After completing his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Auburn University he went on to graduate school at Auburn and completed his first doctorate degree in Pharmaceutics. He began his scientific career as a pharmacokinetic reviewer for the Food and Drug Administration and later joined a leading pharmaceutical company as a pharmacokineticist, which is a scientist who analyzes how the human body affects drugs after they have been administered (i.e, absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted).
Through the years, he has worked on potential medicines within several disease areas, including cardiovascular, fibrosis, and immunoscience to seek and develop new and novel medicines in these therapy areas.
He has also had his attention on the academic study of the Bible. He earned a second doctorate in Biblical Prophecy from Louisiana Baptist University after receiving a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from the Internet Bible Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Congdon.
Randy has recently retired from his pharmaceutical career and is spending even more time on his writing efforts. He has written several books that span dystopian (The Coded Message Trilogy), end-time prophecy (Stele Prophecy Pentalogy), science fiction (Erabon Prophecy Trilogy), and uniquely told Bible stories (The Adversary Chronicles). All his books, while fun to read, are futuristic, filled with science to give them an authentic feel, have a science fiction feel to them, and allows one to learn some aspect of Biblical truth one may not have thought about before. This is all done in a fast-paced action format that is both entertaining and provides a fun read for his readers.
He has also written some nonfiction books as well. One is to show how all humans are connected from God’s viewpoint by looking at biblical prophecy (Why is a Gentile World Tied to a Jewish Timeline?: The Question Everyone Should Ask). This book shows how all scripture is connected and inclusive of everyone. In addition, he and his editor have written two books about writing. The first is on writing techniques themselves and is entitled Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Writing: Creating Vivid and Colorful Stories that Readers Want to Read. This book not only addresses the techniques of writing, but what makes writing unique to each author. It conveys not only how to better hone one’s craft of writing but also the brand an author wants to portray. This helps an author make their writing unique as well as captivating for his/her audience. The second is a companion book to this one entitled Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Self-Editing: Framing Your Colorful Masterpiece to Keep Readers Engaged in Your Story. This is best used in conjunction with the first one. Yet, self-editing, though intricately connected to writing, is a distinct event. The better the quality of a writer’s draft manuscript when it is delivered to one’s editor, the higher the final quality of the manuscript will be for readers, and that is extremely important.
Dr Dockens is still not done. He has other creative ideas he is bringing forward as he is currently working on two new futuristic series. So, stay turned!
Website ➜ https://www.randydockens.com/X ➜ https://x.com/RandyCDockens
Facebook ➜ www.facebook.com/Randy.C.Dockens
Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/randydockens
Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16453941
Can you tell us what your series, Stele Prophecy Pentalogy, is about?
This five-book series is a presentation of five stories during the biblical prophecy period known as the Millennial Kingdom. This book series calls this period the Refreshing because things are made new: those who were righteous have been resurrected, all pollution generating machinery and factories are eliminated, and all disease and death have been abolished. This is a one-thousand year reign of the Messiah where he will reign as King of kings over the earth with his base of operation in Jerusalem, Israel. All my novels in this series are connected to each other but can also be read separately. Because death has been rescinded during this time, except for those who rebel against the King, characters within the story of one book can still be part of the storyline of the next book even if the storyline of each book is separated by several hundred years.
While the stories are unique to this time period of our future history in regard to what technology is utilized and how some spiritual beings are now visible, these stories are quite relatable to us today as these characters must still go through many of the same struggles and challenges we face in our day-to-day lives.
In Mercy of the Iron Scepter, the main character, Kalem, is struggling with the loss of his older brother, Peter, as he was taken by the King due to his rebellion. This event proved tragic for Kalem as he was relatively young when this occurred and caused him to have a deep animosity for the King. He determined that once he got older, he would prove to everyone that the King was unjust and not legitimate. Yet, once he becomes older, through a series of circumstances, he meets and falls in love with Angela, a woman who is supposedly the key to a future prophecy about the King. Kalem must now decide which prophecy is actually true: the king is false and unjust and will fall to one prophesied to be the Overtaker, or the King is the one who will bring everyone into an even more wonderful future. Kalem’s struggle is one we all face in one way or the other. He must decide whether the heartache for his brother is what is preventing him from seeing the truth that Angela is trying to get him to see.
In Promised Kingdom, a backstory is given for a couple of the characters presented in Mercy of the Iron Scepter and presents how the time of Refreshing came about. The character Edvin is wanting to get into Swedish Special Forces and prove to his to-be father-in-law that he is deserving of the man’s daughter as his wife. Yet, before that occurs, she is killed in a plane crash at the same time as all children of the world and many adults just vanish without a trace. Edvin then gets selected for a special mission where he is to guard the rising political leader who is touted to be able to rise above the chaos and make the world a better place. Edvin finds significance in his role but soon learns that the one he is protecting is actually one who will bring the world into a prophesied apocalypse. Once he understands this, he has many decisions to make which will have ripple effects to many others he cares about.
