THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
From the Beginning
The Ruby Heart Legend began long ago, not as a novel, but as a favorite Christmas Story told by my father to his children — first in Sudan, where I spent my childhood, and later in the United States, where he continued the tradition, sharing stories with the children of the churches he pastored.
Each Christmas,he would create an original story. This story is the tale of the young son of one of the Wise Men who stows away on his father’s caravan as he goes in search of the Baby King who will change the world forever.
Though the Christmas Story ended, the memory never truly left me.
Years later, while walking our dog, Rascal, something unexpected happened. I began to see the story unfold in musical form, woven together with the old Christmas hymns our family loved to sing. As I mused over the beauty and joy I'd just witnessed, I began to get the distinct impression I was to write it down.
But I hadn't a clue how to write a musical!
The answer that followed was equally simple:
“Learn.”
With a completely blank slate, I began the journey and created the story in a musical format, stage directions and all.
I should not have been surprised that, as I closed the musical's folder, another thought raised its head: An adult version of the legend. A heavy tome, indeed.
But I wasn't done with the story even then, for it began to exapand, reform, even reshape itself into a whole series of stories over hundreds of years — growing into something far larger than that first Christmas Story imagined long ago.
The Ruby Heart
Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a land far, far way, lived a little boy named Basil, the son of one of the Wise Men who went to see the baby Jesus.
It was Basil’s tenth birthday and his father had a special gift for him, a ruby heart.
“Wear it always,” he told Basil. “To remember how much I love you.”
Basil was delighted with the ruby heart and showed it off to all his friends.
That night his father called him to the window and pointed to a very bright star in the sky.
“Look, Basil!” He said. “That is a natal star! It means someone very important has been, or soon will be born!”
A knock on the door interrupts them. Two r Wise Men from India and China have arrived!
“It is time!” Cried one. “We must go in search of the baby who will change the world forever!”
Basil was determined to go with them, but knowing they would say no, he slipped into one of the baskets hanging from the side of a camel.
Now, Basil knew how to ride a camel – in a saddle on it’s back, but riding in a basket hung on its side – oh, my!
Have you ever ridden a camel? No. Have you watched one walk? Not like a horse, is it?
A horse moves opposite legs together. A camel moves his legs one at a time: Left front foot, left back foot, right front foot, right back foot.
Basil was thrown forward and backward and sideways with bumps in-between!
Oh, my! It wasn’t long until Basil heartily wished he’d not been so quick to join the camel train!
But things were about to get worse!
One of the Wise Men found him!
Oh, did his father scold him!
But they were almost to Bethlehem where they believed they would find the child they were looking for, so Basil was allowed to join in the visit.
One by one, the Wise Men placed their gifts beside the baby.
It was Basil’s turn.
“I haven’t got anything to give you, Jesus,” he whispered as he bent over the baby. But, just then, the ruby heart his father had given him to show his love, slipped out of his robe.
With a delight “Ohhh!” Jesus reached for Basil’s heart.
Basil quickly slipped the chain over his head and gave Jesus his hear.
You can give your heart to Jesus, too. Would you like to do that? Right now? Give your heart to Jesus.
FROM PROP TO LEGEND
How a simple Christmas story and a ruby glass heart grew into a
LEGEND SPANNING CENTURIES
As I began writing the adult book, I had already lived with Ruby for several years in which she had become much more than a simple red glass Valentine heart pendant.
I considered the timing of her creation, and wondered, what sort of shape would she take on five hundred years before Christ? What if it were more of an elongated human heart shape?
Rubies are crystalline which means that even if their surface is cut into refracting planes, the crystalline forms within bend and reshape the light as it passes through, hinting at images not immediately understood.
It is 500 B.C.
Xanthos, chief and high priest of his clan, rises to present his newborn son to the gathered men.
“My son, Euphraino! Rejoice! For a son is born!”
“Ruby, listen carefully!” Creator whispers. “You are about to be presented to Xanthos. When you are lifted to the light, show him the vision I am giving you.”
Xanthos lifts me high into the torchlight. I swing and dance, scattering flickers of light across the hall.
“Now, Ruby!” Creator shouts.
~
The banquet is over. Men lounge around the tables, some still drinking, others attempting to do so. Several men lie passed out across the tables.
The pounding of boots on cobblestones intrudes. The hall doors shake under heavy blows, then splinter and fly open, crashing against the walls. Figures in warrior garb surge through,
hurling torches and brandishing scimitars.
