Latest / Books4Guys / Faith, Fantasy, and Purpose: Terrance Niedziela Jr. on Storytelling, Imagination, and Becoming Fire and Lightning

Transcript

Faith, Fantasy, and Purpose: Terrance Niedziela Jr. on Storytelling, Imagination, and Becoming Fire and Lightning · Books4Guys

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Before we jump into today's episode, I want to thank our executive development partner, Standard Pursuit.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: Founded by Hunter Didrickson, Standard Pursuit is a coaching community built for founders, entrepreneurs, and high performers who are ready to step into the next version of themselves.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Through one-on-one coaching and the Standard Training Club, Hunter helps people strengthen both their physical and mental operating systems so they can think more clearly, lead more effectively, and perform at a higher level.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things I appreciate most about what Hunter is building is that he understands success isn't just about business.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's about health, mindset, discipline, leadership, and becoming the type of person capable of achieving the goals you set for yourself.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to sharpen your performance, improve your habits, and operate at a higher level both personally and professionally, I encourage you to check out StandardPursuit at standardpursuit.com.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's get to today's episode.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, cool.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: I was out there, uh Hilton Head uh area last summer for a golf trip.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to live in Atlanta, and uh so kind of close to South Carolina, um, in Tennessee now, but I love all the southern states, so I love traveling through there.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know how long you've lived there.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: I saw where you uh sounds like you were born and then went to school in Wisconsin for a while.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: When did you when did you get to South Carolina?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: 14 years ago.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's you now.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so my uh um I met my wife through her best friend um who had uh we went to a wedding.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was like her brother's wedding or whatever.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so I met the best friend, long story short, and then I got an email from the best friend who said I talked to my best friend about you, and she really wants to get to know you.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now my wife Shauna says she never said that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, you know, and of course her memory is perfect, right?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, but anyway, so there was a little bit of set upage going on, and I because Shauna was trying to get the best friend interested in me, and then supposedly Shauna was interested.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then we long distance dated for two and a half years.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And when we finally got engaged, she was like, I am not moving to the land of ice and snow.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: She was she was born and grew up in uh uh Florida, and then family moved to South Carolina, where she spent most of her growing up years and college years and stuff.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so I left everything on April Fool's Day of 2012, and the joke has been on South Carolina ever since.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we got married in August of 2012, so we're coming up on uh 14 years of marriage.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: Man, well, congratulations to that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: My wife and I, we we did a long distance thing for a long time too, but um we're we're actually living in the city now that we met in, so that's kind of a cool story too.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll be celebrating our fourth year uh in July, so that'll be keeping up and uh nice, yeah.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: But that's awesome, man.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's really cool.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I don't once once you're born and raised kind of in the warm weather area, it's really hard to head up north.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm sure people do it.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm one of those two.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, I got a line that I just don't think I could cross.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that that first summer I was here, I had heat sickness like four times.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it hits different, especially in the southeast.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so like I came down here and my mother-in-law, uh, her husband had passed away a few years before my wife had met me.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: So there was a lot of stuff, you know, that needed a man's, you know, like, and I'm not saying that to be sexist, but like cutting down trees and all those things that, you know, more of the big manual labor heavy lifting stuff.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so she hired me, and I spent like two weeks clearing trees and brush and the vines that are up the wazoo.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like I have never seen so many vines or like thick vines in my life.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: What is going on with this place?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the jungle.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I worked the way I was taught to work quickly, efficiently, hard.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't know anything about the summer and heat and and what it would do to me.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it was it was bad.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Brutal.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Brutal.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I get that.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I like I said before we kick this thing off, man.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Super cool to meet you.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I've got your book posted on the Books for Guys website.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, excited to spotlight and expect just to learn, excited to learn more about you and just just your story, because it seems like you grew up really enjoying reading and writing, and you've been in education, teaching young guys or people, your teacher, English teacher, I think I saw.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And man, you just with Books for Guys platform, a lot of my mission is just to encourage young people, young guys especially, to kind of kickstart that curiosity journey a little bit earlier, critically thinking as we live in this world now of so many distractions.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure you're you see it firsthand, just trying to keep the attention of young people and teach them and guide them.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: I can only imagine the patience you've got to have.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but Terrence, tell your story a little bit.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: You just just kind of how you grew up.