This Evil Twin Scenario Has Been Done To Death

Lisa Scottoline has a new novel coming out soon. The premise of Think Twice is the old evil twin plot device.

How many novels and movies have turned on the notion of an evil twin taking over the good twin's life and causing mayhem?

Ah, yes, but has anyone ever thought about marrying this tired out plot with Jesus?

There are no new stories, just fresh ways to tell them.

Now comes Philip Pullman, the bad boy of British novelists, with his take on the evil twin genre. How very clever and original. Jesus is the good half, and Christ is the bad half, and wouldn't you know it but Christ makes life hell for his brother.

In Lisa Scottoline's new novel, the good twin gets buried alive by the evil twin. What could Mr. Pullman do with that concept, in light of the Easter story? There you go, Christ buries Jesus in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb but he's not dead, see, and then Christ goes around pretending to be Jesus and Jesus has to kill his evil twin before he destroys everything and to hide the crime he claims he's risen from the dead.

A sound explanation for a notion that's taken entirely on faith by the Christian community. But that's not the only reason why Mr. Pullman's book made it into print while your manuscript languishes. The man has a platform and he can promote his novel like nobody's business.

A noted atheist gets attention and being outrageous adds to the lustre. By re-hashing a tired plot device and using the Son of God as the main character, Mr. Pullman was bound to get plenty of press coverage and, yes, mentions all over the blogosphere.

Reviews of Ms. Scottoline's newest product are pretty negative, picking at the evil twin thing because it's so overdone that it's gotten silly.

Mr. Pullman heaps insults onto organized religion with his prose, pokes just about everyone in the eye, and such a fresh approach will help him avoid similar criticism.

There are no new stories. Find a way to tell them again, and drive the reader into a rage so they don't notice how lame the re-telling is. It works for some authors.