Dr. Randy C. Dockens has a fascination with science and with the Bible, holds Ph.D. degrees in both areas, and is a man not only of faith and science, but also of creativity. He believes that faith and science go hand in hand without being enemies of each other.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Auburn University he went on to graduate school at Auburn and completed his first doctorate degree in Pharmaceutics. He began his scientific career as a pharmacokinetic reviewer for the Food and Drug Administration and later joined a leading pharmaceutical company as a pharmacokineticist, which is a scientist who analyzes how the human body affects drugs after they have been administered (i.e., absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted).
Through the years, he has worked on potential medicines within several disease areas, including cardiovascular, fibrosis, and immunoscience to see and develop new and novel medicines in these therapy areas.
He has also had his attention on the academic study of the Bible. He earned a second doctorate in Biblical Prophecy from Louisiana Baptist University after receiving a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Internet Bible Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Congdon.
Randy has recently retired from his pharmaceutical career and is spending even more time on his writing efforts. He has written several books that span dystopian, end-time prophecy, science fiction, and uniquely told Bible stories. All his books, while fun to read, are futuristic, filled with science to give them an authentic feel, have a science fiction feel to them, and allows one to learn some aspect of Biblical truth one may not have thought about before. This is all done in a fast-paced action format that is both entertaining and provides a fun read for his readers.
Website: https://www.randydockens.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/RandyCDockens
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Randy.C.Dockens
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16453941
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randydockens/
Would you call yourself a born writer?
I think the answer to this would be a no. I know some people who have written religiously even when they were very young. It was almost like their inner self compelled them to write—about almost anything. I don’t think that describes me. While I was much more creative in my high school years than I was in my college and young career days, I would not say I had that same drive as I just described of one feeling compelled to write. I wrote creative stories and poems for assignments and enjoyed doing them, but I didn’t feel I had something inside me that had to get out. Yet, I think this gives hope to many, many people. Writing can be learned even if it is not something you felt born to do. Yet, I think you do have to have, or develop, some passion for it. I know after many years of being in a very scientific field for a career, my creative side resurfaced, and that creativity that has been resurrected does feel more intense now than it did in the past.
What was your inspiration for The Adversary Chronicles?
Believe it or not, it was from putting a lesson plan together for a church presentation about M-theory. Yes, I know. Quite strange for a church topic. Yet, I wanted to show how science and the Bible can go together and not be contradictory. M-theory teaches there are eleven dimensions, and I was going to show how we could use the Bible to show how it alludes to this many dimensions as well. They may not totally jive in definition, or at least to some, but it does prove the number to be valid.
Anyway, as I did this, the idea began to form in my mind about producing a story, or novel, about such a concept. The first book of The Adversary Chronicles came to life in the book entitled, Rebellion in the Stones of Fire. It is written from the archangel Mikael’s perspective talking about the rebellion of Lucifer (and thus becoming Satan, the Adversary), the creation of the world with Adam and Eve, the rise of the Nephilim, and the destruction of the world with the worldwide flood. This was a way to present these dimensions in a nonscientific manner and help readers to better understand these concepts, and to do so in a fun, unique, and compelling storyline.
This first book then led to the other three: The Holy Grail of Babylon, The Defining Curse, and The Luciferian Plague. In each of these, I show how Lucifer, as the Adversary, attempts to overcome God’s plan for mankind and to make it into a world patterned after himself rather than after God. While Rebellion in the Stones of Fire is very much from Mikael’s point of view, the other three are as well to some extent. Yet, they have other main characters whose viewpoints are also expressed. I feel these stories provide a fun read and tell somewhat well-known Bible stories with an added science fiction twist to them that makes these retold stories unique yet still keeps their original intent and intriguing plot lines.
What themes do you like to explore in your writing?
My novels are Christian fiction, so the theme of each series is about some aspect of the Bible, yet told in a fast-paced, fun way. Most deal with the seven Jewish feasts mentioned in the book of Leviticus of the Bible and their prophetic significance. Since I have a doctorate in pharmacokinetics (the mathematical investigation of how drugs work in the body) and in biblical prophecy, these novels are ways to combine these two disciplines in a unique, intriguing, and fun way. Not only are the stories fast paced and fun, but readers can also perhaps learn something they may not have known. While prophetically focused, these stories are well balanced in mystery and adventure with a little love interest thrown in along with a science fiction feel to the storyline. I think this gives them a more edgy feel, but helps them to feel realistic at the same time.
The Coded Message Trilogy (T-H-B, F-S-H-S, and T-U-L-E) is about a dystopian world where all religions and icons have been abolished and replaced with the idea of community. Yet, these codes keep popping up for the main character, who is an astrophysicist working on a Mars mission, to find and understand. He soon discovers these are messages about God and his character. His appetite for understanding these codes eventually gets him and his friends sent to Mars.
Stele Prophecy Pentalogy (Mercy of the Iron Scepter, Promised Kingdom, Hope Renewed, Darkness in the Light, and Iron in the Scepter) is perhaps the most prophetically based series but, again, written in face-paced and fun stories. It also reveals that people are people no matter in which time of Earth’s history one is looking. The same problems, issues, and struggles still happen. The only thing that changes is the technology that allows one to cope with their struggles and issues.
The Erabon Prophecy Trilogy (Myeem, Sharab, Qerach) is perhaps the most science fiction of any of the other series I have written. An astronaut living many years into our future gets involved in a stellar gate accident which propels him into a galaxy that is so far from his that he has no hope of returning to his home. He encounters aliens who are much different from him yet finds their focus is somewhat hauntingly familiar, and soon discovers he meets the criteria of being their prophesied forerunner to Erabon, their deity, returning. So his mission is to unite all of their clans strewn across six different planets and prepare for Erabon’s return.