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Why, like who influenced you as far as motivating you to read and and ride, and and how did that lifelong passion lead over into your new book?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Man, how do you put almost 47 years of life into like a couple sentences?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so oh, and there goes my dogs.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: I hear him, yeah, yeah.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Barking at somebody passing by.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so uh I'm the oldest of six kids.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: My family didn't have a lot of money.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um so you know, we were kind of on the lower end of the poverty scale and stuff.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but grew up in a very ultra-conservative Christian home.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, going to church, reading the Bible, stuff like that.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was homeschooled until third grade, and the curriculum that my my parents used was heavy into reading, things like that, you know.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd I'd read my Bible and uh was fascinated with this ancient world and just what God was doing in it and everything like that, and going to church and and things.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And but when I got to third grade, they tested me and they found out that I had an eighth grade reading level.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I went into third grade being able to read a novel that thick in a day like it was nothing.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, what little piddly books I could find at the doctor's office, whatever, just for whatever reason, I was drawn to it.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and as a child of the 80s and 90s, of course, you have all the different movies, cartoons.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the best cartoons were in the 80s and 90s, uh, but I'm kind of partial.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but the the action, the adventure, the uh I love chivalry.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: As you can see, I got the swords, you know.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have another one sitting right here.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I actually cut myself on that on this sword, but I'm not, that's a different story.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh daggers and stuff posted up on my walls and chivalry stuff all over.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: But um, and so like all of that stuff for it's just the way God wired me.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I can't explain it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in fact, for the longest time, I thought I was a man out of time.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm like, I thought I was born I was born in the wrong century.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Give me a sword instead of a gun any day.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: No, I can shoot because I grew up in the up, you know, the north woods of Wisconsin, you know, so I'm very good with all that kind of stuff.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: But horses love to ride horses and all those things and armor and and and all that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I discovered one of the coolest places of all time.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And my middle school students roll their eyes at me, like, yeah, right, whatever.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'd rather be on my phone scroll, doom scrolling TikTok.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: But the library.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in fact, uh, the thicker books in my elementary school library were right along the hallway because there was no wall.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: It was just you have the hall and then this vast room that was connected to that was all open, it was a library.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so as I'd walk by, I'd just look at at the titles.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and so because my my teacher, Miss Tyler, who was awesome, uh she saw that I had this gift with reading, um, she took me aside and I was part of a small group that did great books.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like literature, and you go through and you have this book that you read and you talk about it and critical thinking and stuff.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So she's one of the first people who really taught me about critical thinking, you know, not taking stuff at face value.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and then during my recess time, sometimes I'd be outside playing and dodging bullies and and all that kind of stuff, um or getting roughed up.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: But I'd be in the library.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'd actually sneak into the library and all I would do is just wander the stacks and look, and I'd go in the little kids section, read some of the picture books because those were interesting to me.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: But a lot of it was just grabbing books.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I would just read and I would read and I'd read and I'd read.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And when I got to fourth grade, uh was when I first started writing really seriously, like, I'm gonna write a book.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and some of it was for on my own, and some of it was just uh for assignments and things like that.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like one of the first like books that I wrote was about this guy who gets washed up on this island where all of these like amethyst jewel crystals and everything's made of amethyst, and he I think gets turned into a mouse.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he's got like armor and amethyst bladed sword, and he fights this evil and and wins the day and whatever.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it was great, it was awesome.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: I loved it.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the weird thing is, is all those years I still remember most of the story, which is crazy.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like my brain is just I remember those things.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I I started writing another book, and it was like an alternate timeline type of thing where King David was fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar, you know, hundreds of years apart, but in my mind, it worked.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it was all about just glorifying God.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: God is awesome.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Look at his awesome power.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I started writing it in my reading teacher, because I had different teachers for reading, um, she actually had me get up and read what I had written in front of the class.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that was like, I loved it.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was cool.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was sharing what I was creating, and they were like, oh, this is amazing.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then I told what I actually it was my dad.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: I went to my dad and I read to him what what he had said, and he kind of tore it down.