In Hope Renewed, Ya’akov becomes the first one born into this new kingdom that arises from the chaos on the earth when the Messiah returns and becomes its King. Ya’akov is prophesied to become the first priest in this new kingdom. Yet, when he is old enough to become a priest, he is unsure if that is the destiny he desires. He goes on an adventure which leads him into circumstances that make him lose his memory. In such a state, through the help of Hadassah, a woman he at first admires but then comes to love, he discovers his true longing in life and how to make a difference he had never considered before.
In Darkness in the Light, Me’ira is the daughter of Jeremiah, the Prince who is the one
who leads the world subjects in the worship of their King. As a princess, she is bound to certain protocols of conduct, but she is spirited and feels they are too confining. Against protocol, she falls in love with Galen who is not of royal birth and is tied to a group of people who are against the king. She must make a decision whether to go against protocol and marry Galen by relinquishing her royal status and be separated from her parents or go with protocol and say no to the man she loves dearly. Her decision has consequences she did not foresee.
In Iron in the Scepter, Janet is a commodities analyst who helps improve the distribution of food crops by increasing the efficiency of local transporters between the transport of people and crops. She develops an animosity for the King as she feels he is not supportive of her work and is devoid of rational thought. When she hears about an Overtaker who is supposed to come and overthrow the King and allow people to think however they wish, she is all in. Yet, pride blinds her to what is truly important, and she seems willing to sacrifice her own family to bring in the reign of this Overtaker. Her youngest son, Kalem, is the same as the main character in Mercy of the Iron Scepter.
Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?
The main characters in one book become the supporting characters in the other books. The first book, Mercy of the Iron Scepter, begins toward the end of the Messianic reign prophesied in biblical Scripture. This is a time of great peace and prosperity with no sickness or death, except for those who rebel against the Messiah who reigns as the King over all earthly kings. Kalem is the main character who has been deeply hurt by the disappearance of his older brother, Peter, who likely rebelled against the King. Yet, Kalem does not believe that scenario and has vowed to prove the King to be a false king in order to avenge his brother. He is an archaeologist and uncovers several stelae that reveal a prophecy of a coming Overtaker who will displace the current King, so he is trying to prove this prophecy to be true. Yet, through certain circumstances, he meets Angela who he falls in love with despite trying not to but who is pro-King and believes that the King, their Messiah, will bring the world into an even greater prosperous time for everyone. Kalem is forced to decide which prophecy he is going to believe and accept. There are several characters who play a supporting role who become main characters in other stories, such as Edvin who helps him collect many of the stelae he finds, Mik’kel who is a good friend of Edvin’s, and Ya’akov who is the priest in Jerusalem at this time.
The next four books then serve as backstories for the first book of the series. In the first prequel, Promised Kingdom, Edvin is the main character and meets Mik’kel who is a military leader in Israel after an event where all children of the world and many adults vanish without a trace. Edvin becomes the right-hand man, so to speak, for President Hatim who has taken the role as the world leader to guide the world out of chaos. Yet, he does just the opposite. During this time, they meet another character, Jeremiah, who is one of the 144,000 prophets that are commissioned during this time to evangelize the world, and he leads Edvin, his wife, Elsbeth, and Mik’kel to a belief in his Messiah. Both Edvin and Mik’kel survive the apocalypse that Hatim brings on the earth and they are led into the Promised Kingdom that biblical prophecy speaks about when the Messiah returns to the earth and sets up his kingdom. Elsbeth dies as she gives birth to their son at just the moment the Messiah is descending out of Heaven to the Earth. The Messiah names their son Ya’akov and states he will become the first priest of his kingdom once he is of age, and crowns Jeremiah to be the Prince of his kingdom who will lead the world in the worship of their Messiah and King.
This brings us to Hope Renewed which is the story about Ya’akov. His mother, Elsbeth, is a supporting character in this book as she is resurrected and receives her glorified body whereas Edvin remains as he is since he survived the apocalypse and enters the Messiah’s kingdom unchanged. Edvin and his family become a model for all citizens as they are a blended family of both glorified and non-glorified individuals within the same family unit. This book is about Ya’akov and how he is at first unsure of his proclaimed destiny and not sure if he wants to be a priest for the rest of his life. It is a journey of self-exploration and how he comes to terms with his destiny, embraces it, and leads the citizens of the world into a greater understanding of their Messiah, their King.
