INTRODUCTION BY MICHAEL
Probably the most common question posed of authors is, “Where do your ideas come from?” I cannot speak for other authors and novelists, but in my own case the ideas usually come of their own accord, in their own time, each idea unique, every circumstance unique.
One cannot predict or anticipate, perhaps in a sudden flash of “inspiration” or maybe in a slow-growing “what-if” that rises out of the subconscious, what will grow into a full-fledged book.
The initial idea for the Shenandoah Sisters series, for example, bubbled up inside my brain with a startling what-if:
What if two girls, one white, one black, were suddenly orphaned and found themselves together as the Civil War opened. How would a black slave girl and a white plantation girl survive alone in the midst of that dreadful war? It was a mere idea birthed by my brain, but in the end eight books resulted.
Ideas are living things, to be tended and nurtured and loved in much the same way we care for the plants in our gardens and greenhouses and homes. Not all ideas are good ideas. There are good and bad ideas, true and false ideas. There are idea-weeds that are to be gotten rid of. But there are also idea-trees of large truth, though they start as small grains of mustard seed that grow to be- come trees to give shade, beauty, and substance to the entire garden of our growing intellectual and spiritual souls. I treat the nurturing of ideas with the greatest care and respect, both within myself and within others.
The book idea whose birth with an astonishing What if? remains the most memorable of all the book ideas I’ve ever had was for the two Adam Livingstone books, Rift in Time and Hidden in Time.
Even after 25 years I remember the flash that exploded in my brain as if it was yesterday. Oh my goodness! I thought. What if someday the location of the original Garden of Eden were discovered!
The ideas that followed in succession—the discovery of Noah’s Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tree of Life—raised obvious questions: What would be the worldwide impact if an archaeologist made such historic discoveries…what would opposing forces do to discredit him?
The many what ifs eventually produced this series. The ideas involved were so huge in their scope that I despaired of ever being able to write them down in a coherent and (almost!) believable narrative. Whether I succeeded or not…you will have to decide that. Speaking for myself, these are two of my personal favorites of all my books.
What readers say about Rift in Time
AMAZON REVIEWER
RIVETING!
Michael Phillips has written a page turner that will keep you reading late into the night! He incorporates adventure, intrigue, and many heart stopping twists in his telling of this intriguing novel!
AMAZON REVIEWER
A Fascinating Trek!!!
When my Mom read this book aloud to my siblings and me, we always begged her not to put it down! If you keep reading til the end, it will invariably make you think deeply about science and spirituality. The author artfully approaches a whole new way of thinking about traditional Biblical archaeology that will blow you away!