Jane Colt, protagonist of my sci-fi series, sits down with Bedlam, the chaos demon from Elizabeth Corrigan's "Earthbound Angels" urban fantasy series.
Hi everyone, it's Jane Colt. I'm here with Bedlam, the star of "Raising Chaos", and managed to convince him to talk about himself for a few minutes.
So, Bedlam. You're a chaos demon. How did that happen? Does being a demon automatically make you evil, like everyone assumes?
Well, I’ve always been the angel of chaos. I’m not quite sure how that happened. Just, you know, was born that way. Or begotten. Or something. I’m sure I must have witnessed an angel birth at some point, but I don’t really remember how that worked.
As for the demon part, well, God ticked me off. And I was still ticked off when Lucifer and his crowd decided they wanted to stage a coup. So I thought, Hey, why not? It may not have been my smartest move ever. But Khet always says it doesn’t make me evil, per se. But, you know, it doesn’t win me any good points either. So, you know, I try to be good. Usually I fail.
You seem to have a pretty close relationship with Khet, the titular oracle from "The Oracle of Philadelphia", and you go through a lot in "Raising Chaos" to try to help her. How did you two become so close? Why would you go through so much for her?
Ask the girl who became a fugitive because her brother was framed for murder. And <spoiler> becomes a total fugitive again so her robot boyfriend doesn’t become a dissected science experiment </spoiler>. And you’ve only know them for, what, twenty-two years, tops? I have known Khet for 3200 years. And in all that time she’s been nothing but loyal to me.
Plus, you know, she’s my only friend. If she were gone, I’d have nobody.
I must say, after finding myself in the middle of a dangerous adventure, I'm totally over the whole risking-my-life thing, and I'd be completely fine with spending the rest of my life in a safe spot. I guess it's a little different for an immortal, but, without giving away too much, would you go through everything you went through in "Raising Chaos" again if it weren't Khet's life at stake?
Um. Go through a series of tests invented by psycho Spear protectors that risk the lives of thousands of people? When I could be hanging out and listening to P!nk? I’m not a total idiot, you know.
What's your favorite spot on Earth?
The diner, of course. Khet’s diner. I mean, sure, the food sucks. And the coffee is always stale. And she won’t hire a cleaning staff. And the people who come in there are sketchy on the best of days. But it’s where I live. It’s where Khet is. It’s my home.
The guy I'm dating is really into religion – he's a seminary student – and he got me thinking more about that stuff than I care to admit. So I can't help wondering, as a demon, what's your take on all this God business? Have you met Him?
Okay, so, yes, technically, I have met God. And I vaguely remember him speaking to me once. Something along the lines of “It doesn’t matter that Keziel doesn’t love you because I do.” Blah-blah-blah. I shut that out. And Him. Cuz I didn’t want to hear it. I think he used to talk to me a lot before that? But I don’t remember it, because… Well, have you ever gotten so mad that you used all your powers to flood rivers and blow up mountains? Cuz when you get that mad, it kind of blocks out everything else, including the past. But I know God exists. And once upon a time, I existed to do his bidding. And now… I kind of miss it.
Someone told me that in your world, angels (including fallen angels, like you), can only fall in love with one person, and they can't ever stop loving that person. Call me a romantic, but that sounds pretty awesome. What's actual eternal love like?
Yeah, it’s awful. I mean, Jane, you’ve dated lots of guys. Probably even thought yourself in love with one or two of them. And now you probably think he’s a total jerk. But if you were an angel, you’d still be in love with him. The thing is, we live forever. And ever. And ever. Generally, anyone you know is going to do something to majorly tick you off in that time frame. So you’d like to say sayonara. But if you’re an angel, you can’t. You’re stuck with them. Even if they’re raging bitches who decide they would rather marry the most uptight doofus in Heaven than you.
You've been around a long, long time. I've only been here for twenty-some years, but I've concluded that people suck, and that's never gonna change. How about you?
What? No! People are awesome! They at least make some attempt to be creative. Try hanging around demons for a few millennia if you want to see beings who suck.
Sorry about all the philosophical questions – this is what happens when you date someone who thinks too much! Getting back to the fun stuff… What's the craziest thing you've ever done?
Oh. Wow. The craziest thing I’ve ever done? Probably inventing natural disasters to spite my ex. And then there’s falling in love with her in the first place. But you probably want a funny story.
Well, I once was determined I would figure out how to blow up a balloon from inside my throat. So I kept swallowing all these balloons… And this story really isn’t all that interesting. But it was pretty crazy.
And…
You know what? Screw it. You got me in a funk with all those serious questions about my deep-seated emotional problems. I have nothing funny for you.
Aw, sorry about that. Okay, next question: Have you ever had worshippers?
Yup! For the most part, the gods of polytheist cultures are representations of the various angels. Hermes and Mercury, from Greek and Roman mythologies, respectfully, were a mix of me and Raphael (though how they got us confused, I’ll never know). The Egyptians didn’t like me much. I was Apophis there. And the Norse reeeeeeeally hated Loki/me.
Wow, that's pretty cool. Alrighty, it's been fun, but I've got a starship to catch. Thanks for stopping by!
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Fun! I love it.. :)
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