Interview with David Dent, author of Alex Webster and the Gods

Alex Webster and the Gods

VBRN: What inspired you to create a work of science fiction?

 David Dent: Science fiction and fantasy have always been obsessed with the nature of godhood. The idea came to me in 2002 after reading an article in the Atlantic Monthly on the explosion of new religious movements. The article noted that there were about 10,000 religions competing for our souls and that some sociologists use the idea of a religious economy or spiritual marketplace to explain what helps a religion succeed in gaining followers. One could say that Darwinism had its start in the heavens. Because the capitalist marketplace is the dominant metaphor, if not mythology, of our age, I thought it would be interesting to examine a world where gods are the producers of religious services, competing to meet the demands of humans.  

VBRN: How did you arrive at the idea of Yahweh as the first capitalist? 

David Dent: About the same time that I was considering ideas for my book, I was also taking a course in world religions. During one class the professor asked about the nature of god as presented in the Old Testament. Rather than responding from a theological perspective, I considered it from a modern reading of the Bible, asking, What kind of business leader was Yahweh? This was not by chance because my career at that point dealt with issues of corporate governance and management.  Interestingly, I found that one can argue Yahweh’s management style evolves from an entrepreneurial, hands-on deity to a maturing manager who, overtime, introduces more sophisticated management and control methods to achieve his goals. The cause for these changes is that Yahweh, like any good manager, learns from experience. His evolution is similar to that of many entrepreneurs who create new ventures and navigate them to successful organizations. In Yahweh’s case, his brand dominates the religion market, with Christianity taking about a 32 percent share worldwide. In other words, Yahweh’s story is not unlike that of Bill Gates or Henry Ford, evolving from a temperamental, even eccentric, entrepreneur to the avuncular, but distant, Chairman of the Board. And the idea tied in beautifully with the notion of a religious market. Arguably, Yahweh is the world’s first and oldest capitalist and, to this point, most successful. 

VBRN: How did you decide on Jupiter as the old god looking for a comeback? 

David Dent: Jupiter was the obvious counterpoint to Yahweh. Two thousand years ago, Jupiter was the supreme god of the Roman Empire, worshipped as Mr. Optimus Maximus. In other words Jupiter was where Yahweh is today, the ceremonial divinity of the world’s greatest empire. So if Yahweh is the grand winner of the religious marketplace, Jupiter was the corresponding loser. In the end, the Roman people humiliated him. Emperor Theodosius I, who was a supporter of orthodox Christianity, officially banned the practice of the old Roman pagan religion in about 389CE.  In a full meeting of the Roman Senate he posed the question of whether the worship of Jupiter or that of Christ should be the religion of the Romans. The outcome was decisive.  Most of the Roman Senate condemned and degraded Jupiter. It was an impeachment of Divine  proportions. So Jupiter slipped away, banished by the people who had once worshipped him. He has nursed his wounds and tried to forget for almost two thousand years. Until now. 

VBRN: What are some of the issues in the religious marketplace? 

David Dent: Religion can be usefully examined  using the  marketplace as a model.  And conversely so. For example, when Victoria asks Jupiter what he will stand for in making his comeback, he replies, Whatever  works. Jupiter doesn’t need help with what gods think, he says; he needs help with what humans think. His approach, while practical, also seems cynical. But is his reply unusual, given that religions, for thousands of years, have evolved and adapted to best meet peoples’ wants and needs? The capitalist model of creative destruction gives us a new way of looking at how we got to where we are with religion. Conversely, applying religion to markets, we find Jupiter claiming that CEOs of large global corporations think and act like gods. And if this is so, are management consultants the modern version of prophets of old, at least in the way that they are received by people? Is Alex Webster a modern Jeremiah, the reluctant prophet?

At the same time, metaphors and myths can lead us in unexpected directions in both religion and the marketplace if taken literally, because they are not intended to provide literal truth. For example, assuming the capitalist market knows all and will make the right decision ,as a literal truth, is as misleading as assuming that Yahweh strode through the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve. But, it does create rich resource for satire.  And that is the underlying theme of the book, satirizing the literal interpretation of myths.

VBRN: What did you do to prepare for writing your book? 

David Dent: I read widely in the subject areas of the book, both fiction and nonfiction, including  religion, mythology, and corporate governance. To complement the often eclectic nature of my reading, I took courses in areas like world religions, classical mythology and cult formation.  Being trained as an economist allowed me to get up to speed on the idea of a religious economy. My experiences in the consulting and corporate world provided a rich base of personalities, power plays, and the endless amusements that people pursue. 

