James L. Rubart’s novels entertain readers while challenging
them to reexamine their own lives. Soul’s Gate (Thomas
Nelson) explores healing from
our deepest wounds and embracing God’s calling for our lives — challenges that
often have a strong hold over us.
Soul’s Gate poses the question: what if you could travel inside
another person’s soul? What if you could battle for them and be a part of
Jesus healing their deepest wounds? Thirty years ago, that’s exactly what Reece
Roth did—until tragedy shattered his life and ripped away his destiny. Now God
has drawn Reece out of the shadows to fulfill a decades-old prophecy about four
warriors with the potential to change the world. In order to fulfill God’s
plan, Reece will have to face his deepest regret in order to train them.
Q: What drew you to write supernatural fiction?
From the moment I read The Chronicles of Narnia in 7th grade I’ve been
enthralled by supernatural and fantastic stories. Toni Morrison says, “If
there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written
yet, then you must write it.” That’s what I’ve done and why I’m writing
supernatural fiction.
I love been swept away by a story that goes beyond ordinary,
everyday life, and gives me hope and opens my mind to ideas I’d never dreamed
possible, and that’s what I desire to do for readers.
Q: For those who may be asking, “What is supernatural fiction?”
how would you explain the genre?
The term “Supernatural fiction” is a huge umbrella covering
multiple sub-genres, so let me answer the question for my particular brand of
fiction: For me it’s taking ordinary contemporary settings and interjecting the
extraordinary into them. If you look at the Bible, it’s full of science
fiction, fantasy, and speculative type stories. The difference is the tales in
the Bible are true. What I do is take those fantastic things in the Bible and
turn them into a story in our modern world.
Q: Where do your ideas come from?
Everywhere and anywhere. From headlines, other books, a line
spoken by a friend, movies, and a hundred other ways. And most of the time I’ll
hear or read something and the story pops into my head unannounced. I never go
looking for an idea, they always seem to find me.
Q: Is Reece a human with special God-given powers or is he an
angel?
Great question because he’s neither. At first glance he does
seem to have extraordinary powers no one else has, but Reece believes anyone
can have these powers, and he’s wants to teach them to others so they can use
them too.
Q: What is the main “take away” you hope readers will hold on to
after reading Soul’s Gate?
Freedom, freedom, freedom. I think if you look at an author’s
work as a whole you’ll see a repeating theme in all their novels. My core theme
is seeing people set free. Freedom from their past, freedom from their
brokenness, freedom to step into their God designed destiny. I want people to
finish Soul’s Gate and be more free than when they picked it up.
Q: What can readers look forward to in the rest of the Well
Spring series?
You
won’t tell anyone, right? Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and set the
captives free (Isaiah 61:1). And yet we have an enemy that has come to kill,
steal, and destroy (John 10:10). In the next two books of the Well Spring
series, that battle intensifies as Reece and the others fight to fulfill a
prophecy that puts them at the forefront of a war that will either bring
incredible freedom, or destroy everything they and everyone around them cares
about.
Q&A provided by Litfuse Publicity Group