The Venus Disc project began years ago as a method of stress management during a rewarding decades-long career with a national youth organization. Like so many nonprofit executives, I wrote a wide variety of articles, brochures, booklets, ad copy, scripts, reports, and speeches. The writing all contributed to the fulfillment of my employer's mission, and I still take pride in the results. Beyond that, what struck me was that as I wrote, stress evaporated. Writing became a focus on creation to the exclusion of everything else.
I decided if writing for work freed me of stress, then writing for myself would be that much more valuable. The result is The Venus Disc.
The question friends most often ask is, "How did you come up with all this?" It's a difficult question to answer. "Welcome into my head!" I say. "It just comes." I've studied the ancient Maya and visited ruins in Belize and Guatemala, so I can say the original story has a reasonable basis in accepted Maya mythology (the second and third books stray somewhat). It became a matter of applying a fertile imagination in wondering what it would be like if the myths were not mythical!
The planet Venus was crucial to the Maya. They watched it carefully, as its position and movement exerted tremendous influence over their lives. I thought it a delicious dichotomy that to many, Venus is the goddess of love. To the ancient Maya, she was the goddess of death. I could not resist featuring her as the driving force behind the artifact—the disc the ancestor spirits of Xibalba craft in her honor. The goddess makes a few veiled appearances in this first book, and I anticipate more of them in the sequel. Maybe we'll even get a glimpse of her. I'd love to know what she looks like!
The Venus Disc and its smaller noble discs exist only in my imagination. To my knowledge, nothing remotely like them has ever been uncovered. Many of the things we humans own or covet, or believe in, have an effect on our character—for better or for worse. The disc represents a caution in this regard, magnifying what it finds in its lord. Sensing good, it builds on that, sensing evil, it strengthens evil. What do our own magical possessions bring out in us?
The notion that manipulating the disc transports its lord to Xibalba, the Maya underworld, opened a wonderful dynamic between earthly mortals, the ancestor spirits, and the immortal Lord of the Disc. That the manipulation causes one to vanish from earthly view would be amazing, right? Though, like with any choice of this magnitude, there is often a fearful downside. In Carter Boyle’s case, it meant coming face to face with angry spirits who would prefer him dead.
Another classic internal conflict is revealed as the disc heals its lord's injuries and prevents sickness and aging. Logically, this means immortality. Is immortality truly desirable? Though it relaxes the fear of death, would it not be rife with unintended consequences?
The healing attributes of the mother Venus Disc together with its noble miniatures, presents an even wider challenge. If we had such a tool—one that causes the lame to walk and the dying to live—what approach would we take? Remember, the power is limited to a small remote location. Would we choose to keep it a secret only for the select? Would we choose to reach out and heal others at the risk of being overrun? If we reached out, how would we choose? Who would we heal? Who would be left to die?
These are the questions I'm tackling in books two and three, The Noble Disc and The Venus Choice.
When Chris isn't at his desk writing or outlining for his own enjoyment or that of his readers, you might find him in his workshop, garden, or greenhouse. He could be supervising a project, growing his chili peppers, or producing his to-die-for smoked pepper seasoning.
Then again, he may be at church where he volunteers in the music ministry, or singing with The Voices of Flower Mound, an extraordinary and, to Chris, humbling, community choir. Of course, it's quite possible he's enjoying a glass of fine wine with Ana, the love of his life, or he's sacked out on the sofa getting lost in a good book.
On the other hand... He and Ana could be traveling. Trips over the last ten years have taken them to the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Czechia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and the Holy Land.
Boredom in unacceptable.
An Update...
In March, 2023, Chris was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white plasma blood cells in the bone marrow. The cancer is incurable, yet quite treatable. While the challenge has slowed him down, Chris is still actively writing. And, based on the many blood tests through the months, he expects to live to the age he always figured would mark his time.
The Venus Disc by Christopher Hunt