take an hour, three tops. Then I spent six hours just chasing down their name origins! And there’s still eight I can’t find in my notes! I didn’t get a damn thing done on actually filling out the profiles. This shit is a real pain in the ass sometimes.
Present-Day Reflection
6/3/2026
Names are important. Details are important. Nothing is unimportant. This is both a curse and what I love most about the creative process. I may bitch about it, but I also love it. It’s what I signed up for, to do it right to the best of my ability. Half-ass is ALL ass.
I’m not naturally good at anything. Nothing comes easy for me, and it’s frustrating, but it also makes me more eager to prove I can do it. It takes me longer, but I believe in myself because I’ve grown stubborn in my old age. I’ll pivot, or rest for a bit to work on other things, but I won’t ever stop until the work is done.
And when is that? As Wanyana says in the final chapters of Wings of Providence – so long as you’re alive, your work isn’t finished.
One of the best reviews I ever read of a book was for Andy Weir’s, The Martian – referring to it as “competence porn”. I love that, because it’s true. Finding writers – and their characters – who are extremely competent, and will spare no expense to make sure things are done right, is the greatest find in the world for me. Inspires me. I can’t get enough of it, because it’s just so rare in my daily life.
8: The Nightmare of My Life
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/27/2011
I just woke up from a nightmare. The details aren’t important. They weren’t Batu related. But their metaphorical meaning was clear enough. I began pacing back and forth with a cup of coffee to squeeze every drop of meaning from the dream to see what it was trying to tell me. Essentially, that my life is out of control, that I have things inside me that won’t leave when I want it to, that I’m better off in isolation from the real world, that my mom and dad are no longer home to help me, dialing 911 doesn’t help because I no longer have recourse with the law, and I began to do crazy out of the box desperate things that I knew wouldn’t help me but felt good in the moment.
Then somehow my analysis turned to Batu and the whole narrative’s underbelly opened to me in a way I never let myself see before. Alena was always obviously Alison (my first love when I was 7 years old). Alena was always the first love that is inevitably lost. But now I see that I’ve combined Alison with my sister, having lost her, too. Having made Alena (my sister) the hero of the story, not Mogai (me), it’s only Alena (my sister) who can save the tribe’s way of life (my life).
My sister is the Fa Hawara of my life, the messianic savior. Can she save me through forgiveness? Also, I have created my shadow side through Bakae’s reincarnation, who plays Judas and betrays the tribe (my family). His sentence is death. Mogai goes to his son, to find redemption for him perhaps, but ultimately to claim responsibility and sacrifice himself for the greater good. I’m killing Mogai (myself) to give the tribe (my family) to Alena (my sister). Then she goes off with the tribe to attempt to rebuild and salvage what she can.
Kanunga is not as developed, but he’s obviously my brother – the voice of orthodoxy and critical of Mogai’s wayward path, eventually disowning him. Mogai’s self-destructive obsessive behavior regarding Bakae’s death is my over reaction to losing Jennifer, embracing madness and drama with suicidal flair. Not only planting the seeds of my own demise, but that of my family (the tribe) as well.
The whole thing seems so clear now, it’s hard to believe I never even suspected what I was really writing about. No wonder this Batu project is so important to me. It’s not so much my biography dressed in art, but more like an apology for my life wrapped up in a death wish.
I’m more messed up than I thought. I’m in a no-win situation. One of my own devising, created by my own drama. As I always do. Life has given me every advantage as a birthright: middle class, white, male, U.S. citizen, loving family with no abuse of any kind, not too smart and not too dumb, not too handsome and not too ugly, healthy, every educational opportunity available to me. I could have been anything I wanted. And I chose this.
This is my life. I made it, but now I’ve lost control. My culture has judged me unfit for society and will never forgive me for my past. I’ll never again be allowed to be like everyone else. I never wanted to be like other people, and now I’m not allowed to be.
Anyway, who cares?