The current series, The Adversary Chronicles (Rebellion in the Stones of Fire, The Holy Grail of Babylon, The Defining Curse, and The Luciferian Plague) are Bible stories but told in a unique way and from a unique perspective. These reveal the age-old story of good versus evil but told from an angelic perspective and how Lucifer (who becomes Satan, the Adversary) gets involved with mankind to try and make this Earth and all its inhabitants his own. The last book of this series is not from the Bible but keeps that same feel in a modern era to show how the Adversary is just as inventive in his ruthless plans today as he has always been.
How long did it take you to complete the novel?
I would say it took me about three months to write the first draft and then likely another three to make the necessary revisions. I believe most people feel that is the end of the process and so I should, or could, be churning out dozens of books. Yet, writing the book content is only the beginning of the effort to get a book published.
The version I wrote and self-edited then went to my editor. I don’t think people really understand how critical this step is in order to produce a good novel. While you as the author may think you have caught all your errors, believe me, your editor will find more, and more than you ever thought—guaranteed. So, it is critical this step never be taken out of the process. His review took about a month. I then went through all his revisions, edits, and questions. The revisions and edits were mostly straightforward as he was after all the expert, so there were few corrections to challenge unless he misunderstood some point I was making. I then answered his questions which dealt with the way I said something, a knowledge gap I had created in the storyline, or something he found confusing in the way I had worded it. Going through those questions and getting them resolved took about another month.
Believe it or not, that is still not the end of the story for getting the novel ready for printing. This version went to the interior designer who put the text in a book layout format. Many don’t realize how crucial this step is for a good book. The interior designer ensures there are no weird endings to a line, or that words needing hyphenation at the end of a line are done correctly, and ensures there are no odd-looking parts to the book. When I received this version back, I read back through that version to proofread and ensure all looked and read correctly. That effort took approximately two weeks for me to finish. Anything I found went back to my editor who then did a thorough proofreading. His proofreading took another month at which time I then went back through his findings and answered any questions he had. This did not go back to my editor unless there was a major question I had for him. This version went back to the interior designer who implemented the changes which took one to two weeks depending upon the number of changes. I then ensured all corrections were as requested.
Once complete, this version was sent to the publisher who worked with the printer to get the final book completed. As you can see, this entire process took about one year from the time I started to write until the final book was completed.
This was the case for each of the four books in this series. I was releasing a book every four months, so you can imagine how busy the schedule was, not only for me but for my editor and interior designer as well. There was a lot of overlap, especially for me. Yet, it is doable but very time consuming as you can imagine. Writing does take discipline, commitment, and determination.
Are you disciplined? Describe a typical writing day.
As you can see from my answer to your previous question, writing definitely takes discipline if you plan to publish regularly. Yet, it is hard for me to describe a “typical” day, as I don’t think any of my days are “typical.” I tend to go a little overboard sometimes in my writing. When I start a book, it is almost like an obsession to continue to write until the book is completed. I then write during every spare moment I have. While that is just the way I am, that is not how other inspiring authors have to be. Just setting a consistent time for writing is enough to get a book completed. We are often told to write every day. That is what I do, but that is not just about writing a novel. In addition to writing a novel, I have a blog which I write for every week, and I have classes at our church I prepare for each week. So, you see, writing daily is not just about writing a novel, but writing in general. All these things keep your mind engaged and the variety of what one is working on can help inspire thoughts for the next novel.
What did you find most challenging about writing this book?
This whole series took a lot of research. While these were biblical stories for the most part, these biblical stories give the details but not necessarily the feelings and emotions of those biblical characters. I needed to understand the internal feelings of these characters and know something about the history of the time period in which they lived in order to develop realistic feeling characters and make the story feel true and not made up. Even though a lot of the storyline is made up, it should feel genuine. I wanted the truth of the story to come through as the original story portrays yet provide sufficient detail in the storyline for readers to not only understand the story but understand and identify with the characters as well.
What do you love most about being an author?
I think the best thing about being an author is seeing how the story develops. I’m more of a panster than a plotter, so I let the story develop as I write. I know the beginning and the end but not necessarily how the journey will go to get to that ending. For me, that’s exciting.
Did you go with a traditional publisher, small press, or did you self publish? What was the process like and are you happy with your decision?
My publishing journey is sort of a combination between small press and self-publishing. It is called custom publishing. While the publisher helps you do all the things that a large publishing house will require, such as find you an editor, an interior designer, a cover designer, and so forth, the cost and control of the process is up to the author. This is important because you as the author control the narrative you are trying to present to your readers without a publisher requiring you to alter statements to make it broader and more appealing. I felt it important to have that control and have been happy with the process. Of course, that does mean more of the marketing is up to the author as well. Yet, from what I have heard from other authors is that even traditional publishers require authors to do most of their own marketing as well. So, it really comes down to the element of control of your final product. To me, that was important.
Where can we find your book on the web?
My website is https://www.randydockens.com. I have a bookstore on my author website as well: https://randydockens.com/bookstore that is powered by IndiePubs.com. In addition, you can find my novels at the following places: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.
Buy Links:
Rebellion in the Stones of Fire: Rebellion in the Stones of Fire (The Adversary Chronicles, 1): Dockens, Randy C: 9781952025662: Amazon.com: Books
The Holy Grail of Babylon: The Holy Grail of Babylon (The Adversary Chronicles, 2): Dockens, Randy C: 9781952025679: Amazon.com: Books
The Defining Curse: The Defining Curse (The Adversary Chronicles, 3): Dockens, Randy C: 9781952025686: Amazon.com: Books
The Luciferian Plague: The Luciferian Plague (The Adversary Chronicles, 4): Dockens, Randy C: 9781954437739: Amazon.com: Books
Also available for sale at https://www.randydockens.com/bookstore
Leave a comment