Keeping up with the times

When I first began work back in 2010 on what would eventually become my first novel All Things New, my goal was simple: to create a fictional piece of literature that could serve as an entertaining, thought-provoking glimpse into the New World. The response to that book, which was released in 2013, was beyond anything I’d imagined, which led to the release roughly a year later of The Unrighteous and then Critical Times back in 2016. I’ve always been careful to present these books as nothing more than fiction, but I’ve found over the years that this does not make them free from criticism or claims of inaccuracy.

Of course, none of us knows exactly how things will unfold during the Great Tribulation, at Armageddon, or just after that as we take out first steps into the New World. Some believe that we will more or less immediately transition into a paradise Earth, while others subscribe to a more lengthy process, perhaps spanning decades, as pictured in All Things New. Of course, it’s all guesswork at this point, and debating either side of the argument could become a distraction that I’ve done my best to avoid. (I wrote recently in a post that I’ve tried in recent books to focus more on the lessons learned from characters’ decisions and attitudes, rather than on specific events, and this is one of the reasons.)

That said, I will admit that at the time of writing All Things New, some ideas made it into the book more for the sake of dramatic storytelling than for plausibility. Although these portions likely made the work more memorable, in the years since the book’s release I’ve come to realize that they’ve also caused some consternation, something which I certainly never intended. Additionally, the last few years have seen further information released on the events leading up to and during Armageddon, an event which is featured extensively through the interviewees’ stories in my book.

In past years, my stance about my previous work was one adopted by most secular novelists: don’t look back, ignore the critics,  keep writing new stories. The problem, of course, is that these books aren’t purely secular. Although they are fictional works, they delve into spiritual topics that are close to my readers’ hearts–readers, I do well to keep in mind, who are also my brothers and sisters.

Thus, I’ve come to the decision to remove All Things New from my catalog of books as of January 2018. If all goes according to plan, this will be a temporary move until I can thoroughly revise the book and re-release it (possibly as a second edition, possibly under a new title). I understand that this may be difficult news for some readers, many of whom have written with positive feedback for that first book. However, the words of the Apostle Paul at 1 Corinthians 8:13 really stand out to me:

“That is why if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat at all, so that I will not make my brother stumble.”

If Paul was willing to give up meat for the sake of his brothers, I can certainly refrain from promoting a fictional piece of literature. And besides, I’m sure with the writing experience I’ve gained in the last few years, "All Things New 2.0" will be a much better read than the first!