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The Inspiration Behind Pentecost, An ARKANE Thriller Novel

556 views · Published 20 December 2013 · 11:19 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: The Creative Penn · 2013 · Education

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Thriller author J.F.Penn talks about the inspiration and ideas behind Pentecost, an ARKANE Thriller. The video was made for a US book club but will be interesting for anyone who enjoys religious, cultural and architectural references in their thrillers. 
In this video, I explain the research, ideas and inspiration behind Pentecost, an ARKANE thriller (Book 1).

My aim is always to write a thriller that could be real, because it is so grounded in real places and real historical events. There's an edge of fiction that takes you further, but you should be wondering what that is.

There are no spoilers, just some insight into my thought process and the places that inspired me.

    My trip to India back in 2007 and how Varanasi gave me the idea for the opening scene on the burning ghats, where bodies are burned on the edge of the Ganges. How my travels are a source of inspiration for me.

    The original title of the book was 'Mandala,' based on Carl Jung's Red Book, which at the time had just been released for the first time. It contains Jung's personal diary and paintings, made during a time of breakdown. Some of the images within the book inspired me to think of an idea around a stone and a pillar of fire.

    During a trip to Venice one flooded New Year, I visited St Mark's Basilica which has the amazing Pentecost dome. That mosaic forms an important part of the plot.

    I talk about my MA Theology at the University of Oxford, Mansfield College 1994-1997 when I studied the early church, and how I became fascinated with the Apostles. Where did their bodies end up after they were martyred? The Pitt Rivers and the Bodleian both make it into the book.

    The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain has the bones of St James and St Peters in Rome, both likely places for adventuring on the hunt for the Apostle's stones.
    I talk about Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and how Israel is my fascination and my addiction, and how it comes up in practically all my books. Morgan Sierra was brought up there, and in Pentecost, she visits as part of the hunt.
    Jung and Freud were in the USA during the 1920s and I was able to use that as part of the plot, taking the hunt to America and into the electric storms of Arizona and the Biosphere.
    Sense of place is so important to me and exciting locations will always feature in my books.

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