In reviewing your bio, I can see that you take your faith seriously and you want to share that “Good News” with others. What made you decide to write Christian themed books rather than going into another form of ministry?
Ephesians 2:10 states,
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” In no way does this scripture
imply that we are saved by works. Only the blood of Jesus has the power to save
us. We are, however, saved unto works.
With that in mind, envision,
if you will, being born with a bucket full of talent that was instilled in you
at birth, from the Creator. Whether it’s writing books like me, or starting a music,
children’s, feeding, or prison ministry—if you are feeling the pull of the Holy
Spirit nudging you in a certain direction, there is a very strong possibility it’s
one of the talents God had purposed for you before time began.
Since tomorrow is promised
to no one, I would strongly encourage you to get busy emptying the bucket of
talent God intended solely for you. As for me personally, when I stand before my
Maker on that inescapable day, I don’t want a single drop of talent to be left
in that bucket. How about you?
With exception to the 5th
and 6th installments of the Chaos in The Blink of An Eye series—which took a
little longer to write, as both are significantly thicker in volume than the
first four installments—the stories I write usually take nine months to finish.
I jokingly tell my female friends it’s the closest I’ll ever get to experiencing
childbirth, only in my case it’s book birth.
Did it change much from
what you first envisioned it would be?
The only significant changes
I have encountered from when I started writing the first installments of the
CHAOS series, have to do with technological advances. Over the past 10 years,
they have become so advanced and far reaching that some of the technologies
that were written into the series at the outset, have long since become outdated—extinct
if you will—and needed to be upgraded.
Have you received push
back from readers that your books are too preachy?
Yes, on occasion. Let’s
face it, the Gospel was meant to be offensive to fleshly ears. Who among the
unconverted want to hear that their sins have put enmity between themselves and
the One who knit them together in their mothers’ wombs? Who wants to hear that if
they do not repent and trust in Christ alone for their salvation, they will end
up in hell when their life comes to an end?
Charles Spurgeon once
said, “Hard words, if they be true, are better than soft words, if they be
false.” As someone who doesn’t write for the notoriety, but to win souls to
Christ, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. But I also believe the Good
News of God’s salvation must always be preached in love. Always!
The hardest part for me is
that I tend to overwrite. When I finish writing the bulk of a story, I envision
a huge block of ice before me which needs sculpting. The shortening of the text
is me taking a chainsaw and sculpting the block of ice until it becomes a beautiful
sculpture, or in book jargon, a story worthy of being introduced to the
marketplace. Believe me when I say, deleting parts that I work so hard to
include in a story is no easy task! It can be just as grueling as writing the
story itself.
What’s the best
encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
Naturally, winning book
awards and reading positive reviews always encourage me to keep on keepin’ on,
so to speak. But, without a doubt, when I receive emails or read reviews
proclaiming that the reader’s faith has been strengthened, or that they have
received Christ as Lord and Savior after reading one of my books, I rejoice in
each circumstance. What can be better than that? Notoriety? Fame and fortune? I
think not.
What do you know now about
writing you wished you had known sooner?
Unlike the underlying
stress that accompanies writing “stand alone” novels, I’ve learned firsthand
that stress levels are infinitely higher when it comes to writing a series.
There’s always a clock ticking in my head, reminding me that many are waiting
for the next installment. Then, soon after its release, I start receiving
emails asking when the next one will be released, and the clock starts ticking
again when my brain should be resting. This is a good problem, to be sure, but
it can be a little overwhelming at times. The life of a writer...
The best writing advice I
received is if you cannot connect to your story emotionally, in other words, if
you cannot laugh at the funny parts or cry at the sad parts, don’t expect your
readers to either. It’s that simple.
As for what advice I can
give, while it’s beneficial to read the works of other authors—it’s even good
to be compared to them—from a creativity standpoint, it’s vital that your
readers are always convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that what they are
reading is distinctly you, and no one else! In short, your work must be
uniquely your own!
Are there any other points
about writing you would like to add?
All writers are different.
As for me, I do not write in chronological order. In fact, very seldom do I
start writing chapter one first. What works best for me is just to keep
writing, without worrying too much about formatting or editing, or about trying
to make chapter 4 fit into chapter 1. The key is to keep writing. Everything
else will get sorted out in the end. Because I do not write in chronological
order, I am always amazed at how differently the bulk of my stories end up,
then how I first envisioned them at the outset.
I am presently working on
the seventh installment of the series, and will have a release date in mind in
the coming weeks. Praise God, the series has already garnered more than 3,000
positive ratings/reviews on Amazon/Goodreads, on the first six installments. Once
completed, there will be 12 books. Since the next installment will take us up
to the midway point of the seven-year tribulation period, I am eager to finish
it in the soonest possible fashion…
Could you give my readers some
details on that book (or your current one)?
In truth, I was so
spiritually tormented after finishing the 6th installment of the CHAOS series,
that I had to take an extended break, not from writing, but from the series
itself. What persecuted me so deeply in my spirit—and profoundly impacted my
health—was writing in vivid detail about the persecution Christ followers will surely
suffer during the Tribulation period, as described in the book of Revelation.
It’s so graphic in some places that I was prompted to include a warning to my
readers up front—a first for me.
Would you like to mention
any other of your books?
During my brief hiatus
from the CHAOS series, I was able to finish my latest release, I Never Knew You,
which I started writing back in 2016. This story also focuses on our persecuted
brothers and sisters who languish in prison for their faith in Christ, only in
a present-tense setting.
Mostly due to the
popularity of the CHAOS series, I was unable to put any time into it. It’s
amazing how God works! Had I not taken an extended break from the series, this
book would still be unfinished, and the many personal emails I’ve received from
readers whose lives have been totally transformed from reading it—their words,
not mine—would have gone unwritten. What an awesome God we serve!
That's all for today's interview. I hope it will inspire you to look into his books and starting his CHAOS series. It will definitely be a page turner you will want to keep reading. Here are the links to learn more about Patrick's books and upcoming works.
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrick12272003
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrick12272003
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10796904.Patrick_Higgins
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