VBRN: How did you develop the plot? 

David Dent: As an exercise in problem solving. The most critical step was coming up with the conceit, namely the Roman god, Jupiter, wanting to make a comeback by taking over a global company. The second step involved a weekend of brainstorming possible story lines, characters, motives, situations, challenges, and resolutions. What problems would Jupiter face? Would he need help from humans? Which gods should join him? How would the old gods interact with humans and so on. Being an avid movie watcher, I pictured scenes, adding and subtracting until I had something that held together. The challenge here was to pare down various scenarios and characters into a workable story arc for which a plot line could be framed.  As often happens with problem-solving, I slept on the various choices, woke up with a solution and wrote a five-page outline and summary of key characters, which became my road map for writing the book.  While I twigged and tweaked the outline from time to time, adding some scenes and deleting others, the final book follows the original outline reasonably closely.

VBRN: Are any of your characters based on anyone or any type of person you know? 

David Dent: None of the characters is based on anyone. They all come out of my imagination, so to some extent they may all reflect some different element of me. That said,  the gods such as Jupiter, Morrigan, and Cupid come with some history, so that history provided a base to play with as counterpoint to their new circumstances.  The challenge was to give each god some human dimension in their incarnation. So the ever smiling Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur, for example, was a useful model for Jupiter as J.J. Jones. The corporate and consulting worlds attract certain types of personality and behaviors, and my experiences in those worlds helped shape characters like Alex and Victoria as consultants, and Gerry Schilling and James Waite as business executives.  Several secondary characters, like Professor Laydback and Marcus MacQuillan were likenesses of people that I have known. 

VBRN: Is there a particular message you are trying to impart to your readers? 

David Dent: Beware of mythical figures you meet on street corners, or anywhere else for that matter. My primary aim was to provide my readers with a book that they would find both entertaining and stimulating. 

VBRN: One reviewer wondered if the book is a comedy or a biting critique of modern Judeo-Christian values and the commercialism of present-day religiosity.

David Dent: It was my intent to take a satiric look at elements of the religious marketplace and hopefully encourage some critical thinking.  While the Christian-Judeo model may be prominent in some chapters, the issues being satirized are common to most, if not all, religious practices. When you have 10,000 religions competing for the soul of humanity, it is nearly impossible to comment on one, without offending another.  To use an old cliché, just because someone says the bathwater is dirty, doesn’t mean they are suggesting you toss out the baby.

VBRN: How long did it take you to write the book? 

David Dent: If I include writing, revisions, and editing, then about four years. One of my early advisers suggested it would take me that long, and I thought I would be able to do it in a shorter time frame. While I did have a workable draft within two years, the revising and editing took longer than I expected.  The added time gave me new eyes with which to review my writing.  It is humbling to discover that what once looked like gold, turns out to have no glitter at all.  However, the constant revising improved the final product. 

VBRN: Did you seek the support of a writer’s group or class? 

David Dent: While writing the first draft I enrolled at the Humber School for Writers. The main benefit of Humber is that I was linked to an established writer, Susan Swan, author of What Casanova Taught Me and the Wives of Bath, who acted as my writing mentor over the academic year. I also belonged to a writers’ group.  These groups are not for everyone, and they may not be suitable for a writer all the time. For me, it reinforced writing discipline by meeting twice a month with fresh material and  having a great sounding board for testing the story. Also, it provided an opportunity to share experiences and problem solve in a collegial setting with peers. In my experience, such groups are not the place for hard-core critiquing, which is important, but not here.

VBRN: What surprised you the most about this process? 

David Dent: True to one of the themes of the book, it’s never too early to start thinking about your marketplace and marketing. 

VBRN: What tips would you offer to anyone writing fiction for the first time? 

David Dent: Different methods work for different people. That said, the most important factor is to pursue your passion for writing, using what works best for you. And be practical; don’t quit your day job. If you value living above the poverty line, be sure you have a secure source of income to support your writing passion at the beginning. And perhaps always.

VBRN: What’s your next project? 

David Dent: I have two projects underway. One is a sequel to Alex Webster and the Gods titled, The Greta Garbo Goddess. Alex Webster discovers that blood may not be thicker than water for the family of Roman Gods, as New Age followers of Jupiter’s grandmother, Gaia, threaten his new base of operations. The second is a nonfiction work that builds on a significant theme in Alex Webster and the Gods, titled,  Yahweh, The Father of Capitalism. While the tone is light, it will provide a modern reading of Yahweh in the Bible within the context of modern management theory and practice. 

VBRN: Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview! 

David Dent: It has been my pleasure.