As far as my Batu work is concerned, I’m not sure how any of this will affect my creativity or story development with the veil over my unconscious mind beginning to lift. I’ve always embraced self-honesty and knowledge, but I hope it doesn’t hinder my creativity. It may be that keeping things in the shadows yields better fruit. We’ll see.
At any rate, there’s always tons more garbage buried within my unconscious for my creativity to play with. The landfill of my life.
Present-Day Reflection
6/2/2026
I’m not sure how much I trust this interpretation of the nightmare I had way back then. I remember perfectly the feeling of how it all made sense at the time, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Our brains are pattern recognition and problem solving devices, and they’re good at creating or exaggerating patterns from random noise, or creating and exaggerating problems just to have something to do. Dreams too can be like a Rorschach test, where your interpretations often say more about how your subconscious mind is working than your how your unconscious mind is.
Nevertheless, the interpretation I went with had power, and no doubt shaped the development of my work after that to a certain degree. I’ve long since made peace with most of my family demons from back then though and have replaced them with more relevant ones from my current life’s dramas.
7: Questions to Resolve in Alodia
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/25/2011
I’m working on the plotting for the last leg of Tapu’s quest in Alodia, and now that his story comes to a head, I’ve discovered a hornet’s nest of unanswered questions needing resolutions. How does Tapu lose the Amaranth flower? Where is the pool in which his pride seduces him into bating and how does he come to it? Why does Amadou battle the serpent (Gao?) each night? Which leads me to an obvious question that I never considered very deeply before – how does Jukun travel the underworld during the day? What animal form does she take, and why/how? Traveling Alodia as the moon is silly. Jumara doesn’t do it as the sun, so what is Damara’s and Jukun’s animal form? Can’t be Nok the owl, for reasons already stated in the text (unable to pass through the falls).
Oh wait… There are other gates to Alodia, and 2 of the 4 don’t involve water. The bridge or the tree. The tree. Yes, if Nok comes by way of the Omari, this would explain as well why Amadou and Gao fight each night. Amadou is attempting to head off Nok’s descent from the tree, but Gao won’t let hum up. Tapu sneaks up the tree as they fight.
Aside from the fact that owls don’t climb trees, it works. She may fly through its branches though, following it down. Doesn’t explain the transformation from Jukun to Nok though in the nice way that Amadou’s transformations are explained. But I’m on the right path, I think.
Lots of other questions to unravel though. Does Gao toss Amadou into the river of fire to reignite him? If so, how does Tapu tie in with that to be carried out? Lots of clumsy answers present themselves easily enough, but nothing that feels right. And how does he lose the flower? Does it wash away or get destroyed in the water as he bathes? And how does he find this pool of water? While searching for Damu perhaps.
It all seems so contrived. Pieces aren’t fitting together well. I’ll get it. I have faith, unlike Orpheus – whose failing of faithlessness differs from Tapu’s failing of pride and vanity.
Perhaps Tapu meets his Hira again in the pool, seducing him to bathe and lose or destroy the flower.
How does Tapu meet or find Damu? He must find him, even though they are unable to communicate. His failure to retrieve Damu won’t have the necessary impact if we never encounter Damu. Remember. Eurydice was right behind Orpheus all the way back, until his moment of doubt at the end. This is crucial. Proximity – so close, and yet so far.
Which leads me to yet another question: What does Tapu come away with? Orpheus got nothing but his body torn apart so he could join her in death. Dante let Virgil come away with knowledge. Tapu needs to bring something back. Joseph Campbell’s “boon for society”. Fire is an obvious choice since he is returning by the river of fire with burned ears and tail, but this conflicts with a myth I already have for how fire was stolen by Herero from chimps. But maybe the chimpanzees got it from Tapu.
