I'm absolutely fascinated by cults.
No, I'm not entirely sure why. I'll leave that to future historians and psychologists picking apart my fiction.
If I was to make a guess, I'd say it's the power inherent in them, the way they get otherwise normal and well-adjusted people to believe and do things they might never have considered otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I feel deeply for the people caught up in them and for the family members whose lives have been destroyed beyond repair, yet I cannot help but be fascinated by the inner workings of these groups, the psychology of their mental assault on members, and lasting scars they leave in their wake.
This is why I wrote Church of the Unbeliever.
After weeks of streaming documentaries I decided to take a stab at a short novella of my own, mixing a heady brew of anxiety, religion, and phobia into a single mysterious narrative.
What was my inspiration? Here's a list of the best documentaries I watched prior to writing Church of the Unbeliever:
Love has Won: The Cult of Mother God
A three-part docuseries chronicling the life and death of Amy Carlson, also known as Mother God, a self-proclaimed spiritual savior who built a cult.
This one was a doozy. It includes self-mummification and colloidal silver. Not for the faint of heart.
Go inside the revealing truth of a spiritual empire. Every episode of The Deep End is now available. Stream on Hulu.
Another deep dive into a spiritual teacher and her following. Definitely provided plenty of inspiration for Church of the Unbeliever.
The Vow, NXIVM documentary series following a number of people deeply involved in the self-improvement group NXIVM over the course of several years. The Vow is a story of indoctrination and the step-by-step journey of NXIVM members defecting and outing Keith Reniere.
Taking a break from powerful women, this documentary digs deep into NXIVM and their leader Keith Reniere. As with all the ones mentioned before it, you'll see the same things: control structures, confusion, confessions, and self-doubt.
I tried to capture as much of this as I could for Church of the Unbeliever, and to give it a little bit of what it takes to make Martin stories sing. Namely, action, suspense, drama, and a lot of inner monologuing.
As with all the books here, Church of the Unbeliever is a rare book, meaning there are only so many copies and when they're gone, they're gone.
Don't delay, if this novella sounds like something you'd like to read, get it while you can!
Martin
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