My heart goes out to all of the families of those lost in Friday’s tragic shootings in Paris. But I have to say I am not surprised at the attack reportedly by Islamic State or ISIS backed terrorists. I have thought for a long time that there needs to be more action – on the part of the United States and the world – to attempt to wipe out the Islamic State terrorist regime before they grow too big…and I just hope we’re not doing too little too late. I have always felt a little cursed (although I should say blessed!) to be driven by these issues – usually ideas that form and then eerily end up coming true – when it comes to my writing; my first novel originally involved bio-warfare by Iraqi terrorists (it was never published because ironically the New York agency that was supposed to represent the work was affected by 9-11 ), my first published novel, The Faithful One, involves the protagonist’s daughter being trapped and abused in Syria (and then Syria became a very dangerous place, especially for women), and my upcoming novel being released early next year (although in the making for three years), The Runaway Prophet, entails an Islamic State mafia overtaking Las Vegas and planting a nuclear weapon under one of the casinos. It’s a modern-day story based on the Book of Jonah in the Bible and Las Vegas represents the new Nineveh. Unfortunately, while God spared the people of Nineveh when they repented in Jonah, the sinful city was eventually destroyed. Yes, it’s fiction and I have to admit when I wrote it I hoped it would remain as such…but now with the latest horror in Paris, I’m afraid this type of invasion very well could happen – if it’s not happening already. We need to keep praying and asking our leaders in government to step up and take more action – before it’s too late. We also need to stay hopeful that God has a plan - for us, for Paris, for the world – and remain steadfast in our faith in Him. As it says in Jonah, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs…Salvation comes from the Lord.”
