INFERNAL GATES - Michael J Webb - One Free ebook

Bio: Michael J. Webb graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida and obtained his J. D. from the same university.  Over the past forty years he has travelled the world in search of adventure.

He is a history buff, both ancient and modern, and is fascinated by the intersection of the scientific, supernatural, and Biblical world views, and has studied and taught from the Bible extensively for more than twenty-five years. He is also intrigued by recent discoveries in quantum physics that are now providing extraordinary insights into the reality of the spirit realm, especially as it relates to the study of Light.  He incorporates all of the above into his supernatural thrillers.

Michael and his wife make their home in North Carolina.

Welcome back, Michael. Why do you write the kind of books you do?

Someone once said, "Inside every fat book is a thin book trying to get out . . ." I can't help myself--I write "fat" books! I've tried to write books under one hundred thousand words, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to lose the weight.

My very first novel started out at over two hundred thousand words—and became a trilogy. I've tried writing short stories, and they turn into novellas. I've tried novellas and they turn into full-blown novels. I'm a hopeless lover of deep characterization and back story, lots of action, and page-turning plots, something nearly impossible for me to do in less than one hundred thousand words.

I'm a storyteller at heart, and I love entertaining readers with pulse-pounding action, flawed—but intriguing—characters, and fascinating plots that have my readers asking, "How did he come up with that?" My tagline is "stories that ignite imaginations and stir souls..." I like to get people thinking about the world they live in from a very different perspective than they are used to, especially as it relates to the realm of the spirit, angels and demons, and the intersection of the biblical, scientific, and historical disciplines.

There is an ancient battle being fought around us on an hourly basis in the realm of the spirit. It regularly manifests in the natural, terrestrial realm, yet few people really understand the true nature of the battle. Hence, many perish for lack of knowledge. Like Toto in the Wizard of Oz, I love pulling back the curtain and exposing "the wizard" for who he is—a short, balding, fat man from Kansas! That’s not to say the wizard doesn’t have power, he does. But with the proper weapons of warfare we may lose a few battles, but we ultimately win the war. I like to think that in some small way my stories have the potential to function like the red pill Nero took in The Matrix—we awaken and discover just how deep the rabbit hole is. Once that happens, like Nero, we are accountable for our knowledge.

Nevertheless, while all of my suspense thrillers, including Infernal Gates, have the purpose of provoking my readers to examine their belief system, at their core I hope they are simply good stories, the kind that keep you turning pages long after the sun goes down and make you wish there was more to read once you've finished. My heart is to figuratively serve up a ten-course meal with each new story I tell and leave my readers hungry for their next serving.

Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a place in this world for short stories, novellas, and novels under a hundred thousand words. I just won't be writing them anytime soon.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life?

The day I married my beautiful, Proverbs 31 wife.

How has being published changed your life?

It hasn’t yet. I’m still working hard to get to the point where I can write full time. Once that happens, I’ll be comfortable saying my life has changed.

What are you reading right now?

Here’s what is sitting on my desk next to my computer:

The Source Field Investigations by David Wilcock

Beneath the Pyramids by Andrew Collins

The Genius of the Few by Christian O’Brien

Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers by Bryan Mark Rigg

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Writing 21st Century Fiction by my agent Don Maass

Genes, Giants, Monsters, and Men by Joseph Farrell

DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman, M.D.

Forbidden Gates by Tom Horn

The Thrones of our Souls by Paul Keith Davis.

What is your current work in progress?

Devil’s Cauldron. A follow up to my newly released thriller, Infernal Gates. A good part of the action takes place in Antarctica, a place I’m fascinated with and a place that’s on my “bucket list” to visit. It is sort of a parallel universe meets Dan Brown kind of historical conspiracy meets the occult meets angels and demons battling for the souls of mankind.

           

Here’s a teaser from the Prologue:

It is a sunny, crystal clear, late Southern California afternoon, and something wicked is brewing deep within the bowels of the old house.

The house is large, imposing, and very expensive, one of the many pre-war mansions dating from the turn of the century that line South Orange Grove Avenue like guardians of another time and place. To the casual observer there is nothing obvious to suggest that anything is out of the ordinary at the two-story home located on a quiet, typically American street that has come to be known by locals as Millionaire’s Row.

The only portent of evil hovering over the stately home like a ravenous predator is an odd blue-grey haze that suddenly appears just before five p.m. and swiftly shrouds the San Gabriel Mountains overlooking the city, obscuring the pristine-white snow-capped peaks . . .

What would be your dream vacation?

I have more than one! J Lately, my wife and I have been talking about doing an extended Alaska trip, combining a cruise, a long train ride, and a stay at a remote-star wilderness lodge.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

I start with a rough idea of the plot. Then I do a great deal of research. In the process, I discover locales that are pertinent to the action sequences. I look for places that fascinate me and hope they will be interesting to readers. For the most part, the core action of my stories determines locations and I expand upon that.

In the book I’m working on now, for instance, I knew before I started writing that the last quarter of the book would unfold in Antarctica.

I love reading about exotic locations in thrillers by other authors, and I hope my readers enjoy the interesting and sometimes unique locales I use for settings.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?

Benjamin Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu is God’s chosen man for this hour in Israel. We are the generation that will experience the return of Jesus Christ, and soon the entire world’s attention will be focused on events unfolding in Israel and the Middle East. As God’s Divine plan continues to unfold at breakneck speed, with its climax racing toward us at the speed of a freight train, Israel will more and more take center stage. Jerusalem, God’s holy city, and the apple of His eye, has been—and will continue to be—a stumbling block to the unbelieving nations of the world. God made a covenant promise with Abraham that He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.

I would love to sit down one-on-one and pick Mr. Netanyahu’s brain about his perspective of current events in the Middle East, his vision for Israel, and what he sees unfolding in the next few years.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading?

