Article - A Vision of Heaven in the Her Angel Series

In the first three stories in the Her Angel romance series we only had a brief mention of Heaven, and we visited a single location in Hell for short periods of time. In Her Guardian Angel, we actually went to Heaven and more than once. A large part of the story takes place there and it’s one of the most important locations in the book, and for that reason I wanted to create a stunning image of it in the reader’s mind.

I love to spend time dreaming up what places would look like and when it came time to think about my version of Heaven, I dedicated plenty of it to building a place that would really speak to the reader. We all have an image of Heaven, as we all have one of Hell, and I wanted to play on those rather than trying to shatter what readers were already familiar with and make them try to picture something completely different. Just the word Heaven conjures up images of a place in the sky with fluffy white clouds and angels flying around playing golden harps. I used that stereotype as the start of my rebuild of Heaven and then warped it.

I wanted my image of Heaven in the series to be that of power. Nothing fluffy and cute or nice about it. No pearly gates and puffy clouds for the ground. Heaven in my series is a gargantuan fortress with towers that reach so high into the sky that they’re lost from view. The fortress stands not on clouds but a huge white floating plateau surrounded by enormous high walls that protect it from intruders. There are no gates because a gate is a point of weakness that would require localised and concentrated groupings of angels to protect it. Everything in Heaven is stark white. The grass, paths and even the trees in the grounds of Heaven are white, glittering under the sunlight. The hallways of the fortress are so bright white that they can inspire eye-ache in those not accustomed to them and some of the rooms are like a cathedral with thick white columns that reach into forever.

Heaven in my series is like a military stronghold. The regiments of angels reside there, going about their business, and guards constantly patrol the walls. Within the grounds there is a complex that speaks volumes about this version of Heaven. The detention block in Heaven is huge, full of hexagonal cells that form circular clusters that in turn lock together to form larger rings. It’s a place for holding demons who are captive of Heaven and brought in by angels on missions in the mortal realm for questioning or punishment. Heaven is the barracks for the army of God, the angels who do their master’s bidding and obey his commands, and I wanted it to have that dark military feel about it even though it’s clean white and perfect, so it would give readers a sense that Heaven might not be as nice as we think it is and that works perfectly with Her Guardian Angel and the series.  Of course, you have to read the series to find out why.

I hope this has given you a clear vision of what Heaven is like in my series and has piqued your interest.