My name is Derek Kohlhagen, and despite the morose tone of this prologue to The Footsteps of Cain, I am actually a fairly cheerful person. This is my first foray into the world of "writing books"; indeed, I have been waiting for this opportunity for quite a while, as up until now I have been a stay-at-home dad to my daughter. Yet, as it turns out, you can send kids off to these places called "schools" when they get old enough. These "schools" take your kid away from you for the whole day! It’s amazing. And so, I find myself with the time to finally start focusing on what I really want to do with myself: Inventing the perfect sandwich! (Also, writing books.)
The Footsteps of Cain has lived in my head for many years. It germinated from a single, random thought: What if one person were tasked with the complete annihilation of their species? (I really am a cheerful person. I swear.)
After that, other questions started to appear. What would cause such a person to do such a thing? How could they do it? How long would it take to accomplish?
As the answers to these questions began to blink into existence, I realized that it might make an interesting story if somebody could tell it the right way. Looking around, I only saw myself in the room, and so I figured that maybe that could be me.
Put simply, The Footsteps of Cain is about a man seeking absolution. He commits an atrocious crime, and for this he is seized by supernatural forces and given the gruesome task of the destruction of humanity, with only slightly more than the use of his own two hands to do it. Part of the story explains how he came to be in such a state, long ago the very infancy of human civilization. Part of the story takes place in the far, far future, when he has all but accomplished his goal, and there only remains one human settlement left on the planet.
He is so close to ending the torture of his existence; he only need wipe the last remnant of people from the world, and he will be free. As it turns out, however, the last people to walk the earth don’t plan on entering the void so willingly.
If only their numbers weren’t dwindling due to the mysterious disappearances that are plucking them away, one by one.
Readers can help me with this draft by analyzing it for readability and flow, as well as the grand-daddy of them all: Do you like it and would you be interested to see more?
Thank you so much for reading this far! I very much look forward to sharing more of this story with the world.