(Chap. 5)

LEAK:  I like the way Zach gets to tell his parents and ask permission to continue the journey.  How different this is from most of today’s literature for young people.

SWANSON:  I didn’t start out actually writing for young people or with any set ‘rules of engagement’.  When I write, the values I hold as important automatically emerge in the narrative.  All writing whether it be fiction, non-fiction or journalistic, is done within the framework of a particular mindset.  The truths or untruths we hold to in the deepest part of our being will color what we write.  This is easily seen by reading accounts of the same incident in papers or journals with different points of view ie Conservative or Liberal; Republican or Democrat; Christian or Secular.
My background and milieu is Christian, therefore, when I write about family, I write with the Christian cultural bias.  Zach does not hesitate to involve his family in his decisions and respects their right to judge his actions.

LEAK: How did you come up with the ‘time warp’?

SWANSON: Well, there had to be a reason why the crooks stole the Great Bell.  Somehow they were told what would happen if it was rung in this dimension and prepared for that phenomenon by being in place near Fort Knox when it was rung. (This bit of info comes in the next book.)  I had to determine what the effect of its ringing would be.  If time is a different entity in Windfallow, then it stands to reason that time mgith be distorted in this one.  You know, it might be fun to explore just what effect the bells really have on the fallowfolk.  We know they promote a feeling of peace and fellowship, but they also must have other powers.  Good heavens, more books!

LEAK:  Why had Sparrow and Stilts never seen Angari in the form he appeared to the Thomas’?

SWANSON:  I don’t know why I had him appear like this when I first wrote the book.  But as I look at the ‘rules’ of the books, I rather think he would automatically appear differently on Earth than on Windfallow.  Not in his ‘glorified’ state as he would at the Festival of the Bells but in a more majestic state as sometimes the angels appear in scripture.  At this time when Stilts asks why they never see him like this, he explains that if the Alari were to remain in this form, the fallowfolk would try to worship them and their reason for existence would be compromised.  As all angels do, they eternally point to Creator/Maker as the only One worthy of worship.

(Chap. 6)

LEAK:  I love this chapter!  Were you worried about introducing Archangels that are actually mentioned in the Bible?

SWANSON:  As a matter of fact, I was.  I never want to put anything in my books that might distort Scripture.  I tried to be careful not to give a more detailed description of them than could be found there.  To put them in the books in small doses perhaps piques the curiosity of the reader to find out more about them.

LEAK:  You leave out a lot of back story on the car trip John Thomas’ family takes to get to Oklahoma.  Don’t you think that would add to the tension?

SWANSON:  It might.  On the other hand it might also slow the story down and describe things the reader can supply on his own.  I hope I gave enough material to let the reader fill in his own details, implying in the remarks made by John Thomas and the others who came that they were somehow ‘directed’ to this place.

LEAK: I noticed, too, that one of those who arrived to pray was a priest.  Could you give a bit of explanation of why you do not denominations or Churches in this series?

SWANSON: I did not purposely withhold information about the denominational backgrounds, but it became a ‘rule’ of the books that Christians were Christians regardless of their denominational affiliation if any.  I believe that God looks at the hearts of all believers and it us up to Him to judge their level of obedience.  Above all, I do not want to be ‘preachy’.  Living or writing an example of life lived in obedience to God is my idea of witnessing.

(Chap. 7)

LEAK:  Great!  Very complete ending!  I can hear the sweetness of the bells as I read.  Makes me wonder if the Alari must always live on Windfallow or if they can go back and forth to Heaven like the Earth angels do?

SWANSON:  Thanks.  I’ve added a few paragraphs to the new version, bringing the Thomas’ back in again.  Hmmmm, you bring up a good thought.  Evidently they have a limited access to Heaven.  They can communicate with the angels from earth, and in a later book Angari carries a fallowman, who was killed by earth crooks, to the Eternal Plane or what we know as Heaven.  So there is interaction between them.  But it would appear from the response of the Alari t the Festival of the Bells, that their glorified state is a surprise to them as well as the fallowfolk.  Perhaps they gave up their glory to become servants, as the Maker’s Son did on Earth.  Thanks for making me think of that!
I’m glad you enjoyed the first book of the Windfallow Chronicles.  See you in the next!