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: He was like, if you're gonna write anything from the Bible, write strictly from the Bible, don't, you know.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he missed the point of what I was trying to do.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: But the the harshness of his criticism, the way he delivered it, I tore it up and said I would never let him read anything I wrote ever again.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um my parents divorced when I was in fifth grade.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: That was horrible.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um and but I was my father's right hand because I was the oldest.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I had certain privileges and things like that.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the oldest had this oldest kids of the six of us had to decide who we were gonna live with.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I chose dad.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: And when dad and I were together, it was actually really great.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: We had a really good relationship for the most part and everything.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But then the second oldest, my brother Toby, he moved in and he was more like my dad.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the academic, the you know, hyperimaginative, whatever.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: But Toby is the hands-on outdoorsman, workman, look, you know, like my dad could look watch you do something and then could just do it.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm not that way at all.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that was when my dad's favoritism really was to the forefront.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so my relationship with my dad, the relationship with my brother started to deteriorate, especially the older I got.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as things got worse at school with bullying, things like that, my parents' divorce, um, and then what was going on with a lot of different other types of abuse and stuff in my family.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I got to the point by sixth grade, seventh grade where I was willing to just give up on a lot of stuff.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was starting to contemplate suicide, especially in high school.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was ready to give up on writing and everything like that.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And my seventh grade teacher, Miss Sapitus, that everyone said was actually a nun.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: She used to be a nun.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know, but you know how kids are.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: They make up weird stories about teachers.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um But she took me aside and she encouraged me in my writing.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And years later, I thanked her.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And she just gave me this weird look and she was like, I was just doing my job.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: But to me, it was that lifeline that God knew I needed.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that was when I really started diving into my writing, especially in high school.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I wrote and I wrote and I wrote a book.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: I started writing a book, and I had like a hundred and hundred, hundred and one pages double spaced written.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then the little hard cop uh hard uh disc memory disc that I had, uh floppy disk, it got a virus.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I could access the the book, but I couldn't copy it, I couldn't resave it anywhere or anything else like that.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: All I could I couldn't even change anything.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: All I could do was view it and print it.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: I should have asked first, but I didn't.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually used the school computer lab to print off all hundreds.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the teacher didn't like that.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: I learned a lesson about asking.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but again, that's one of those things where most of that story I still have up here, even though I eventually, in a fit of stupidity and hopelessness, just threw it all away.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I did that with some some other stories too that I wish I hadn't now.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my encouragement to anyone who's writing, right?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter your age group, uh if you're writing something, don't throw it away.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if it's filled with lots of trash and things like that, then yes, get rid of it.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: But even if it's like a really crappy dra uh draft, keep it because you can go back and you can fix it, you can take things from it for other stories or poems or or screenplays or what comics, whatever it is that you create, all right?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it because you never know when you're gonna need it.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so anyway, uh and so I just started writing and writing and writing.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I started college, um, I was in my late 20s.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I grew up thinking I was too stupid for high for college, definitely too poor.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know about financial aid and things like that.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was great.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: This poor guy could actually go to school.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but I had certain men and women who were like moms and dads to me.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: They filled in the gaps that my parents could because of their background and so on.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so they encouraged me, they taught me what it meant to be a man, a real man, not the posers that we see with all of the I'm gonna respond in violence to every little thing and and all of that kind of stuff.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh, I don't know on my end, but it's freezing a lot.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And am I cutting in out on you?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: I I can hear you clearly, and Riverside actually, it'll edit and record us separately.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: So when it puts it together, it'll be all clear.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll edit it to make it all smooth.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool, but you just wanted to check and make sure.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so anyway, um, so I had these men and women who taught me social skills, who taught me uh what healthy relationships were even like.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um and one of the one of the main ones was this guy named Bill.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, when I first met him, later on he told me this.