At any rate, Campbell tells us that conflicting mythologies within the same culture is common. Even expected. But still… Tapu’s tale is not Promethean. How does fire relate to the immortality Tapu seeks, or his pride? I suppose I could make it a Garden of Eden scenario – he fails to get the fruit of Life, is cast out before he can, but gets the fruit of knowledge (fire). Or knowledge of his shadow (the Hira). I prefer the parting gift of technology though (fire) and could even have Tapu steal it from Jumara at the last minute. A fitting end that speaks to Tapu’s character – stealing from Jumara (Amadou) after everything he’s done for him as his guide.
Maybe. Lots of maybes. I need more answers before I make these other decisions. I think I’ll go pace back and forth for a while and try to unravel this mess. Writing this entry has already demonstrated the value in keeping a journal. It’s helped. Focused my thought for a moment.
Present-Day Reflection
6/1/2026
I miss this process of discovery. I’ve been so caught up with the editing of Wings of Providence and the building of this author’s website lately that I’m out of touch with the fun of initial creation. I’m doing what I need to do now, but rereading this entry from over 15 years ago reminds me of what I have to look forward to when I get back to working on the third book.
I always work from a map of where I think I want to go, but narratives and my characters have minds of their own and I love seeing where they lead me as we stray off the beaten path. It’s always the surprises and crazy twists along the way that makes it worthwhile. Fiction is a living, breathing thing, and keeping the material fresh and unexpected for me should translate for the reader as well. If I don’t see something coming, hopefully the reader won’t either.
As for Tapu and The Song of Alodia, I’m also reminded that I have yet to type that up. Everything is still in its long-hand form. I will try and get those pages digitized and posted to this website over the next couple of days. My work with the Batu is still like an iceberg, where only 10% is visible at any given time, while the rest remains a mass of paperwork waiting to be uploaded as content to the digital ocean of the internet.
All of my work was initially done by hand, including these journals I’m transcribing now to post here day by day. Computers are necessary in getting my work out into the world, but they’ve had no part in the initial creative process whatsoever. Not one jot of research came from a computer or the internet. I’ve done it all the old-fashioned way, writing with pen and paper, and researching through books and libraries. I’m a latecomer to the advantages of technology and the information age of A.I. and the internet, but the needs of publication is catching me up with it all now.
6: The Vodun & Taking Stock
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/24/2011
Just finished my stylized pen drawing of Vaal, the 3rd of the Vodun series I’m working on. I won’t do all 40 of the gods, just the 10 primary humanoid personifications. They look okay, but their borders take longer to draw than the gods themselves. This is a good project for me in terms of fleshing out the Vodun, so they’re concrete in my mind, not just ideas and names on a page.
Spent most of the day today collating my mythology notes, assigning the appropriate attributes to each of the 40 Vodun. I’m eager to get back to breaking down the Kanar glyphs, but I need to make sure my mythology is well established first in order to use them with the glyphs.
I’m giving The Song of Alodia a rest for the moment.
I’d really like to synthesize my notes into essays to firmly establish the Batu once and for all. I have a hundred ideas of what they could be, many contradicting, many not quite right. I’d like to settle it. Also, to reduce the number of notes I have. Get rid of what I don’t need. But it’s a huge undertaking, and part of me suspects it’s a way to avoid writing.
I also took stock of where I am today. To date, I’ve done 40 Batu illustrations, with 14 preconceived yet to do. I’ve written 9 myths, 6 fables, 13 of the 40 Kanar breakdowns is done, 28 songs/poems/chants, 330 words in my Kanar lexicon, a Batu timeline, the introduction, most of the 40 Vodun profiles, 24 of the 72 chapters (including prologues and epilogues) have been thoroughly mapped out scene by scene, I have 3 psych profiles for 3 of my characters… Yet, of the 72 chapters that make up all 4 books, I’ve only finished 1 ½ of them.
I’ve previously written up to chapter 7, but I’ve changed so much of that that I started over. I only now have what I’m calling my official first draft. Having already outlined the first 2 books scene by scene, I am confident no major rewrites will occur again. Even so, I admit that I’m a bit ashamed of the early chapters, so I have no excuses. Just scared is all.