The next book, Darkness in the Light, picks up the story line several hundred years later and is the story of Jeremiah and his family. Jeremiah is the Prince who leads the world in the worship of their Messiah and King for nearly five hundred years at this point. Edvin, Elsbeth, and Mik’kel are supporting characters in this story line. The main character is Jeremiah’s daughter, Me’ira, who is his youngest daughter and much younger than any of Jeremiah’s other children as they are already grown and married when Me’ira is born. Me’ira is feisty, outgoing, and doesn’t want to be bound to protocol behavior for those of royal birth as she believes them to be too restrictive and very much outdated. She meets a young man, Galen, who is not of royal birth and falls in love with him even before her family has been able to have him go through the required vetting process. In order to marry him, she must abdicate her royal privileges, not see her parents thereafter except to acknowledge them as the Prince and his wife rather than Father and Mother. By marrying him, she feels she is thwarting a discovered prophecy against her father but later finds out that she may have just played into the prophecy itself which she was trying to thwart.
This then leads to the next book entitled Iron in the Scepter, which is a story about a commodities analyst, Janet, who is quite brilliant and is able to increase transporter efficiency substantially to get food crops to their rightful destination without hindering population traffic. Yet, she feels she is not supported by the King and comes to have great animosity for him. When she hears about a prophecy of a coming Overtaker who will defeat the King and bring in what she considers total freedom of thought, she is all in. She manipulates herself to be a key person in trying to bring this prophecy to pass and lets her pride blind her to the point of her using her children to bring in the reign of the Overtaker.
Janet’s youngest son is Kalem, the main character of the first book, Mercy of the Iron Scepter. So, this brings the readers back to the beginning of their adventure with this series.
Your book is set in the biblical time period known as the Millennial Kingdom. Can you tell us why you chose this location in particular?
Many Jewish and Christian denominations have a belief that one called the Messiah will one day come to earth and set up an earthly reign and this will be a time of great peace and prosperity where sickness will be a thing of the past, and maybe even death itself will be abolished. The controversy lies in who is this Messiah and how will this kingdom come about. This book series is about this kingdom.
Not only is there confusion and controversy about who the leader of this kingdom will actually be, there is much confusion about what will occur during this magnificent time of our future history. I wanted my readers to get a good flavor of what life during this time may be like and be able to experience it for themselves.
For example, in my first book, Mercy of the Iron Scepter, I wanted people to experience the wonderment of this time with all the peacefulness, beauty, and unity that will exist during this time. In Scripture it talks about this Messiah, this King, to reign with an iron scepter. That means he will deal harshly with the sin of rebellion. So, I show what that looks like, but also show that there is a merciful side to this harshness as well. While the King deals immediately and decisively with rebellion, he is also loving and wants the best for his citizens of the world. I show that side of him in this novel as well.
Another thing many are confused about is that sacrifices will be made again during this time of our future history. As most Christians believe, Jesus Christ came as the promised Messiah the first time he came to earth fulfilling the Law of Moses and became the sacrifice that the Mosaic Law required for the redemption of mankind. Therefore, today, we no longer have sacrifices. So, what would make them needed in our future? My novel, Hope Renewed, talks about this as one goes through the adventure with Ya’akov and the decisions he makes about his destiny.
Another aspect to this future time is that someone named the Prince it introduced in the book of Ezekiel in Scripture. There are various beliefs as to who this person is. Through my book, Darkness in the Light, as one goes through the struggles of Me’ira, one will see that this Prince is not the Messiah and is not king David as some purport. This novel gives a reason for him being a separate individual from these and what his duties will be for the citizens of the world during this future time.
Then there is the aspect of dealing with human depravity. While this is a time of peace, harmony, and wonderment, there will be those who are still not satisfied with the status quo. I want people to understand that while we have dark spiritual forces today that make us do bad and evil things, even when those forces are held at bay (which will be true during this future time), the heart of mankind can still be evil and against God. People born during this time still need a Savior and their decisions, just like ours today, can have eternal consequences. As readers go through the storyline of Janet in Iron in the Scepter, we cheer her on to make the right decisions even though deep down we know she likely will not. It is similar to when we knew Anakin Skywalker would turn into Darth Vader, yet we kept hoping that he would not make those fateful decisions that we knew he was going to make.
How long did it take you to write the whole series?
