Christian Fiction
Date Published: 10-01-2022
Publisher: Bookbaby
Detective Jelani is a tough, veteran cop, who earned his stripes in the rough-and-tumble streets of St. Louis before relocating to Miami. His younger partner, Detective Madigan, is brash and confident. But they were never prepared for what awaits them as they try to solve these latest crimes. They are about to become embroiled in a series of cosmic events which they could have never dreamt of, even in their wildest imaginations. In a world where the angels of heaven and the angels of hell bring their ageless battle to Earth, how will these men, and their families, overcome such insurmountable challenges? As has been the case since the beginning of time, God and His heavenly host are facing off with Satan and his hellish host. Caught in the middle is Thumos, possibly the most powerful angel ever created. He is a warrior angel, "quickened" by God for one thing: battle. And he has seen plenty of that down through the centuries. No one can match his prowess; not even the Archangels. But Thumos has become a disgruntled warrior of God, and after standing by for long enough, he can take it no more. The earthly world of these two Miami detectives will collide with the heavenly world of Thumos. None of them know what is coming, and none of them will ever be the same again.
Interview
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
I think I
have several big picture messages, but probably the biggest one is that taking
matters into our own hands, without relying on God’s guidance, will always lead
us down the wrong path.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
In
writing the action scenes, I constantly fell into the trap of “telling” what
was happening as opposed to “showing” what was happening – I learned that trick
from my writing coach. “Show the action
to the reader, don’t tell the reader about it”.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
This is actually the
first book I have ever written, so the second half of the question is easy (for
now) – my favorite book is Holy Terror!
If You had the chance to cast your main character from
For my
two main human characters, I would choose Chris Pratt to play “Lane Madigan”
and Idris Elba to play “Ian Jelani”. For
the main angel character “Thumos”, I would pick Alan Ritchie. I feel like based on their past character
portrayals, they could really bring my characters to life!
When did you begin writing?
I began
writing for church bulletins when I was in my twenties, and did that for
several decades. But writing a novel was
something I started dabbling with in 1996, but never got too serious about it
until the 2010s decade.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
I
actually first wrote something down for this book in 1996, then worked on it
sparingly over many years. But 2018 is
when I actually got serious, hired a writing coach to help guide through the
process of rewriting it and getting it published. So in one sense you could say it took me 25
years to complete it, but from the point of when I “got serious”, you could say
it took me 4 years to complete it.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I have many favorite authors, but I would have to pick C.S. Lewis as a
person who actually inspired me to become a writer. He wrote a lot of Christian expository books,
but also wrote several excellent fiction works too.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Bringing my imagination to
life in writing – taking raw ideas and formulating those ideas into words, into
dialogue and visual scenes.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Supernatural
actionpacked mystery thriller
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the
future for your writing?
I am
planning a sequel to Holy Terror, as it is part of a trilogy – it is the
middle story of the trilogy. The plans
for the sequel definitely include some characters returning from the current
book, as well as some of those characters whom you likely thought were gone for
good. The sequel is going to answer a
brief, mysterious segment of Holy Terror which was left open-ended. This mysterious segment will become a
significant plot line of the sequel, and is all leading up to a massive battle
with entities from the pre-history of Earth.
Clearly there will be some surprise twists and turns throughout the
sequel, to keep the readers guessing!
About the Author
John has spent his professional career working in information technology by day and dabbling in a variety of other diversions by nights and weekends, including a few decades of serving in lay ministry. While serving in this capacity he preached hundreds of sermons, taught countless Bible study classes, and wrote dozens of inspirational articles.
He enjoys golf, guitars, grandchildren, and all things Kansas City – the Chiefs, the Royals, Sporting KC, KC Current, KC Symphony, and KC Broadway, to name a few. He thinks (if not for his long-lost metabolism of youth) he could eat the famous Kansas City barbecue every day…maybe not for breakfast, but lunch and dinner for sure!
Now he is enjoying bringing to life his angelic hero, Thumos, and a host of other characters that he hopes you will find both entertaining as well as either inspiring or repulsive (after all, there are both good guys and bad guys in this story). This is the first book of a series, featuring detectives Lane Madigan and Ian Jelani, whose experience with Thumos will yield life changing results. And if you happen to be interested in such things, happy Bible Easter Egg hunting while you read, since many are planted throughout the book.
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1 Comments
Thanks for hosting a tour stop for my book today!
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