I’ll get to it. Soon. I will. No, really. At least, I better.
Thing is though; Batu is much more to me than a story. More than a book.
Present-Day Reflection
5/31/2026
There I go again, listing off all the things I got done in order to feel better about not working on what I thought I should be working on. Poor guy. I’m much more understanding toward myself these days though. I still rationalize and make my lists of achievements to counter my conscience for not doing what I think I should have been doing instead, but I do it tongue in cheek these days. I realize it’s okay, and that everything I do needs to be done, even if that means sleeping in and not doing a damn thing. I’m much more tolerant of letting everything have its place and trusting that it will all work out in the end.
More or less.
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5: Slow Going in Alodia
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/21/2011
Wow. I actually got 6 pages done today. But it took me over 8 hours! I guess I’m just grateful I found it in me to push it out for so long, though my wrist is sore from writing longhand for so long without rest. I got Tapu past Ombure and to the isle of the dead. I’m almost done. Well, I say “almost”, but I’m probably still 10+ pages away, which could mean 15 hours more. God, this slow pace is maddening. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well… I could have drawn several pictures in the time it took me to write several hundred words.
Present-Day Reflection
5/30/2026
The fault of why it was such a torturous process of writing was all mine. I knew very well I was doing it wrong by trying to perfect every sentence and paragraph as I went, but I was stubbornly clinging to that while working my way through Alodia. I knew I should have written rough and steady and to save the diction and poetry for the rewrites, but I just couldn’t let go and move forward until I felt every step along the way was as good as I could make it.
I ignored all the teachings from the masters who came before me, not because I didn’t believe or trust them, but because I was a stubborn perfectionist. I got over this in my art with painting and drawing decades before, allowing myself to be ugly and messy during the initial stages. Following the U-curve, where things start off great at the top of the left stem, slowly sinking into chaos and disaster as I sink down to the bottom of the U, only to work my way back up to the top of the right stem through countless revisions.
It’s a mixture of vanity and insecurity that compels me to look good at every stage of the process, as if the world is sitting on my shoulder judging every move I make. It just took me time to get over that, building confidence to the point of not caring about my internal critic, and trusting that I will work it out in the end.
There’s a time for critical analysis, but that time is not in the first draft. It took me years of working on my Batu to get to where I trusted myself enough to let go and save my perfectionism for the last few passes. I wasn’t there yet though when working my way through The Song of Alodia.
4: Self-Doubt in Alodia
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/20/2011
4 ½ hours of writing tonight and all I got was 2 pages done. That’s pathetic. Got Tapu down the cliff steps and to the shores of the Waters of Life, and that’s it – 4 ½ hours. A lot of rewriting, and the result is good for a first draft, but at this rate I won’t make my 14-year deadline. I was hoping to get through Ombure tonight, but…
Oh well, any progress beats no progress. I’ve let way too many days go by with no writing at all, so I’ll take my 2 pages and try to be content. I just wish I was a better writer. I know writing fiction isn’t easy (when done well), but it shouldn’t go this slow, should it? Ideas are easy for me, finding the right words and phrasing them is hard. Journal writing and letter writing is easy, it’s all exposition. Story telling is a whole other animal. I haven’t the skill or talent. But I’ll get it done on way or another, so long as I keep chipping away at it. Got to be more consistent, with a minimum of 4 hours a day. Every day.
Yeah, right.
Present-Day Reflection
5/29/2026
I don’t think anybody has an innate skill or talent for writing. It’s hard to imagine evolution selecting for such a trait. More likely, any semblance of talent for writing fiction is a consequence of selecting for another more immediate trait, like self-confidence or the ability to articulate verbal communication.
At any rate, I have never had any use for the notion of talent. To whatever degree it may or may not exist, it will always be hard work and persistence that wins the race. And writing is a marathon, not a sprint. Talent only gives someone an edge at the beginning stages, where they get a desired result a little faster than others. This advantage gets washed away though rather quickly when you’re talking about things that take years to develop. Like anything of any real value.
