We would like to welcome
Xandir to Cherry Mischievous and thank him for taking the time in his busy schedule to answer some questions from a nosey fan... Enjoy the conversation folks!
Cherry: We have here today a guest that wasn’t so easy to get ahold of. He isn’t listed in the yellow pages, you can’t read his blog, and the guy never tweets. Xandir is a destroying angel by day, and by night…well, still a destroying angel. In fact, he’s got the gig until the End of the World. At least there’s job security, right?
Xandir: You’re awfully gutsy making fun of some with a sword in each hand. I’ll have you know, I once toasted two cities and turned a lady into a pillar of salt all before lunchtime. Don’t test me.
Cherry: Sorry, it’s just, I’ve never interviewed an angel before. From all the paintings and stained glass windows I’ve seen, you all seemed to be an easy-going lot. I see I’ve been misled.
Xandir: Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be the first. I know we don’t exactly offer to pose for portraits, but greeting card companies really just need to try harder.
Cherry: Perhaps you would like to dispel some other common misconceptions for us, Xandir.
Xandir: Sure, where do I start? I could probably write a whole book about it.
Cherry: What about music in heaven? Is harp strumming compulsory?
Xandir: Do you think I’d be caught dead with something as frilly as a harp? No, angels play all sorts of things, though I think a few instruments have been banned. The accordion, the bagpipes, and the kazoo have been relegated to Hell.
Cherry: Kazoo-wielding demons. Now there’s one more reason to stay on the straight and narrow. I can’t help but notice that your wings don’t look quite like I had imagined. They look more like the surface of a bubble. Do all angels have them?
Xandir: Most do. But remember the wings are more substantial than they look, and we’re not birds. Not even little cherubs for all their sickly-sweetness.
Cherry: That reminds me, there seem to be a lot of different types of angels. How does that work?
Xandir: The little bite-sized ones are the cherubim. They are the younger ones in training, usually apprentices to more senior angels. The suck-ups get made Seraphim, who take great pride in supervising the rest of us. I’ve got a High Seraph who acts as my glorified baby sitter. It’s his job to make sure I don’t just destroy stuff for fun. Or boredom. I guess there are some Archangels even above them, but who cares about them?
Cherry: Interesting. Now, I’ve got to ask, is there really a cloud nine? What makes it so great?
Xandir: Yeah, it exists, but it’s not really that much better than clouds one through eight. I think there’s a pretty good ambrosia stand there, but, you know, it’s been a while.
Cherry: So, I know you’ve probably got to get on to destroying some more things, but I’ve got to know. What’s with halos? You don’t seem to have one.
Xandir: You’re pretty observant for a mortal. The deal is, not all angels have them. What you all see as a halo is actually a crown given to big wig angels. Like most angelic clothing, the crowns glow and create that ‘halo’ effect around the angel’s face. What I’d do to try on one of the Archangel’s crowns. It would make a Rolex look like a Cracker Jack toy.
Cherry: Where are you going? I have some other questions I’d like to ask.
Xandir: Too bad. Duty calls. Oh, and I’d stay off the interstate today if I were you. I’m headed there now, and it might not be pretty.
Cherry: Thanks for the tip. I’ll…and he’s gone. You heard him folks, straight from the angel’s mouth: stay off the interstate, and, well, don’t take up the kazoo.
Xandir has been exiled to earth until the end of time. But when his cherub trainee disappears, Xandir makes a deal with rogue angels and giants that could restore life to the mortal woman he loves and end his assignment as a destroying angel in exchange for helping them bring about the end of the world and all of mankind.
You can read more about “The Last Archangel” at:
http://thelastarchangel.weebly.com/.
The Last Archangel by Michael Young
About The Last Archangel:
Doomed to serve as a destroying angel until the end of the world, the fallen angel Xandir sometimes wonders what is taking so long. In thousands of years, he has only cared about one person and he was forced to destroy her along with her entire city in the line of duty.
Then a secret brotherhood approaches him and claims that together they can end the world and reunite him with his lost love. To do so, he must enter an ancient sunken city and emerge with a seed from the noxious tree at its center. With the seed’s poison they could construct weapons to bring down the curtain on Earth’s final act. Xandir’s journey takes him around the world, both above and beneath, sending him rushing in where most angels fear to tread.
Source: Info in the
About The Last Archangel was taken from the author's website at http://www.writermike.com/p/my-books.html on 15/05/2011.
Book Link(s):
www.thelastarchangelbook.com
http://www.freado.com/book/10234/the-last-archangel
Buy Link:
About The Author:
Michael is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in German Teaching and a minor in Music. He puts his German to good use by working to build online German courses for High School students. Though he grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and his two sons. Michael enjoys acting in community theater, playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
His first book, "The Canticle Kingdom", was released in Feb 2010 through Bonneville Books. He is also the author of the inspirational pamphlet "Portrait of a Mother". He has also had work featured in various online and print magazines such as Mindflights, The New Era, Allegory, and Ensign.
Author Link(s):
Michael Young
Twitter -
@mdybyu
The ending resolved the main dilemma of the story satisfactorily while hinting at more things to come with subsequent books enough to keep a reader hooked to the series. So I'll probably buy another audiobook of this series even though I already have the paperback.
I would like to thank Lucy of 