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: I annoyed the living snap out of him.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like arrogant, pain in the butt that I was.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: But God told him, I want you to speak into this young guy's life.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm grateful because I would not be the man I am without what he did.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm very big into mentoring and discipling and and just older men teaching younger men.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's the way it's been for thousands of years.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And in our culture, unfortunately, that doesn't happen anymore.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why we have boys who don't know how to be a man.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: We have girls who don't know what it means to be a woman, you know.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I try and model that for my students um with mixed, you know, mixed success.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, um and so I had uh in my my reading, I've read literally tens of thousands of books, and that's not an exaggeration.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably way more than that.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hundreds of thousands, maybe, I don't even know.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: But um Western science fiction, fantasy, and of course, science fiction and fantasy are my two favorites, especially fantasy.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because dude, give me a sword.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but uh but mystery and um you know, just lots of different types of genre and and things like that.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um and all of these things fed into my creativity.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: They taught me structure.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um I majored in ancient Middle East history and minored in creative fiction writing when I did my undergrad.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then later on, my master's degree is in English and creative fiction writing, uh, you know, the fiction focus.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: So all of these things, going to writers' conferences, being mentored by established writers, uh, my writer mom, I call her my writer mom, Catherine, who's also my publisher, uh, and the head of the critique group that I'm a part of, they've she's helped me.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: All these people have helped me to grow, and they've all fed into uh helping me to be the writer that I become and I'm growing in.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of like 40-some years in a nutshell.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: Man, that's incredible.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like the one of the main things I was picking up there, Terrence, was just, and you're a teacher, I think that's so important, but just like how impactful a good teacher and mentor can be.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think about it all the time.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I was a punk kid, you know, I wasn't a bad kid, but I definitely tested the patience of some of my teachers too.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember like later in college and now professional life, like when I've when I've reached back out to them, just how good our relationship is, because I let them know just how much I appreciate them and I remember the things they taught me, I remember the things they put up with.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh, that was the point you were trying to make.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I get it now, you know.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kids have to learn, you know, through experience a lot of times.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: You can tell them, you know, whatever, but we we gotta learn it and then we'll we'll appreciate it later, unfortunately.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing, you know, with parents, all kinds of things.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: But it's really cool that you give some credit to some of those teachers and individuals that poured into you and allowed you to be who you wanted to be and allowed you to, you know, encouraged your passion for reading and learning and just writing.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I just think that's super cool.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because I I was kind of opposite.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like I liked reading, I didn't love it.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: I I wish I would have read more, and that's kind of the whole point of books for guys.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was like, man, this is so important.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: I wish I'd have read some of these books five, 10 years ago, like how much more I would know and what I could accomplish if I did know this stuff.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, even just through this, the last couple of years, like learning the importance of fiction and reading fiction and just like the creativity that gives you, and it it just it transpires into so many other areas of your life and profession, and you just don't know it at the time.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, so I'm I'm encouraging more of that fiction, which is really cool talking to you because that's what you write a lot of and um and what you're passionate about.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: But man, just a cool story, man.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: I just I love your passion for for what you enjoy, and that's really that's kind of the other point of books for guys is like dive into what you like, you know.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: I I was a sports guy, and my first books that I really got into were sports-related books, and that's great.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: That that was you know, and that led into business and finance, personal development, and then fiction and all this other stuff.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, man, I don't care what you read, just read what you like, you know.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to be a build a business?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Man, there's books for that.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to be a better writer?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: Man, there's books for that.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you want to be the best athlete.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: There's books on that, you know.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: So it's I just again, I'm I'm passionate about this just like you, and it's really cool to talk to someone who's pouring into young people and uh trying to make a difference there.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: But um, Terrence, with your with your new book, I think it's really cool.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: I want you to, I want you to say the title, I want you to say kind of more a little bit what it's about.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I I find it really cool that you have incorporated this fantasy storyline, but with a Christian foundation.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I grew up in church.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: My dad was a pastor, and uh, you know, so I read like um, oh, what were some of the books Left Behind?