3: Baby Steps Toward Alodia
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/19/2011
1:30AM. Finally got Tapu out the labyrinth and descending to the plain. I want to be fresh for when he and I encounter Ombure, so I’m done for tonight. Barely got one page written tonight though. One small piece at a time is better than no progress at all.
Present-Day Reflection
5/28/2026
I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy who wrote that entry. He has no idea how much still lies ahead of him. It’s no doubt for the best that he didn’t know. Naive optimism is possibly one of my more useful traits when it comes to writing, which I realize is still in play today. The Thornton Sumner two decades down the road – assuming he’ll still be alive – will be looking back on me now with pity as well. I guess this is a sign of progress, that I’ve got no nostalgia for the younger version of myself, and appreciate what’s behind me without wanting to actually be back within it.
2: Working Toward Self-Annihilation
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/18/2011
I think I may be creating Batu in order to kill me. It’s cliche to say that my books are my children, but it’s true. And I get the feeling they are not just here to extend my existence by being immortalized through literature, but rather just the opposite – they’re going to supplant me. Wipe my life from existence so completely that it will be as if I never existed.
God, I hope so.
Nothing would make me happier if my work completely eclipses its creator. I could die happy if I believed that. And when I look at my illustrations; when I read some of what I’ve written, but especially when I look ahead to what I have yet to write – I believe.
The work has a certain flavor of life to it that feels as if it were here long before I came along. The Song of Alodia, Jumara, Tapu, Mogai and Alena – all of them are somehow bigger than me. They have weight of archetypes because they were built from archetypes. But they have been redressed and renamed, developing their own traits to the extent that they are perfecting their own archetype bit by bit.
I need to be careful here though, because to boast about one’s children is a thinly veiled boast of oneself. I’m the first to point out my sources though. Nothing comes from nothing. I rearrange what I find in research until it takes on a new shape that appeals to me, which is just a matter of taste. Maybe nobody else will share it. But for myself, and speaking with a father’s pride, sometimes it takes my breath away.
As much as I hate what my life has turned into these past 5-6 years, and however much I may wish to no longer be in this world, to that same extent my work is becoming more wonderful to me.
So, can Batu make up for the failings of my life? Can the work of Mr. Sumner replace me with such power and beauty that I might leave in peace? God, I hope so. For what else am I doing this?
Present-Day Reflection
5/27/2026
Oh my. The young man writing this entry really is full of himself and his work. Good for him. He’s going to need all the self-assurance he can muster to get through the next 14 years.
In terms of his desire to have himself supplanted by his “children”, I suppose we’re still of the same mind about that. Though I’m in a much better world than I was back then, and my life on the whole these days feels pretty darn good. It’s a lot harder than I ever thought it would be, every detail of every day seeming to challenge me with problem after problem. It exhausts me at times, but the rewards continue to make it all worth while.
Like I said, I’m in a better place now. And yes, the work still takes my breath away.
1: Genesis - From Isolation to the Building of a New World
Author’s Journal: A 17 year creative journey, revisited one day at a time.
9/17/2011
According to my notes, I began my writing of Batu on 6/18/2009 during a period of intense isolation. I believe, however, that the seeds were planted a month or two prior to that, but since the first rough for the first 3 ½ pages of what was then “chapter one” were done on 6/22/2009, it’s safe to assume the actual writing began on 6/18.
This first entry of my Batu Journal will primarily be a catch-up on the principal events of the Batu evolution over the past 2 ¼ years. This seems like a long time, and at first, I questioned the use of starting a book journal at this point, but if I am right, it will still be 10-14 years before I’m done with the manuscripts for all four books, so I’m still at the beginning. In fact, to date, the first draft of the first book is only as far as the prologue and half of chapter one. But this is a gross simplification that ignores not only the amount of research, but also the outlines, illustrations and the development of their mythologies, fables, language, etc.
