Then I wrote THE TOMB, which I prattled on about here last week, and it was so different that the publisher of THE KEEP turned it down.

Then I got personal with THE TOUCH, about a doctor who, at certain times, can heal with a touch, but who pays a price for each healing.

Three unrelated novels. No way to connect them.

A few years later I began work on a novel with a theme a bit reminiscent of “The Omen.” But I didn’t want that tired old Antichrist, so I searched around for an alternative and realized that I’d created a rather nasty evil entity for THE KEEP - why not bring him back? I wanted a NYC suburb for the setting and realized I’d already created the Village of Monroe on Long Island for THE TOUCH.

One from column A, one from column B… interesting… and kind of fun. The story began to grow. Rasalom from THE KEEP had found a way back and was going to fulfill his destiny unless a motley, ragtag group of unlikely warriors culled from those three novels could find a way to stop the Otherness Apocalypse.

The story grew and grew until the novel projected out to more than 1,000 pages. Since my initials weren’t SK, I knew my publisher wouldn’t go for that, so I broke it up into three books: REBORN, REPRISAL, and NIGHTWORLD.

Looking back, I remain amazed at how well the 6 books hang together - almost as if I’d planned them that way. But I hadn’t. At least not consciously. But maybe my subconscious had been working toward a 6-book cycle all along.