All About Books

It all began, as it should, with the words, “In the beginning…” and now the epic tale continues on through The Story of Creation.

The Ghostwriter’s Legacy, the third book in The Ghostwriter’s Series, continues an epic tale, which purports to be the autobiography of God, or, as He insists, not God, but the Creator of our universe, a universe which is only one of many. It continues the Creator’s journey through forever, finding Himself potentially immortal, but alone, reeling from the greatest loss, fighting to have the strength to honor the greatest of gifts, or is it the greatest of curses, giving truth to the words, oft repeated through the series, “Forever is a very long time.”

The Ghostwriter’s Series is a narrative fabric woven from a thousand questions, but, at its heart, it grew from the author, Douglas Debelak’s, effort to get his mind around a song which had resonated through his thoughts for over twenty years; since he heard Joan Osborne’s ‘One of us’ on his car radio.

“What if God was one of us?”

A flood of other questions followed:

“If we looked back 500 years, what would those people living then think of us? If we could look 500 years into the future, what would be our own perceptions?”

“If mankind doesn’t destroy themselves, what are the limits of where our species could ultimately evolve?”

“What if it became possible to live forever? What would it be like to live a thousand years, a million, a billion? But, forever is very long time. What would be the source of motivation or sense of accomplishment, when there was forever? Or would most give up somewhere along the line?

The Involuntary Ghostwriter, the first book in The Ghostwriter Series, begins with the words, “In the beginning… I was born.” It tells the tale of the Creator’s early life, which, as He tells us, was much like our own. It tells of his early childhood, through his adolescence, his struggles with sex and guilt, much like us, meeting and falling in love with a woman who he felt was out of his league, but became his wife.

Then came thoughts and questions from another direction. The writers of the holy books. Weren’t they ghostwriters for God? Was the choice their own, or were they compelled to write the words they did? What if a new holy book were to appear today? Who would write those words? And, would they be any more voluntary than those of the past. Enter the newest of the involuntary ghostwriters, Jonathon Fry.

Thanks to a financial boon, Jonathon seeks to fulfill a lifelong dream to write a novel, but what begins as a fictionalized memoir of his early life takes on a life of its own, as his thoughts are filled with memories that are not his own. He wakes from erotic dreams of a woman he has never met. Jonathon battles for ownership of his own thoughts, while marital problems bring he and his wife to the brink of divorce.

The Ghostwriter’s Wife, the second of the series, continues the Creator’s tale, with the pursuit of wealth and immortality. He creates a virtual world, Facebook on steroids, or LSD, purely with the intent of funding the research of his wife for people to live forever, or, if not that promise, at least to end the guarantee of old age and death. In addition to wealth, “Virtuality” also becomes the greatest tool for collaborative research and technological innovation in the history of His world

The Ghostwriter’s Wife also introduces Jonathon’s wife Annie Fry and her perspective on the past few years of their lives and the words her husband wrote, when she discovers his blog. Then she finds herself waking from erotic dreams of her own.

As with the first two books, The Ghostwriter’s Legacy introduces the hero of the next alternate narrative thread, Jonathon Fry’s great-grandson, Sammy; who was given a copy of his great-grandfather’s book The Word of God when he was six years old and refused to believe it was just fiction. He believed the words within were Magick.

About the author

Douglas Debelak began asking questions when he first learned to talk and has never stopped.

As a young man, his questions led to him to study theology, with the intent of becoming a Presbyterian minister. When his questions led him to doubt much of what he’d been taught and believed, he turned to philosophy, in which he has a degree from Youngstown State University.  Determining that he did not want a career in academia, writing was the next logical choice to continue asking questions.

He put his literary aspirations on hold when his family responsibilities required a job with an income. He taught himself to write software instead and has had a successful career as a software engineer. But, he always promised himself he’d return to his dream of writing a novel

Mr. Debelak now lives with his wife in a beautiful old house, in a wonderful historic neighborhood, where he loves sitting on the front porch with a bottle of wine, inciting parties and asking questions, especially his favorites, the ubiquitous “Why?”, and, of course, “What if…?”

The Involuntary Ghostwriter, his debut novel, was published in December 2016 by Dark Ink Press. The Ghostwriter’s Wife, the second book in the Ghostwriter Series, came in May of 2017. The Ghostwriter’s Legacy is the third book in the series.