HAPPY RELEASE DAY to Andrew Stone and his debut novel Son of the Father! Please join me in welcoming him to the blog today!
Andrew Stone has lived all his life in the United Kingdom. He is an ordained minister of religion who has experience of working in broadcasting and journalism. He is married to Alison and they have three grown-up sons.
You can connect with Andrew on Facebook.
GENRE: Inspirational/Speculative Historical Fiction
PUBLISHER: Ambassador International
RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2019
PAGES: 296
Some debts are impossible to pay.
Son of the Father is a creative storytelling of Barabbas, the man released in the hours leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion.
Long before his life is traded for Jesus’, Barabbas’ family is ruined, a consequence of his own rage. Consumed with guilt he resolves to put things right, but this seems an impossible task. Huge debts, a man bent on revenge, theft, and murder hang above his head.
As Barabbas struggles to atone and restore his family’s honor and to bring himself out of poverty, he meets the new religious teacher. Barabbas can’t bring himself to trust this wandering preacher even though his family follows Him, until Barabbas’ life is spared, costing more than he thought possible.
In this thought-provoking and gripping novel by debut author Andrew Stone, readers will discover a much deeper meaning as the lives of Barabbas and Jesus intertwine between the pages and weave a story of love and sacrifice.
Hi Andrew! Welcome to the blog!
Andrew: Apples: It avoids all the sticky fingers that come with peeling oranges
Carrie: Very true! (And they are tastier)
Andrew: Carrie, I think you’re a dog person, but they’re just too needy for me. I prefer a cat’s independent nature.
Carrie: haha fair enough … but you’re wrong 😉
Andrew: Surely it has to be both! Soup and a sandwich go together like bacon and eggs, fish and chips and tea and cake (is it obvious yet that I’m from the UK?)
Carrie: I agree – it’s hard to separate these two (or the other things you mentioned …. and yes, fish and chips gave you away just before tea and cake did haha!)
Andrew: Always a print book for me. I did try ebooks for a while, and they are handy if you’re reading a really big book, but I love the feel of a proper book in my hands and seeing how far I am through it.
Carrie: I love holding a print book, too, but ebooks make traveling with books so much easier!
Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
Andrew: Remembering the football team the people I meet support. That’s soccer not American Football, by the way. I can forget a person’s name, what they do for a living or even how I met them, but if they’ve told me what ‘their’ team is I nearly always remember it.
Carrie: How fun! (and by the way, my husband’s team is Liverpool ♥ )
Q: When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?
Andrew: The new releases. My wife, Alison, and I can’t walk past a book shop (or even the book shelves at a supermarket) without stopping to have a look. When you visit that often, the new releases are the only books you’ve not already seen.
Carrie: Very good point! Meet the new arrivals first and then go visit old friends 🙂
Q: Do you have any strange writing habits/quirks? Any snacks/beverages that are a must when you sit down to write?
Andrew: Before I sit down to write, I always decide what time I’m going to finish writing and I have something definite I’m going to do afterwards. I think it helps to keep me focused especially as sometimes I’ll have given myself a certain numbers of words I want to write as well! As far as snacks and beverages are concerned, there’s nothing specific, but I’m always more likely to pick something sugary and sweet than anything else!
Carrie: That’s a great tip for focus!
Q: Did you have the whole plot outlined before you started writing Son of the Father, or did you let the characters dictate what came next?
Andrew: When I started the book I knew where the story began, where it would finish and what would happen in the middle. Getting from one stage to the next was a journey of discovery and some of the twists even took me by surprise.
Carrie: That keeps it fresh and alive for the readers, too, I think…
Q: What do you most want readers to take away from Son of the Father?
Andrew: At the end of my book I include an author’s note. One of the things I say in that is that nobody is beyond being reached by God’s love. I hope the whole book gives that message.
Carrie: Amen to that ♥
Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.
Andrew: I really don’t know. I’m the editor of a magazine in the UK, so I’ll be continuing to work on that. I do have another book project in mind as well, but that’s a little way off yet.
Ambassador International is giving away an ebook copy of Son of the Father to one of my readers! (Open internationally, except where prohibited by law.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.
What about you? What interests you most about this book?
What interests me most about the book is the perspective from which it’s told. It’s an interesting finish to the story of a man who is only mentioned once in the Bible.
i agree
I am interested in reading this book because I have never given much thought to what happened to Barabbas after he was released.
“No is beyond being reached by God’s love.” That perspective right there has sold me on this book, even though I am already interested.
yay!
Loved the author interview! This looks like a really interesting book, definitely a different perspective!
Thanks for offering the giveaway!!
I always wondered how Barabbas felt afterwards. Did his life change? Was he even aware of what happened?
i’ve wondered that too, Sonnetta!