Well, I was wrong

If you’ve read my latest book, “STAND”, you may have also skimmed over the afterword. In it, I talk a bit about the premise of the book and my hopes that it would strengthen the faith and resolve of the friends who read it. Of course, all of this still stands. However, one of the final points made in that short note was incorrect. Here’s the original passage:

I anticipate that some readers will take issue with the character of Luis Escobar, the Venezuelan smuggler who joins Alvin and Joyce on The Chariot and abandons his old life to join the Witnesses. Perhaps some will find it unfair that an unbeliever would be given such an opportunity to change at the last moment. Others may feel that once the great tribulation starts, there is no longer an opportunity for honest-hearted ones to join true worshippers. However, in researching our recent publications, I was unable to find such a claim.

However in light of the Watchtower study article from this weekend, I clearly was wrong. The article states:

Let us remember that once the great tribulation begins, it will be too late for people to turn to Jehovah. (w19 pp. 8-16, par 6)

Of course, this statement renders quite a bit of the newest trilogy incorrect. For example, Ronnie Feldman’s character or Luis Escobar would never have a chance to join the convoy. Similarly, the evacuation would not be open to outsiders, nor would there be a global preaching campaign to invite non-witnesses to join.

As stated in this foreword, I always make great efforts and thoroughly researching the elements portrayed in the books so as to make them as accurate and believable as possible, and while I had found nothing recent in our publications on this particular point at the time of my writing, that is no longer the case.

As always, I urge readers to take all of these books with a grain of salt and remember that at the end of the day it is all fiction, and that none of us should read too much into any of the events portrayed. If you find it upbuilding and strengthening, that is great, but it should not be viewed as spiritual food.

Thank you for reading!

Keeping on the watch

More than a few readers have wondered if I'll be able to finish the FLEE series before the end (or at least, before the outbreak of the great tribulation). Although some of these comments may be made in jest, it's certainly a valid question considering all that's going on in the news.

Watching the developing situation between North and South Korea has been especially interesting. Sudden cries of peace and cooperation between two nations technically at war for over six decades is certainly something worth keeping an eye on, but even if this whole thing blows over and the situation reverts to what it was just a couple of months ago, we know we're close. Very close.

But as I've said before, nothing would make me happier than being unable to finish this series due to the actual fulfillment of Bible prophecy. I mean, with the real thing unfolding before our eyes, what would be the point of fiction? It would be like collecting materials for a log cabin when a mansion is already under construction in your front yard.

The other point that's been so clearly driven home in my mind from watching the latest news is how unpredictable things truly are and how impossible it is to know what the next day holds. We absolutely have no idea exactly how things will unfold, though I imagine that the other side of this system, when we look back, we'll probably see just how inevitable and obvious it was all along.

Just like the ending of a good story!

Characters over Events

Recently, some of my readers have asked about what appears to be a gaping hole in Critical Times. Where, they ask, was the cry of peace and security?! In truth, the only time the words "peace and security" show up in the novel is in a bit of dialogue between Luke Harding and Agent Meade, who believes that the stamping out of all religion will bring about "peace and security". This, however, is unrelated to the initial cry made by the United Nations as per our current understanding of the global stage set before the outbreak of the Great Tribulation.

The cry of peace and security doesn't feature in the book because the events in the novel take place just after it occurs, as the US, and then other nations around the world (led by the UN), take aim at Babylon the Great. But why, readers might wonder, would I neglect showcasing such a momentous moment in Critical Times?

Answer: It isn't part of the plot. Critical Times begins as social attitudes towards religion are reaching a tipping point. Most people are already frustrated and disillusioned with the churches, making it a fairly simple matter for the governments to step in and strip the harlot of her wealth. The stage is already set to begin Luke's story, and this is the central plot.

More importantly, Critical Times is a story about characters and themes rather than events. I think, as a Witness writer, it can be tempting (and fun!) to write a story that focuses primarily on events. A good example of this was my first novel, All Things New. Although that book was host to a huge cast of characters, they really existed only to retell the events of the Great Tribulation, Armageddon, and Paradise. They were basically just narrating a historical documentary. (This style of storytelling, incidentally, is called an 'oral history'.) As I wrote in the foreword, the project was started with the goal of exploring the answers to such questions as:

"How would the U.N. attack false religion? How would the Witnesses later be targeted? How would Jehovah protect his people? What would Armageddon be like? What (and who) would be left? How would we reorganize? Communicate? Travel? Rebuild? What would return to perfection be like? How would a perfect child think? What would the Resurrection be like?"

In Critical Times, however, events are no longer the primary focus. Instead, the characters and themes are. While we do get a sense of the changing political scene, societal chaos, and anarchy, (events) these are primarily presented through news snippets that the characters witness as they move through their own personal journeys. While the characters are certainly affected by these external struggles, their conflict is fundamentally internal, and serves as the underlying themes of the book: Luke experiences a paradigm shift as he goes from perpetuating an establishment, to doubting it, to challenging it, to opposing it. Amy, on the other hand, struggles with being torn between her husband and the truth.

The reason I wanted to focus more on characters and themes than on events in Critical Times (and the reason that I will likely continue to do so for future books), is this: to me, the lessons we learn from characters' actions are more valid than guesswork of events that have not yet occurred.

Of course, writing detailed accounts about what may happen in the near future is interesting, exciting, and even thought provoking. But beyond starting conversations, how beneficial is it? This is the question I was forced to ask myself after the completion of All Things New. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the book, and if it helps readers to picture themselves in the New World, then mission accomplished.

For Critical Times though, the emphasis was shifted intentionally. Speculation is kept to a bare minimum as the focus shifts: Would Amy be honest with Luke about her studies, or string him along, leading to confrontation? Would Luke turn a blind eye to the violence and militarization of the police, or would he wake up to the insidious aims of his organization? Would the characters rely on Jehovah and listen to the brothers, or would they attempt to do things their own way?

By making the book primarily about the characters and their decisions, I hoped to write a novel that was both entertaining to read, and a tool for self examination. Because regardless of whether or not any of the events mentioned in the book will resemble reality, the lessons contained therein certainly will.