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: I read some of these other books, you know, they were just kind of that were foundationally based on that.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Chronicles of Narnia, you know, those are actually some of my favorite books and and movies too.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: But specifically, tell a little bit of the theme of your book, some of the things you intertwine, and just and just what you're excited for people to get from it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So my my book is The Tales of Aris Becoming Fire and Lightning.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it tells the story of this historian, uh, Dr.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Michael Jenkins, who comes back from his studies getting his doctorate in uh the University of Tel Aviv, Israel.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he survived a terrorist attack um where terrorists had blown up a bus station and buses, and he had actually charged in to save people, and he saved five people.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Before he was doused and uh burning fuel from a secondary explosion, and he almost died.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so he does bear some of the scars, both psychologically as well as physically.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there were some other things that happened after that that I won't say because that's a spoiler.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: But he comes back and his biggest goal is to rebuild his relationship with the young, his younger sister, who is nine-year, ten-year different.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: She's 17, he's 27.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it was one of those dynamics where she kind of felt that he was abandoning her.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they were really super close and things like that.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: And but he had to move on to the life that that God had for him.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but before he even gets to see her, um, he gets sucked into another world.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Cassandra, uh, who lives in her brother's her brother's shadow, um, and strives to match him or beat him in various things.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um she's coming home and she's not looking forward to him coming back.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and she gets sucked into another world as she's walking in the front door.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so both of them meet the Lord of light and life, Ami, uh, which is the Greek variant of the word Aoemi, which Amy, which is what Jesus said when the soldiers said uh came in the Garden of Gethsemane and he said, Who are you looking for?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, Eoemi, all right, I am, which is also the Greek word that the the rabbis used when they translated the Old Testament into Greek, and with Moses, where Moses asks, Who do I say sent me?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: And God replies, Ao-emi.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so Amai is God.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so this is allegorical.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's a lot of uh under-the-surface faith type things.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um but one of the things that I love about it is that as the Lord and I partnered in writing this, because I always pray, Holy Spirit, please write through me.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it's not glorifying him, then it's a waste of my time, a waste of whoever reads it.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um but and so there have been some times where I've I've been writing and I know I'm kind of rabbit trailing, but this is really cool.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: All praise to God.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I stop and I read what I wrote, and I'm like, holy snap, that is good.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: That wasn't me.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: That was awesome.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: What in the world?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I try and write stuff on my own without the Holy Spirit's guidance, and I'm just like trudging and nothing.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then the moment I pray just floods, and it's like, oh, yeah, it's awesome.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, um they're they're all they're offered the call.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the call.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And for for Michael, he has been called to be a myzel, which is a mighty burning one.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's one of his flaming warriors.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: So he's got like his armor, his sword, his weapons, his shield.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's got flaming wings all made of blue fire.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he will fight against Barrel, who is this seven-headed fallen crystal dragon who is corrupting his for the last 40, no, 60,000 years or so, um, in this world, he's been trying to conquer Aris, which means beloved, uh or betrothed.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: And uh um, and so that's that's his role.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: But Amai tells him and says, Are you willing to do this?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not willing to do this, then I will I will just take you back home and you'll have no memory of this this event at all.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh Michael remembers a Bible verse that he read that morning during his devotion time and says, Cast off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, All right, sure.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so Cassandra, uh, she is uh given the call to be the speaker, which is the speaker of reconciliation.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: There are seven races in Aris.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: All of them are in strife uh because of uh genocidal war that happened in the previous age, all sorts of other stuff that's been going on, and they're not gonna survive Bahrel's Blitzkrieg because he's opened up all these portals of just flooding the nation with tons and thousands, hundreds of thousands of warriors and evil mutated creatures and evil dragons and all sorts of crazy, crazy creatures and stuff.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh they have their own militaries, but they have to work together in actual unity, or it's not gonna work, you know.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so now she's gifted with politics.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like she graduated high school early at 17.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: She was accepted to Princeton.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: She's going into international politics, she's been a part of the youth United Nations, which is a real thing, by the way.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and all this kind of stuff, but she's like, I'm a kid.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: What I know was nothing.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: What in the world?