The warriors’ howls are met with shouts as men scramble to their feet — or attempt to — toppling tables and sending oil lamps crashing into the straw-covered floor. Flames race through
the hall as mud-and-wattle walls ignite.
The vision dissolves into fire and smoke.
~
Back in the banquet hall, Xanthos, pale as a ghost, leaps to his feet, reaching for his short sword with a shout of warning.
“Did I do it right, Creator?”
“Yes, Ruby. You did well. Only time will tell if he understood.”
LEGEND SPANNING CENTURIES
As I began writing the adult book, I had already lived with Ruby for several years in which she had become much more than a simple red glass Valentine heart pendant. I considered the timing of her creation, and wondered, what sort of shape would she take on five hundred years before Christ? What if it were more of an elongated human heart shape? Rubies are crystalline which means that even if their surface is cut into refracting planes, the crystalline forms within bend and reshape the light as it passes through, hinting at images not immediately understood.
It is 500 B.C.
Xanthos, chief and high priest of his clan, rises to present his newborn son to the gathered men.
“My son, Euphraino! Rejoice! For a son is born!”
“Ruby, listen carefully!” Creator whispers. “You are about to be presented to Xanthos. When you are lifted to the light, show him the vision I am giving you.”
Xanthos lifts me high into the torchlight. I swing and dance, scattering flickers of light across the hall.
“Now, Ruby!” Creator shouts.
The banquet is over. Men lounge around the tables, some still drinking, others attempting to do so. Several men lie passed out across the tables.
The pounding of boots on cobblestones intrudes. The hall doors shake under heavy blows, then splinter and fly open, crashing against the walls. Figures in warrior garb surge through, hurling torches and brandishing scimitars.
The warriors’ howls are met with shouts as men scramble to their feet — or attempt to — toppling tables and sending oil lamps crashing into the straw-covered floor. Flames race through the hall as mud-and-wattle walls ignite.
The vision dissolves into fire and smoke.
Back in the banquet hall, Xanthos, pale as a ghost, leaps to his feet, reaching for his short sword with a shout of warning.
“Did I do it right, Creator?”
“Yes, Ruby. You did well. Only time will tell if he understood.”
THE RUBY HEART LEGENDS
COMING SOON!
When archaeologist Dillwyn discovers a hidden chest of ancient scrolls in a cave near the Roman gold mines at Pumsaint, one of them contains a cryptic account connected to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. What first appears to be an extraordinary historical discovery soon proves to be only the beginning.
After her mother’s death, Dillwyn returns to the family farmhouse in Indiana, where she finds a ruby pendant concealed in the false bottom of an old trunk—along with a letter written decades earlier by a Polish Jewess explaining why the gem had to be hidden.
Soon afterward, Dillwyn is accused by archaeologist Fitzwilliam of stealing a priceless artifact—the trunk itself—from his excavation. An Interpol Red Notice is issued for her arrest, forcing her into a desperate flight across Europe.
In Naples the chase intensifies, and Dillwyn learns that she is the last surviving heir of Josias, the ancient chronicler whose scrolls have begun to surface. The struggle over their ownership culminates at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, where allies and enemies converge and deadly secrets come to light.
As the danger deepens, the mysterious ruby itself begins to reveal fragments of a far older story—one that may change everything Dillwyn thought she knew about history, destiny, and herself.
Before Time — Ruby
Continuing from the end of Time Has Come, Ruby reveals her origins to Dillwyn and Ethan, drawing them into a vision that reaches back before time when the earth is in its molten form — when she was hidden in stone for an appointed time.
Released from the geode into a world she does not yet understand, Ruby begins a journey across centuries as kingdoms rise and fall, villages flourish and are destroyed, and lives are quietly altered by her presence. Hidden, lost, and rediscovered, she becomes witness to destinies shaped by blessing, sacrifice, betrayal, and curse.
From the windswept steppes of antiquity to hidden settlements and forgotten paths, families are forged and torn apart as ancient choices echo through generations. Some are called to greatness. Others are marked by suffering. Yet all are drawn toward a purpose far greater than they can yet understand.
As Ruby’s story unfolds, the first threads of an ancient design begin to emerge—one that will reach far beyond the lives of those who first touched her.
More Stories to Come:
HOUSE OF EUPHAINO
THE FIND IN THE LAKE
BASIL'S BYWAYS
A KING IS BORN
JEOPARDY AND JUSTICE
TO THE CROSS AND BEYOND
CATACLYSM
DANSE MACABRE
TIME IS NO MORE