At any rate, the journal starts here, relatively close to the beginning, and the following is a summary by memory, aided by my notes and the chronology of my bibliography.
The first seed was planted in February of 2009, when I heard a co-worker singing African tribal songs. His name was Kiro, from Sudan, and the Dinka tribe. He had a thick accent, spoke 7 languages, had pitch-black skin, and told powerful stories of growing up in Africa.
Two or three months later I was reading Jack Kornfield’s A Path With Heart, and on page 334 he describes how a tribe in East Africa believes that they are not born with the physical birth, or even conception, but when the mother first has the intention of having a child. The mother sits alone under a tree and listens until she can hear the song of the child that she hopes to conceive. Then she teaches it to the father so they can sing it as they make love. Then she teaches the midwives, so it is sung while being physically born. The whole village learns the song, and it is sung for the rest of her/his life on important occasions, until the last time at his/her death.
Reading that moved me to such an extent that I began playing with the idea of building a tribal culture around that in my mind. No doubt partly fostered by a distaste for my own culture, but also because I recently had read a book by B.F. Skinner called Walden Two (1948), about a utopian society built on behavior learned by operant conditioning, social control achieved by positive reinforcement.
So, my thinking at the time about the possibilities and shortcomings of a utopian society blended simultaneously with this notion of building a tribe with African influences. It was probably a month or so of playing with these ideas before I had the courage to accept Joseph Campbell’s call to adventure by declaring for myself that this project was in fact the beginning of a book.
Story and characters began to develop around the spiritual journey of a man alienated from his utopian society. I’ll have to end the descriptions of Batu’s genesis here and leave them in my notes, because it would take many pages to walk through each step of the last 2 ¼ years of Batu development.
Suffice it to say for now that most of the year from late 2009 to late 2010 was spent on research, illustrations, their language and alphabet, myths and fables, but very little on the actual narrative. By August of 2010 my bibliography was at 95 books, having just finished John Middleton’s Magic, Witchcraft, and Curing.
I then had a great creative spurt from September-November in 2010, where I essentially worked out completely what was at that point my first two books, scene by scene.
Now, a year from that point, my bibliography is 140 books; I just last week finished my poster illustration for The Song of Alodia, which I began 8 months ago; and am halfway through writing The Song of Alodia, which I started 9 months ago. I have drawn numerous illustrations this past year, revise Kanar (the alphabet) hopefully into its final form, and am about halfway through its detailed analysis, and have rewritten and finished the official first draft of the prologue and ½ of chapter one.
I could go on and on with this catch-up, but what I have here will have to suffice. I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of this journal is beyond a recording for posterity in the unlikelihood I manage to succeed in bringing off my intentions. But I think it is also a vehicle for me to work out ideas and vent into, rather than through my correspondence with family. But whatever the reasons, it’s begun now, and the beginning ends here.
Present-Day Reflection
5/26/2026
It amuses me to review where my head was, back in September of 2011. Back when I thought 10-14 years would be plenty of time to complete all four books. And surely it would be, even for a slow writer, if writing the main narrative of the novel was all that needed to be done. There’s just so much that goes into world building on the level I’m invested in that, even now, I find it difficult to keep from disappearing down world-building rabbit holes.
I’m just grateful to my younger self for starting this Author’s Journal, despite it being 2 ¼ years after its conception. The journal has been the most important creative problem solving vessel in my arsenal. And it’s incredibly fun to revisit.
I still continue to add entries today, though far less frequently than when I was pushing toward creation. Now, I’m in a stage of pushing toward publication, where my primary problem solving vessel is my computer.
All that being said, I do love seeing how that earlier version of myself continually felt the defensive impulse to justify not getting far with the actual narrative of the story due to the needs of world building. He and I are more alike than not in that regard. The main difference between him and me is that I no longer have any doubt whatsoever about whether or not I’ll “manage to succeed in bringing off my intentions.” On that subject, I have absolute clarity.
This is going to happen, and it’s going to be big.