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not educated for this.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have the background.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: And Amai just simply says, it's not about your background and what you know, it's about me working through you.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: You just trust me.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so she accepts as well.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then they're just thrown in this crazy psycho, like battles, and you know, Michael has this like eight to nine foot tall evil white tiger with like half his face, you know, melted off because he got holy water, Ami's water thrown on him, and it like burned like acid.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he's just this crazy psychopath, uh, who turns out to be Michael's mentor's great-grandfather.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then um, and so he's hunting him because he wants to kill him and eat him.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then Cassandra has this reptile dross, uh, but she's asundered, so she used to serve Amai as one of his priests and prophets.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but when she lost her family during the genocidal war, she blamed Ami, which we do, we blame God for the stupid decisions of other people and ourselves.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's not his fault at all.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: He tried to get us a stop and we were a bit dumb and didn't listen.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so she went over to Barrell.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so now she's this crazy psychopathic, you know.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so she's like, I'm going to hunt you down, Cassandra.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to destroy everything that you put, you know, you try to build.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: And once I've tortured you to the point of madness, then I'm going to devour you.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, that's crazy.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this person's nuts.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so they have these two psycho people who are hunting them.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: And they're, and so they have all these adventures and they almost die a few times, and you know, all this kind of stuff.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: But the the main theme, one of the main themes in Becoming Fire and Lightning, the first book in the Fire and Lightning series, is that when God gives us a call, a purpose, He's created every single one of us for a purpose, whether we accept it or not, there's gonna be lots and lots of people who are gonna tell us, this is how you're going to fulfill that call.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now there's there's wise counsel, and then there are those that are gonna try and get us to fulfill what they want, you know, like the parent who wants their kid to be in all these sports because they weren't sports or they never had a chance to.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: So they're like living vicariously through their children, and that's just nuts.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, but uh it's walking out that call the way God intends, but also this really strong message that God is good and that everything that is evil that steals, kills, and destroys from our life is not from him.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's from the it's from Satan and the kingdom of darkness.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when we get to know him, really truly get to know him, know his character, then we want to follow him.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: We want when we we see just how much God loved us, that he was willing to send his son to suffer a horrible death, uh, tortured and and humiliated and then burn in hell for us because someone has to pay the price for our sin and our rebellion.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, God doesn't want us to go there.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's why he sent his son.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then his him rising again and giving us the opportunity to be in a relationship with him, how much he loves us so much.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not a religion, it's a relationship.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's growing, it's communicating and talking with him and and walking together and all these things.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: And just like Michael and Cassandra, the level of power that they walk in, and wisdom and everything is directly linked to their relationship with Amai.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: The same is true with us.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: We only have as much wisdom and supernatural power operating in our life as we have knowledge, you know, not this knowledge, this knowledge, where we're walking out into an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so all of these things woven together in this crazy complex world with seven races and creatures that my uh my publisher says are the most terrifying thing she has ever seen in her life.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have this spider scorpion composite creature that is just utterly terrifying.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um but uh just all this stuff.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so as people are swept into the story, like with the Chronicles of Narnia, there's things that we learn, you know.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: And even I had um someone who asked me, Well, even what if you're not a Christian?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean, well, there's still lessons there, you know.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's not like I'm preaching, it's just here is faith uh walked out in a fantasy world in a way that will benefit anyone who reads it.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm not shoving it down people's throats, it's just there it is, you know, and so the tale of Tales of R's and series, because there's gonna be a lot of books in this in this world, uh that's what it is.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's real people, it's real situations, the relatable characters, you know.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do when you mess up?
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: And not just mess up a little, like mess up royally, because both my characters, both Michael and Cassandra, mess up royally.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, is that it?
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Am I done?
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, did I mess up so much that now I can't even do what I've been called to do?
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do in that situation?
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I don't know about you, but you know, I've messed up a lot, and there's been a lot of times where I've wondered, is this it?
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but you know, so there you go.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, man.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Terrence, that's powerful, man.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, to come from this book has a lot to it.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I think that's what I'm I'm so excited to share about it is I mean, you explained a lot, but I mean it's it's entertaining, there's messages, there's things you can pick up on, and and no matter who you are, you can take something away from it and can apply it while also being entertained, which is hard to do.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's just a very cool way to put your story and message and twist on things out there.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so I find that very fascinating.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: But uh Terrence, man, I I I think it's probably best to end it right there.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: I want people to have kind of that hook going out of this episode and to where it hopefully pushes them right towards your book to to want to pick it up and read it and learn more and to just dive in just from the passion and excitement you had to share for it.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so, man, I'm excited to have your book on the website.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to share the future books of this series.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: So as they come out, we will definitely be putting those out for people to see and continue reading the storyline that you create.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: But man, just keep keep doing the good work, man.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: Keep keep sharing with young people, keep writing.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because all of that's very positive, uh empowering.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh man, just proud to have you as a part of Books for Guys now, too, and and proud to share your work.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: So really appreciate that, Terrence.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for that opportunity.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.