WOW! How lucky am I? My new series THE MAGDALENE CHRONICLES: Book One The Followers of the Magdalene has been at the printers for several weeks now and all of a sudden the Discovery Channel does a big documentary on Jesus' family tomb. It was definitely serendipity!!<p>

Even the use of the name Mariamne helps me out since MY Mary Magdalene is called MARI by her sister, Martha. Did I mention that MY Mary Magdalene has a son named JOSU? And MY Jesus of Nazareth has a brother named JUDAH.  Did I mention that Jesus and Judah had a very special relationship? They were identical twins.<p>

I originally penned this work of fiction in the 1970's but I could not, for the life of me, interest ANY publisher in it.Editors phoo Phooed the very thought that any rational person could possibly be interested in a fictional account of the life of Jesus and Mary Magdalene that included anything other than what is written in the KJV of the scriptures. Agents laughed me out of their offices. I went home with my tail between my legs and put the story away in a box but I never forgot it. I often added chapters until it finally weighed a ton. <p>

Last summer I attended the Romantic Times Convention in Daytona Beach. By then the excitement of the Da Vinci Code had made my story more palatable so I took it to an editor there and she actually liked the idea. Her company didn't want the religious controversy though. I decided to take my project to Outskirts Press.<p>

Release is soon and it's a good story filled with interesting tidbits of truth, myth and religious conspiracies.<p>.

The weirdest thing is that there have been a LOT of books written about these subjects and they never had much PR or acclaim. Could it be that people have a more open mind now? Could it be that more people are accepting that there MIGHT be more than one answer to mysteries we have all been taught?<p>

Raised as a Southern Baptist in the deep South, I was taught there was only one way, the Baptist way. I can't begin to tell you how pained I was that my Methodist firends were going to Hell. And my two Catholic friends? Oh my goodness; they had no hope at all. Papists were the same as the Devil to a Southern Baptist in the 50's. I was encouraged to try to entice them away from their beliefs and Church into the Bosom of the Baptist Church on the corner. Even at 8, there was just something about a God who was this picky that I just couldn't accept. I asked our Preacher so many questions that he enouraged my mother to NOT bring me back to Sunday School.She solved the problem by telling me to keep my mouth shut and not say such things any more. I am sure she wondered where I had come up with such things. I will never know, I guess. I just FELT that way and I still do.<p>

My entrance to college was an eye opener for me. I went to every other denomination available in Greenville, N.C. Other religions just seemed to call out to me.I signed up for so many religion courses that my advisor said I might as well turn it into a double major. I was shocked to find out that the Bible was made up of books that were decided almost by lottery. When I discovered that the head of the Christian Church had actually ordered that all of the other (unchosen) books be destroyed I was desolated. That information just made me all the more determined to read everything and anything I could about the birth of Christianity as a religion.<p>

I was not surprised about the things I learned. It was as if I had all that knowledge buried deep inside me. The things I read only served to make my thoughts legitimate.  It didn't take long to discover that none of the things I was reading were very popular with the adults in my life. Only one conversation  taught me not to mention it anymore. But it didn't stop my determination to learn. That continues to this very day. Every archaeological find that supports the hidden and lost writings just brings me relief.<p>

Now, before you decide to string me up on a hangman's noose; I belileve in and try to follow the precepts and teachings of Jesus. I was raised as a Christian and I am one today. But I think that a lot of today's Christianity is manmade AFTER the fact. I don't think Jesus meant to become a religion. I think he was genuinely sent to help people find their way to God. There is all this talk about What Would Jesus Do? Well, I think that if Jesus were sent back today he would NOT give his blessing to the TV evangelist who fleeces his TV flock of money and spends it on big houses, fancy cars, and good living. I doubt if the big churches today would please him much either. Most likely his blessing would go to the Salvation Army, GoodWill, Homeless Shelters, people like Billy Graham, our late Pope and the late Mother Theresa. <p>

So, this new series will point out some of the descrepancies in the religion we know today as Christianity. It may point out some things you didn't know and maybe you don't want to know them. It will put forth some myths and give you the ability to figure out for yourself whether or not they are true or false. Is there a bloodline left behind for Jesus today? Get REAL! Of course there is. Even if Jesus never had children of his own there would be descendants of RELATIVES to provide a bloodline. So read the series and tell me what you think. Or tell me what you think NOW. <p>

BEFORE the DA VINCI CODE there was

The Passover Plot

Jesus Christ Superstar

The Word

and many more works of fiction that questioned the scripted version of Jesus' life.  What do YOU think?