My wife and I love to travel, both for ministry and fun. We have numerous places on our bucket list to visit: Iceland, Australia/New Zealand, and Chile. I want to visit Antarctica, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and to the Base Camp on Everest. We love to snorkel, and our favorite place to get away from it all is St. Johns in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We also enjoy hiking, and I love horseback riding, although I don’t get to do it often. We are “foodies” who love to try new and different restaurants and cuisines, and going to movies.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

I don’t really have a particular writing obstacle I wrestle with, except lack of time to write all the stories rolling around in my head. Outside of that, my biggest challenge right now is getting the word out to large numbers of people that I have five thrillers published and one non-fiction book and finding key influencers to help me spread the word. Consequently, I spend much more time marketing that I would like. I’m two years into a five year plan. In three years my goal is to be writing full time. I have a lot of stories I want to tell and have always desired to get highly compensated for doing the thing I absolutely enjoy—writing. I also love to teach, and part of my business plan is to use the successful and full-time author platform, once I achieve that, as a springboard for travelling and teaching.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Be clear about why you write and who your audience is. Become knowledgeable about your craft and the market. Be passionate about your writing. Seek out those who can help you succeed whenever and wherever possible (writing is ultimately a very solitary habit). Do whatever it takes to refine your craft and tell a great story with memorable characters. Read my agent Don Maass’, book, The Fire in Fiction, to learn about the extraordinary power of “micro-tension,” and Writing 21st Century Fiction to understand where fiction is headed in the next few years.

Last, but not least: “Never, never, never, ever give up” (courtesy of Winston Churchill.) Speak those words over yourself in those dark moments of the soul when you feel there is no point in writing another word. Keep writing what you believe in and have a passion to share with others—and trust God to do the rest.

Tell us about the featured book.

Ethan Freeman, ex-Special Forces Ranger, wakes up to discover he is the sole survivor of a fiery commercial airline crash that killed his entire family. His nightmare is only beginning when he becomes the FBI’s prime suspect. Only Ethan knows he’s not a cold-hearted murderer, but he has no idea what happened to him—and why he alone survived.

He finds an unlikely ally in Sam Weaver, the NTSB Chief Investigator. An ex-military pilot, Sam senses Ethan is innocent. She tries to remain dispassionate in her investigation of the crash even as she finds herself attracted to the man who may be America=s worst homegrown mass-murderer.

Neither Ethan nor Sam realize that shadowy spiritual forces are at work which will alter their lives forever.

A monstrous evil, imprisoned since the time of the Pharaohs, has been released by The Nine, a sinister group of powerful men and women who believe they are the direct descendants of the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian gods. The demon they have unleashed intends to free The Destroyer from The Abyss, the angelic prison referred to in the Book of Revelation, and unleash a worldwide reign of terror and annihilation.

Facing impossible odds, time is running out for Ethan and all of humanity as he is drawn into an ever-deeper conspiracy—millennia in the making—and learns that he is the key to stopping The Nine.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Less than ten minutes before we’re all dead, thought Ethan Freeman, and there is nothing I can do about it!

The stricken A320 Airbus—originally bound for St. Thomas and now limping back to Charlotte, North Carolina—shuddered like a bird suffering a mortal wound, then shook violently. Shouting and screaming from the rear of the plane drowned out the prayer of the older couple seated in front of them, “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come—”

Lisa, Ethan’s wife, sobbed beside him.

Across the aisle his eighteen year-old son, Josh, yelled, “Dad—are we going to crash?”

“No, son,” he lied. “We-are-not-going-to-crash.”

Megan, his sixteen year-old daughter, seated next to her brother, screamed, “The engine is on FIRE!”

Lisa clung to the seat arms so hard her fingers turned white and whimpered, “We’re all going to die—just like Greg,” then moaned, “I don’t want to die—”

Ethan reached for his wife’s hand as a thunderous explosion shook the plane and slammed him against the window, knocking breath out of him. He cried out in agony as the palm of his right hand was sliced open by a jagged metal clasp sticking up on the arm rest between him and Lisa. Blood gushed out of the ugly-looking wound and splattered the back of the seat in front of him.

The plane banked hard to the right and the nose suddenly pointed toward the ground, six miles below, as if the commercial airliner was being plucked from the cloudless, crystal blue heavens by a giant unseen hand. Ethan glanced toward the rear of the aircraft. A gaping hole replaced the emergency exit. Loose debris disappeared violently out of the plane—and there were at least two rows of seats missing!

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Social Media and Buy Links:

Connect with Michael J. Webb:

Website: http://www.michaeljwebbfiction.com/

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/P2CLn1

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MichaelJWebbBooks

Infernal Gates: http://amzn.to/18HrDjY

The Oldest Enemy:

Book Video Trailer http://bit.ly/WkK5dL

Kindle http://amzn.to/RWyv4c

Nook http://bit.ly/ZJhymL

Paperback http://amzn.to/Rolsf1

GIANTS IN THE EARTH TRILOGY

The Master’s Quilt:

Kindle http://amzn.to/Z2SJQS

Nook http://bit.ly/17K2Qx4

The Nephilim Parchments:

Kindle http://amzn.to/10fON1N

Nook http://bit.ly/15qcOnZ

The Song of the Seraphim:

Kindle http://amzn.to/11gUNTD

Nook http://bit.ly/11mLqS8

Non-Fiction

In the Cleft of the Rock:

Insights into the Blood of Jesus, Resurrection Power and Saving the Soul:

Kindle http://amzn.to/17S6Aze

Nook http://bit.ly/GGBLBl

Paperback http://amzn.to/19V7CLM  

Thank you, Michael, for visiting with us today.

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