I had an aggressive timeline for this series. I wanted a book to come out every four months. One thing to my advantage was that I had all five books already written before they went to my editor. This was because my publisher felt a different series that was a little more generic than this series should come out first. So, while I worked on another series, I also worked on this one as well. It took about three months for a first draft for each novel in this series to be completed. It then took about two additional months for each to go from a rough draft to a version I thought ready for my editor. That meant I spent about two years on this series before even the first one went to my editor.
When they went to my editor, he tackled them one at a time. His review took about a month for each in succession. I then went through all his revisions, edits, and questions. The revisions and edits were mostly straightforward as he was after all the expert so there were few corrections to challenge unless he misunderstood some point I was making. I then answered his questions which dealt with the way I said something, a knowledge gap I had created in the storyline, or something he found confusing in the way I had worded it. Going through those questions and getting them resolved took about another month for each novel.
This editor-reviewed version went to the interior designer who put the text in a book layout format. I then read back through that version to proofread and ensure all looked and read correctly. That effort took approximately two weeks for me to finish each novel. Anything I found went back to my editor who then did a thorough proofreading. His proofreading took another month, at which time I then went back through his findings and answered any questions he had. This did not go back to my editor unless there was a major question I had for him.
This version went back to the interior designer who implemented the changes which took one to two weeks depending upon the number of changes. I then ensured all corrections were as requested. Once completed, this version was sent to the publisher who worked with the printer to get the final book completed. As you can see, this entire process took about one year from the time I started to write until the final book was completed.
Now, in order to keep the books on a release schedule of every four months, there was some overlap that had to occur. I made sure that my editor and interior designer did not have to do that, but I did. For example, once my editor was finished with his proofreading of the interior design of one book, I would send the next draft to my editor for him to begin while I finished up with my interior designer for the current book. It proved hectic but allowed me to get several books out within a year that I would not be able to otherwise. As you can see, if you go from start to finish and then start again, you would be able to only get one book out per year. Don’t get me wrong, that is still quite an accomplishment and a full-time job. Yet, I had a backlog of stories that I wanted to get out, so that is what I did to do that.
What has been the most pivotal point of your writing life?
I think the main thing I had to learn was that I could not please everyone. Not everyone is going to get excited about the story you put your blood, sweat, and tears into. Reviewers can be quite harsh at times. Thick skin must be developed, and you must stay true to yourself and your passion for your writing.
One pivotal point for me was learning that appreciation for my work and selling those books were not synonymous. One of the conferences my publisher supports is Christian Product Expo. This is mainly composed of Christian bookstore owners. One of the owners confided in me that they have a hard time stocking Christian fiction novels because their stores are extremely limited in shelf space, and the major demand they have from their customers is for self-help type books. Because of this feedback, one year I decided to not go to this event. I received feedback from my publisher that many of the store owners were disappointed I had not attended because although they don’t have the capacity in their store to stock and sell my books, they themselves loved my books and were disappointed I did not attend so they could get my next book from me at the conference. That was very encouraging to hear.
What kind of advice would you give up and coming authors?
Don’t take what others say with total conviction. Most times, their advice is not an absolute requirement, but a guideline to consider. Granted, many of their points are useful and can be taken to heart, but they are not gospel. The main point is to be aware of their topics as potential pitfalls and not overuse the writing elements they discuss, not necessarily avoid them all together. It is their overuse that is the faux pax and not their use itself.
So, study all the proper ways of writing and proper writing techniques and try to avoid all the pitfalls writing experts warn you about. Yet, remember that the most important thing about your writing is you. If you get lost in your own writing, then your writing is lost. Your writing will be different from that of anyone else, and it should be different—unique to you. It should also be as good technically as you can make it and not lose the essence of you in the process. Even more importantly, you need to be purposeful. Your writing is to engage your readers, so be purposeful in your writing. Ask yourself questions about your writing. Why did I use that word? Why did I use that punctuation at that spot in the sentence? You don’t have to follow traditional methodology, but there is a caveat to that statement. You need to know that you did not follow traditional methodology and that you purposefully chose not to follow traditional writing techniques. Every sentence, every word, every punctuation should be purposeful—chosen by you as the author for a specific purpose, to elicit a specific emotion, feeling, or ambience.
I, along with my editor, have put most of these concepts in a two-book series to help new authors and to remind seasoned authors of these points. We both think most can benefit from reading our series: Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Writing: Creating Vivid and Colorful Stories that Readers Want to Read, and Mastering the ABCs of Excellent Self-Editing: Framing Your Colorful Masterpiece to Keep Readers Engaged in Your Story. These are not the end-all for writers but is a good start to have in one’s arsenal of becoming a good writer or author.
Most importantly, do the following. Study. Learn. Write. Enjoy the process. But most of all, be purposeful. Your readers will thank you for it.