Six of A Story: Brian Thompson and The Revelation Gate

Author Brian Thompson

  We receive all kinds of requests, here at Authors Promoting Authors and even in my short time doing Six of A Story, I have had tons of authors asking for interviews.

My guest today, Brian Thompson has the honour of sending me the best email ever, asking for an interview. He was personable and sincere, witty and interesting. He dropped by my blog, but didn't parrot back to me a title of my post or make some inane comment. He took time to read and commented in his email and Brian offered information about his book and himself. 

I really enjoy interviewing authors about their work but it can be hard if I am offered no information to start with. There are some books, I've turned down or suggested another feature for, because the author had too little information or offered no information about themselves.

If you want to be interviewed for Six of a Story, the best thing to do is actually drop by my blog (wouldn't you want to know a bit about who is interviewing you and their style?) and be interesting. Interviews are conversations, so be conversational.

Anyways, I was impressed with Brian Thompson and its not easy to impress me—I spend my working days around people who think they are super important and have egos the size of the moon.

Brian Thompson's quirky fact, “I'm double-jointed in my thumbs. I'm not sure if you were looking for a personal quirky fact or a literary quirky fact. If you needed a literary quirky fact, I find inspiration in the writing advice of Ernest Hemingway, but I drink a lot less than he did and I don't own a shotgun.” He has a wonderful author website, so please go visit him here: 

http://www.authorbrianthompson.com

When I was reading through Brian's website and book blurbs, I noticed he considered his work Christian fiction, curious because it just didn't scream “Christian Fiction”, I asked him about it.

Brian said, “I consider it Christian fiction because essentially, it's a Biblical allegory with redemptive themes of salvation, forgiveness, unconditional love, and sacrifice. All of the characters, one way or another, embody them, and there are Biblical references throughout the book. Not scripture and text, per se, but for example the Uche do not eat at the same table as the Sangue, which is similar to the Biblical relationship between Jews and Gentiles.”

 

The Revelation Gate is three unconventional love stories set in the background of a Saharan country on the brink of war. A young slave woman with an incurable blood disease finds herself cured and pregnant – thanks to a mysterious phenomenon called “holy rain.” Though the law forbids it, she gives birth and immediately goes into hiding to save her son, who is destined one day to enter The Revelation Gate to free his people.

When the boy returns home years later after being presumed dead, a childhood friend falls in love with him – though he is forbidden to reciprocate it. And the liberation of his people depends on his devotion and willingness to sacrifice for them. At the point where his people need him most, he suddenly disappears. 

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1. When Isoke takes Chimelu (the Mkombozi) into hiding right after he is born, how does he end up having a childhood friend? Was he raised in safety in another place that knew nothing of his birth?

Isoke's husband (Aitan) sends her, Chimelu, his second wife and their daughter Lusala into another land. Bimnono is from that area and has family there, so she is able to conceal their whereabouts. There, Chimelu and Lusala spend their first two years growing up together.

2. The boy is a sort of supernatural being, someone who should be heralded and held in wonder, yet, he and his mother are ostracized. One would even think that the two would face death. How does she manage to escape, let alone survive?

At first, she escapes death due to the neglect of her captors. She is safe for two years until someone, or something, attacks her. She barely gets away and flees back to her homeland, where the original ruler who wanted to kill them has died. By then, Chimelu is no longer sought after.  

3. The brink of war that the country is upon - is it a civil war, or perhaps an uprising in the planning by the Uche peoples? One where the Mkombozi would turn the tide?

It's a combination of the two. The two sides have been at odds for more than 800 years. A few events in the second half of the novel "break the camel's back," so to speak, and starts the events leading up to the war.

4. It seems that the love stories are between Chimelu and Lusala, and Isoke and Aitan. Who are involved in the third of these unconventional love stories?

Well, they are love stories, but only one is romantic -- Chimelu and Lusala. The other two are between Isoke and Chimelu -- a mother's love for a son she barely knows -- and Chimelu's love for the Uche -- a man for his nation. They're all powerful in their own way, and drive the characters to do some pretty interesting things.

5. Is the Revelation Gate an actual physical structure? Or is it metaphorical? If it is physical, is it guarded? Considering that the laws forebade Isoke from giving birth to Chimelu because of the Holy rain, it would stand to reason that Sangue set those laws to keep the Uche as slaves.

Good question! I wish I could answer it without giving it all away! Let's see. . .the Uche prophecies allude to Mkombozi, or the "Deliverer" entering the Revelation Gate, so they believe it's a physical structure. It has a metaphorical meaning too. It is guarded . . in a way. And yes, the Oti set the laws to keep the Deliverer from being born. It was a type of population control since the other methods caused too many problems.

6. What other effects does the Holy rain have on the Uche? Does it only happen at key moments - like the solstice?

Well, Isoke's father got cured of his drunkenness. Her mother received the gift of foreknowledge. It could heal, restore -- whatever the person who needed it believed that it could do, it did. It's effects were only limited by a lack of belief. As it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, it only happened a few times over the course of history.

My thanks to Brian Thompson for sharing his work with us on Six of A Story. 

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Would you like to be interviewed for Six of A Story? Please send all requests to cschamberlain2010@gmail.com with "Six of a Story" in the subject line. Include your website, book blurb and a quirky fact. 

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