Tell us the book title and your author name. - The title of my third book is Nimrod Rising and my writing name and legal name is Steven Clark Bradley.What inspired the book? - I had lived outside the United States for almost 17 years. I had visited the States about every four years but my focus had always been returning abroad. When I returned to live here in 1995 and tried to find a job and began to see the culture again here, I realized just how much America had changed. I had left the States while Ronald Reagan was president and I still believe that we were a kinder, more unified and much more moral people back then. I am not speaking some old codger either, because I am only 48 and it is meant sincerely from my experience. So many different movements were afoot and all of them spelled a literal cultural shift for me in the country. It all caused culture shock for me and I realized that America was at war with itself. I began to hear the idea that the constitution was a “living Document”. The meant that the country no longer bent or altered its course according to the constitution, but that we now applied the constitution to any new movement and made the sacred document fit our new lifestyles. I saw this new president, Bill Clinton who seemed determined to change us forever and felt I had to write something as I saw it and sort of predict where it would go and what it would do to us. So, one night in my mother's house I started writing. I just began to put on paper what I felt the world was doing and what the future would hold, if we continued down the same path. Well, the first part of the novel was written before September 11, 2001 and I had predicted that the nation would be attacked at home by terrorists simply because that president was so focused on home issues and his private debauched life that he failed to respond at all to the pin-prick attacks we already had inflicted upon us. Since that time, the book kind of wrote itself as I his the keys on the keyboard and ended up in what I think you will find the most unique approach in a novel you may find out there. I like to call this 593 page book my treatise on America. It is a large book but reads easily and is a strong story, but is also a story of hope and faith. It is not a “Christian” novel as it speaks for faith and the need of faith and the importance of using our faith to preserve our homeland. For, I am of the impression that I will not be patriotic just because I was born here. I need to believe in the country I support. It has to offer some semblance of reflection in what I hold dear and I unless I speak out and unless we truly hold these things dear, we will have a nation that few of us recognize and which I can not support. It is a book of challenge and my passion truly resonates from the book on every page.
What makes this book special to you? - I find the book interesting on several levels. It is a bit frightening, indeed. Yet, it is not scary because of ghosts and such, but rather because it takes the reader into the world of created beings that simply live in the spiritual world. Nimrod Rising takes us into the world of the Earth before humankind came upon the scene. My premise is that the creation account in Genesis is actually a recreation and that the Watchers, angels ruled here until a cataclysmic event took place, i.e. the fall of Satan which caused the Earth to become “Formless and void.” It describes the battles we fight now to be as much part of the spiritual war as much as the physical ones we see with our eyes. It is also challenging because it is well researched. All the information about Nimrod, himself is true and was found in ancient tablets that date back to the age of the earliest people since the dawn of man. I put 12 years of research into Nimrod Rising and I can say that it is a novel of dire straits with the hope and faith that God has an ultimate plan for the good of man.
What makes this a book that other people MUST read and WHY?
What people NEED to read this book and WHY? - I can say that this novel and all that I put into it personally deepened me and made me a wiser and more profound and sober person and I know it will make readers take stock of their live and that is always what makes us live wiser, live longer and will tell us all that we are not accidents nor do we live meaningless lives. There is a reason for our being, for the terror that we now see throughout the world and that all of our actions, both good and evil must be accounted for in the future. This makes Nimrod Rising so powerful and special to me and I know it will be the same for those who read it. We are not individual islands. There are repercussions for the things we do or fail to do or attempt to do. It is important to remember that this world does not belong to us. It has simply been placed in our hands for safe keeping. The forces of evil want it back for their own purposes and God expects good and right people to preserve it. Sometimes that means war. Some of it means environmentalism. All of it means following principles that preserve both social and physical adherents to those things that are universally right. It demands fighting against that which is naturally and intrinsically wrong. Nimrod Rising draws such distinctions and will challenge us all as to our participation in this drama called life.
What sparks your creativity? Any tips to help others spark their own creativity? I have to believe in something before I can write about it. All my material is about some issue that I feel needs repairing or of which I feel I much warn about the massive changes that could not only change us drastically but destroy us forever. I am current writing a novel centered around the Terri Schiavo case and have my next novel completed and in editing called Patriot Acts which talks about the dangers from Iran and Militia groups. These are two subjects which demand our attention and I feel such things awaken my instincts and bring out the storyteller in me. Don't write to make people comfortable all the time. Write what moves you and trust it will move others too. Don't write to please or to seek approval. Write to inform and to be a part of the progression of the world in thought. People are looking for writers who believe what they write. I am not seeking agreement, but interest and to spark that interest into something that puts my point of view out there, whether it is accepted or not. For me, that is revolutionary.
What has been the biggest stumbling block in your writing? Can you share some tips to help others get past similar problems? I have never had writers' block but I have failed to rest my mind properly and lost my way because of that. I have tried to learn that writing is a lot like out appetite. The best way not to get fat is to learn to eat only when we're actually hungry. That takes discipline and wisdom. Writing is the same in that, we want gourmet, not fast-food. Rest your mind, simmer your ideas, get them on paper and let them cook a while and add the seasoning and savor the aroma and you will eventually sit down to a gourmet buffet that will amaze you with the life of the taste and will make you read what you have written and say, that is what you really wanted to say. That works for me, perhaps it will for others.
What do you think motivates people to become authors? What motivated you to get into this unusual industry?
