JoeyPinkney.com Exclusive Interview
5 Minutes, 5 Questions With…
Brian Thompson, author of The Revelation Gate
(Great Nation Publishing)

Seers foretell the birth of a legendary king destined to enter a mysterious gate and end his people’s oppression. Whether or not this passageway exists, nobody knows.

Following a brutal infanticide, the people give up hope, until a man with unbreakable bones emerges from the wilderness.

Joey Pinkney: Where did you get the inspiration to write The Revelation Gate?

Brian Thompson: I love reading origin stories of comic book heroes like, “How did they become X?” The Revelation Gate started out in my mind as a comic book origin story. I wanted to write a black superhero. Then, he became African.

Once he was African, I wanted to date it further back in history. I used Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe for inspiration. That book is about a man who starts out a hero, but “falls apart” by the novel’s end.

Mine starts out with a building of a hero rather than his de-evolution. He’s not a hero in the “domino mask-and-a-cape” sense, but he’s heroic nonetheless. Most of the events are from the Bible or Bible-influenced.

JP: What sets The Revelation Gate apart from other books in the same genre?

BT: The Revelation Gate is a type of Biblical allegory. Most of the events align with Scripture, but in an unconventional way. For example, the concept of Njia can be looked at metaphorically and allegorically.

The word Njia in Swahili means “The Way,” which was the name for Christianity in the early first century church. The “powers” of Njia are really reinterpretations and of scripture.

I don’t think that kind of thing has been done recently, at least in the African-American sub-genre of Christian fiction.

JP: As an author, what are the keys to your success that led to The Revelation Gate getting out to the public?

BT: Word-of-mouth is the biggest key. As I’m independently published and I am responsible for my own marketing and promotion, I have to make use of whatever I have available. I do that a number of ways: social marketing, this blog tour, pre-release reviews, etc.

JP: As an author, what is your writing process? How long did it take you to start and finish The Revelation Gate?

BT: My writing process is a little odd. I start out with the end: how do I want characters. I don’t write much down, which I don’t advise unless it works for you. I have a general idea of what the plot is and where it’s going. Then, I pray and start writing.

JP: What’s next for Brian Thompson?

BT: After The Revelation Gate releases, I plan to do some book signings in the area and appearances at local events. I am also working on my third book, The Anarchists, which I’d like to release in the fall of 2012.

http://www.brianlthompson.co/ (not .com, but .co)

http://www.youtube.com/user/brianlthompson

http://facebook.com/authorbrianlthompson

http://twitter.com/brianlthompson

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