2 - Tell us a bit about your background. What have you done in the past that relates to your book and that topic? - I currently live in Los Angeles but am a former resident and South Bend. I was involved in a big political movement there and was the 1999 mayoral candidate. Needless to say, I lost. I have lived or been to 34 countries. The include Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey and many countries throughout Europe. The story of Nimrod rising takes place in many cultures, all of which I am very familiar with in terms of culture and language. I was able to put the images in very lively terms having visited or lived in the places described. Also, Nimrod Rising is a real look at the religion of Islam. I have spent my whole adult life working with Muslims. That gives me a real knowledge of the faith of over one billion people. I have a master's degree in liberal studies from Indiana University and I speak French and Turkish. I also have been an assistant to a prosecutor, a university instructor in several countries and a freelance journalist. These areas of expertise, along with my political background gave me an easy understanding of the world around me. I have also authored two other novels, Probable Cause and Stillborn! also published by PublishAmerica.
3 - What advice would you give to someone who is interested in your topic? - I think the most important thing for readers to be as they read Nimrod Rising is open-minded. They need to try to get beyond the physical world we see every day and try to accept that there is more out there than just us. I don't want people to consider Nimrod Rising as just another scary story. It is far more than that. Nimrod Rising is a book about the history of life and the origin of evil. The reader needs to pose the questions such as the following: Who are we? Where did we come from? What was here before us? Where are we going? Are there answers to the question why the world faces its condition today? Nimrod Rising offers “possible” answers to those questions. It will awake the imagination and the cause self perception as they read.
4 - What do you see as the benefit to participating in groups and organizations? My first thought would be networking opportunities and the chance for personal and business growth. What are your reasons? - I want people to know that there is a novel out there like none they have ever read before. That is not a cliché either. I believe they will find Nimrod Rising very unique and thrilling as well as challenging to their long-held beliefs. Groups such as you represent are great ways of allowing those who participate to see that life is greater than they ever believed and that they are more than accident on this tiny planet but vital living reasons to have hope and faith in a day lacking both.
5 - Who is the ideal person to read your book? If each person that reads this was going to recommend your book to one person, what sort of person would they want to chose? - I think anyone who feels that they want to know more about why they are here and who love history and whose imagination needs stimulus and challenge will love this book. Also, readers who have suffered things for which they may have no answer could find a few very helpful explanations about the things we cannot explain. I myself am one of those. I think it is important that young adults read Nimrod Rising. Today our kids are taught things about sexuality and acceptance of things once held as wrong. Those taught in such an atmosphere need to see what may be the motivations of those who teach as right that which was once held as completely wrong. It will cause you to pose those questions that we would never pose to ourselves without such challenge.
6 - What do you think ignites a person's creativity? - I have always said that writing fiction is the closest thing to the divine that humans do. We take a world that does not exist, fill it with characters who have never been, develop scenarios and plots which have never been conceived of before, draw conclusions that are profound and make them speak to those who have never imagined the stories before. I want to try to answer the questions that we think of but are afraid, for many perceived reasons, to ask. That is the greatest way to germinate the creativity of the world around us. There are no stupid questions and no answers should be considered too asinine to approach. If I can stir up the imagination and the heart and souls of those who read my works, I will have participated in taking the tragedy out of human and replaced it with unlimited courage and creativity. That is my passion and my devotion to my writing and to my readers.
7 - What have you found to be the biggest stumbling block for people who want to start writing? - I have written seven novels and have published three of them so far. Each time I start a new novel, I have those flutters in my stomach that remind of the massive task ahead. The time, the effort, the hours that consume us can be a monster that looms behind out eyes as well as a lack of self confidence can tell us and make us believe we cannot do it. Perhaps we have started a project before that we got into and the burdens of life and the responsibilities to family and friends seemed to crowd it all out. I have suffered those feelings more in the area of book promotion than in the actual writing. They try to have the same affects on me though. Yet, after having written one novel, and finally convincing myself that it is as it should be, I have now understood that writing is an effort of starting the work and then following it as it takes over and guides my fingers. Perhaps only a writer will understand what I am going to say, but I always have the most spiritual and amazing phenomenon come over me when I write a new story. It seems that the story really begins to write itself. Some friends I have bounced ideas off of before have often asked me how a new story is going. I inevitably respond, “I don't know, the story hasn't told me yet. It sounds crazy, but is perfectly logical to me. Also, we have to make ourselves believe that in writing, we are never late. Of course, some writers are under contract, but even in such situations, writers need to feel the words they arte writing. So those times when the words are still making their way to us, it is not time wasted. If emerging writers can make themselves believe that, then they will overcome the feelings of failure. The only failure anyway is not trying at all.
8 - How would you suggest they can overcome that? - Every time I have finished a novel, I have had to take time to refill the batteries. I do that by reading other author's works and unfortunately, critiquing them to death. Other writers will always get you going again. They are all different and all have very great abilities that are different than our own. Yet, I still believe the best defeat of defeat itself is by placing pen to paper and just start writing. Once the story begins to breath, so will you. Ride the idea, follow it and take stock of it and be willing to alter certain ideas and plots and above all, just have fun! It is a lot of fun to read what we have written for the day. Sometimes I laugh at my stupid mistakes and fix them and end up making them better than ever. I consider every character in all my novels to be my children, the good, the bad and the worse, none of them are ugly. :) They are all alive and need fed and dressed and I have to spend time with them. Does that sound wacky? Perhaps, but it works for me. Lastly, I think there is nothing quite like seeing a work on which you have spend a massive amount of time and toil finally bound and in book form lying in the palm of your hand! Once a writer has accomplished that for the first time, it will motivate them to feel the same thing as often as they can. Those are just a few personal and practical ways I keep writing even when I feel I cannot.
9 - Who is the “perfect” person to read your book? - The person who would most suited to read my book is someone who loves life and country and who concern about the direction of their lives and the nation they love. I write stories that touch subjects that may be difficult to talk about openly and for which people desperately are seeking answers. If a reader wants to read a novel that entertain and inform them at the same time, Nimrod Rising is a great novel for them! It will shake the foundation of their lives but will give them a firm foundation on which to build their imagination and keep them turning the page.
10 - Is there anything else you would like to share with us? - I know that Nimrod Rising will both stimulate and propel readers into a world that no one wants to live in. That will serve in challenging each reader to possibly do more to ensure that our children and grandchildren always have a safe and secure world in which to grow. Nimrod Rising is just such a book. I believe you will love it!
For much more information about Nimrod Rising and Steven Clark Bradley - feel free to visit his book tour home page - http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/steven-clark-bradley-author-nimrod-rising
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