Tell me about the most unusual things you have done to promote any books? - Book Promotion has been the fly in the ointment for me. I mean, like an avid jogger who suddenly does not run for a month or so, I get a bit depressed every time I finish a novel. I pour all of myself into the world I have created and need to just keep going. So, I have had this thing in me that prefers to write than to sell books. Crazy huh? But, I bet you can relate. So, I have had a tough time with this area of writing. Book stores, who should be licking their chops at the prospect of so many writers like myself, yet, nothing has been as a hard as getting a store to take my books or to even give me a glance in my direction. I have become much more disciple in this endeavor simply I have realized that I want people to read my books. I have been very creative with Nimrod Rising. I created eight videos, all of which show a different aspect of my story. I placed them on over 25 different video upload sites and more than 25,000 people have watched them! I know that was the most unique thing I have done. The videos are still playing and can be viewed at www.stevenbradley.net.
FICTION - If there is a setting, tell us how you decided on that setting and what you did to create a complete and vivid setting for your readers? - Because Nimrod Rising is a vast story of International significance, my setting is really two/fold. I like to think that I have spent a large portion of my life in the cradle of civilization. The main setting of Nimrod Rising is really, Israel. Though it takes a bit of time before the book finally settles in that small but significant country, there is a real sense throughout the book that the story is heading that way. In a real sense, Israel is the spiritual center of the world. For Muslims, there really is no breakdown of society vs. religion. The religion of Islam encompasses every part of life. Sense I have worked with Muslims for over twenty years, I could see the radicalization of the religion long before Osama Bin Laden came on the scene. Most of the first section was written before 9-11. I have never claimed to be a prophet, and actually the need of such foretellers was never necessary. The changes taking place around the world were easy for me to see having lived there for so long. With the changes hitting America spiritually and socially and with the radicals in Islam beginning to strike us because of our support of the State of Israel, it was natural that the end game scenario should take place in the nation. The Israel is a tiny nation; its impact due to its very existence keeps lights burning in the great capitals of the world.
The other major setting is right inside the United States. We picture a nation and a world that has been devastated by terror and a nation that had lost its ability and will to defeat it. America is dissolving and the social attacks slapping the nation against the family, marriage, children and the elimination of civil rights required to fight the terror has left the nation devastated. The two settings converge into a massive wild ride that, of course you'll have to read the book to discover.
I spent two years in the country of Pakistan and Bangladesh. That was an eye opener and it gave me a real feel for the culture, the lives and even the various smells of the Middle East. I also spent almost three years in Senegal West Africa where I lived amongst the people and grew to understand the impact of Islam on the lives of its adherents. Even in France, where I lived for over six years, I worked almost exclusively with the Muslim population. Later I went to Turkey and worked there for four years and traveled to Iraq and Israel and truly got a feel for Muslim society. By painting my story with words from my Middle Eastern experience, I was able to create a very true-to-life experience for the reader. Of course, the story itself only lent itself to the Middle Eastern setting.
In the case of Nimrod Rising, it was easy to find the place of my story. Though Nimrod Rising is a work of fiction, it is based on historical fact and the events that form the story took place or will take place in the lands I describe. Also, Nimrod Rising spans several countries and they are all key locations. In some ways that made it easier, but in other ways it demanded very precise descriptions. I was helped a lot in that I had spend considerable amounts of time in each location, which helped me in the various cultural, political and layout of the land aspects of Nimrod Rising.
FICTION - What inspires you about the hero or heroine in your book? What makes them memorable for the reader? What motivates the hero and/or heroine? You can include information about both if you want. - The Heroine is difficult to choose since there are three major female characters. The first two are Sally Michael, Shepard's mother. She was kidnapped as a believer in God and forced to have Manassa Dormin's child. She is really such a strong character and strong in faith.
Also, there is Elif Michael (Karaoglu) the Turkish wife of Shepard Michael who worked for Manassa Dormin but finds faith and turns her life and family around. She too is large in meaning in the story.
Yet, I have to say that the most powerful figure in the story is the six year old child of Shepard and Elif, Jesse. She possesses the powers of her daddy and grandfather, but the heart of the child shines through so powerfully how she reaches out to the grandfather and finds the miniscule residue of humanity left in Manassa Dormin. She can bring tears to the reader's eyes and truly wins the day through the wisdom of a child.
My main hero of the novel has to be the character, Shepard Michael. Shepard is the son of Manassa Dormin who is the villain in the story. He is abused and used by his father to bring about the final destruction, but he remembers the principles that his mother, Sally Michael, taught him and resists his natural inclination for evil. I think we can all relate to him in that we have all had to resist doing wrong, and the wrong has often been an easier decision for us than the good. He is a really powerful figure in the story and very profound in his outlook.
FICTION - Is there a villain or something that causes friction in your story? Tell us about what or who it is and how that contributes to the story. Any details about conflict and friction is good information to know. - Manassa Dormin is really the focus of the story of Nimrod Rising. He is the 666th generation from Nimrod some 4000 years earlier. Dormin is found at the door of a police station and his parent s are never found. He is adopted by an older couple and raised as a Christian. He believes himself to be a believer but is confronted with his fate as the antichrist. The transformation he endures and his struggle against accepting his calling is a profound adventure into the spiritual world of darkness. After he finally allows the force of darkness to invade him fully, he has no turning back and finally wrestles and wins control of the world. He is very human, but somehow very determined to destroy humanity. His character is vicious and brutal and smart. He is appealing and repelling at the same time, which is normal for the son of the devil. He is a very aggressive figure throughout the story.
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