-CHILDREN'S AUTHOR AND SPEAKER-
Micah Ray
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ABOUT MICAH
Micah Ray is an author and youth/children's speaker with more than 20 years of experience in ministering to church families and working with young people in both Christian and Public School settings. He serves as the Administrative Pastor at his home church in Central Illinois where he lives with his wife, Shannon.
He has written/edited articles for Christian magazines, trained workers in national children's conferences, served in various church roles such as Youth Pastor and Children's Director, preached and led worship in youth revivals, and developed curriculum for Christian teaching manuals used in hundreds of churches nationwide.
Micah is available for Revivals, Youth Conferences, Kid's Crusades, VBS, Pulpit Supply, Teacher/Worker Training, and Public School anti-drug/positive life choice assemblies.
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Feel free to contact Micah for questions or scheduling
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
December 2016
Q: How long have you been working on the Theophilus Messenger series?
MR: The initial story concept started taking shape during my first year of college in 1997.
Q: What kinds of books do you like to read?
MR: I love to read books that have scenes that unfold like you're watching a movie. I try to be a student of great fantasy and children's writers of the past and present. I also read a lot of non-fiction, Bible study stuff.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
MR: Yes! I practice and teach the Martial Arts (especially Jiu-Jitsu). I love using Karate as a tool to convey Attitude, Discipline, and Respect to young people. There's actually a few dojo scenes in the Theophilus Messenger books.
Q: Where did you get the idea to start writing books?
MR: Like I said before, I was in my first year of Bible college. It was 1997, and the first Harry Potter book had just come out. One of my Christian friends commented, at the time, that he thought kids would be influenced by that book to participate in witchcraft. My knee-jerk response was to say, "Where are the Christian writers nowadays? Are there any C.S. Lewis or Tolkein types around anymore?" I decided right then that I would write seven allegories that would teach the seven key doctrines of the Bible.
Q: If you could be any creature in Terraparable for a day, what would you be?
MR: I'm pretty sure that I'd want to have Sterling's powers. I almost said a "floatus" creature, but I figure I'd just capture an eiderglow or two and hitch a ride on one if I could.
Q: I really like the illustrations of characters from your books, who draws them?
MR: Lynda Ray. She was a public school art teacher for 34 years, and now she teaches at a Christian school and gives private lessons. Mrs. Ray is also my mom! However, the cover art for the first book was finished by a professional graphic artist.
Q: I want to be an author. What should I do?
MR: Read books about writing. The first one I read was called "Writing Fiction for Dummies" by Randy Ingermanson. I even got Randy to sign my copy when I met him at a writing conference. Oh, yeah. A writer's conference is kind of expensive, but there's no better way to jump-start your writing dreams than by attending one. The largest is the American Christian Fiction Writers conference. www.acfw.com
Q: Where do you live? Where do you work?
MR: Sometimes, I travel and speak to different churches around the nation, but my home base is in Central Illinois where I live with my wife, Shannon. I also stay pretty busy with my duties as the Administrative Pastor at my church.
Q: You say you're a Christian. How did that happen?
MR: My mom said that she led me to Christ when I was five. I truly may have trusted in Jesus then, but I couldn't remember it. When I was twelve, I came under great conviction that I wasn't perfect and therefore was a sinner. I had to get my salvation settled, so I went forward to pray at the end of a church service one Sunday morning. It was then that I settled the question of my eternal life in Heaven through commitment to faith in God's Son.
Q: So when did you decide to be in ministry?
MR: I was thirteen at the time. At a Wednesday evening church service, I felt a tugging at my conscience that I was supposed to grow up and serve God full time with my life. I even knew, then, that I was called to work with young people. By the way, it was on Groundhog's Day. I like to tell people that the Groundhog saw his shadow, but I saw the light!
Q: What will you write next after book seven is complete?
MR: I've got a few ideas for movie scripts and a couple of grown-up novels, but my first goal will be to develop a couple of spin-off series books (from Theophilus Messenger) for even younger kids.