Interview with Brennan McPherson Author of Flood

What if the story of Noah and the ark isn't what you thought it was? What if, instead of being a story about God's judgment, it's actually one of the most powerful illustrations of God's mercy? 

Read FLOOD today to see God's mercy unveiled in a visionary retelling of the story of the worldwide flood. . . 
Nearly two thousand years after Adam and Eve eat death into existence, the flavor still echoes in their descendants' tongues. War is sweeping the world from the iron throne of a man who calls himself the God-King.
Caught in the crucible is a young family broken by loss and carried along by the prophecies spoken over the infant boy who fits in their hands.
Will little Noah grow to be the savior the world needs? Or will bending his bow come easier than bending his knee to the God who holds his destiny?

 

Beginning before Noah is born and continuing on until the world is washed clean, FLOOD is a stunning story about family and forgiveness in a world filled with pain. 

Brennan McPherson has always wanted to tell stories, but it wasn’t until his junior year in college that he built up the nerve to try. Now he writes dark biblical fiction with a fantasy twist that puts flesh on some of the most well-recognized characters of all time. Brennan is married to his best friend, works full time at a small nonprofit, and plays the drums in his spare time. Visit him at brennanmcpherson.com, where he blogs on the intersection of art and faith.

Pick up your copy here...
https://www.amazon.com/Flood-Story-Noah-Family-Raised/dp/0692953531/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509851546&sr=8-2&keywords=flood+by+brennan+McPherson


Welcome Brennan...


1) What inspired you to write the book Flood?
 
 
I had some friends in college who denied the God of the Bible because they couldn’t reconcile the God that they viewed as a “terrible despot” in Genesis 6-9 with the “God of mercy” in the New Testament. They just couldn’t imagine how the flood could be seen as merciful, and thereby viewed the entire Bible as irreconcilable with itself. So, I applied my imagination to conjure just one potential scenario in which God could be seen as merciful for sending the Flood. Obviously, because we know basically nothing about that time period, it’s highly speculative, and we shouldn’t take it too seriously. The point is that if we can imagine just one scenario, can’t we trust that the God of the universe had good reasons for what he was doing? They call it the Christian “faith” for a reason, after all. . . My dad often asks skeptics, “Do you know 90% of everything?” Of course, if they’re honest (or at least not perfectly self-absorbed), they’ll answer, “No.” He follows that up with, “Alright, if you don’t know 90% of everything, can’t you assume that the answer you’re seeking is hidden somewhere in the 90% you don’t know?”

 

 

2) How far after the Flood does the book look into Noah's life?

 

FLOOD begins before Noah’s parents meet and continues on until the world is washed clean and Noah offers his sacrifice to the Lord (and God thereby establishes his covenant with Noah, and with the world).

 

3) Would you say Genesis is your favorite book of the Bible?

 

Possibly! It’s certainly an extremely important book of the Bible. And because it contains so many layers of poetic beauty in the original Hebrew, it’s also one of the most fascinating books to study in great detail. We Westerners think we know Genesis. . . until we start studying the original Hebrew. Most of our modern views of Genesis are so far off it’s not even funny. I heard a sermon the other day of a woman teaching (from a pulpit!) that Noah was commanded to take “pre-eaten” food onto the ark, which is just straight lunacy. Additional errant ideas (that you literally can’t find in the Bible) are the ideas that Noah’s family was mocked for their belief in a pending flood, that rain never happened before the flood, or that Noah and his family were the only ones to labor on the ark. These are simply imagined, yet have been propagated as truth from the pulpit.

 

4) Tell us a little about your family?

I’ve been married for 6 glorious years to the most talented and wonderful person on the planet, and it’s been just a little over a year since we had our first daughter, Willow. My wife and I originally met through music. I used to be a full-time touring drummer, and she’s an extremely talented vocalist and songwriter. But this music video made of Instagram videos of Willow’s first year of life says it better than I ever could (my wife wrote the song to announce her pregnancy, and she and I sang the song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSGhW4zdBJ8 

 

5) If you could have one superpower what would it be and why that superpower?

 

To make food appear automatically and immediately. Solve world hunger? Check. Not have to wait 30 mins for that steak you ordered? Check. What’s missing? And don’t even get me started on unlimited donuts.

 

6) Share with my blog readers what you are writing now.

 

I’m writing a fantasy parable based on Psalm 23. It’s actually going to be part of a collaborative multi-author project called The Psalm Series (novella project).

 

7) Since we are talking about Noah do you have any pets? If so share a little about them.

 

We have a cat, Sasha, and sadly just suffered the painful loss of our second cat, Jazz, a couple weeks ago—we were very close to him so it’s still pretty raw feeling. :/ My wife and I love animals. I grew up in a hunting family (my dad even owns Mathews Inc., the world’s largest archery equipment manufacturer), but I’ve never found much joy in shooting animals. Just couldn’t get into it. I suppose my dad was right when he thought Disney’s Bambi would ruin me. J Though my books contain violence, I’m firmly and completely ANTI-violence in every way, and only include violence to show how terrible it really is.

 

8) Tell my blog readers where they can keep up with you.

  

The best way is to subscribe to my email newsletter (you’ll get a free e-book prequel, titled ADAM: The Mirror of the Almighty, when you sign up! And I DON’T spam. But I do like giving free content away, and curate it frequently.): https://brennanmcpherson.com/free-e-book/ 

 

OH--and here are some of the endorsements FLOOD has received so far I want to share with your blog readers: 

"Flood is a supernatural journey into a world that is only evil all the time and must be saved by God's merciful judgment. A soul-searching, heart-rending, deeply-satisfying story. McPherson taps our imaginations to consider what Noah, his family, and their lives might have been like before the Flood. Many of my questions about Genesis 5-9 now have a place to rest in this well-researched fiction. -Mesu Andrews, ECPA Book of the Year award winning author of Love Amid Ashes, and Miriam

"A tale as enjoyable as it is immersive. With Flood, Brennan McPherson proves himself worthy of telling a story as old as time in a bold and fresh way." -Billy Coffey, critically acclaimed author of When Mockingbirds Sing

 

"How do you take a centuries old story and put a new spin on it, inviting readers into an evocative world they thought they already knew? Brennan McPherson figured out the way. Flood will entertain you yes, but also take you deep into your soul and make you ponder both the vastness and intimacy of God." -James L. Rubart, Christy Book of the Year winning author of The Five Times I Met Myself