About The Author
Question to the Author
What inspired you to write this book?
When I was a young girl, I always loved heroic stories. I loved watching Hercules and Xena. I love superhero cartoons like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and X-Men. I also love medieval heroes, like King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Beowulf. I also love the average-Joe hero, where an ordinary person saves the day. A hero was in the right place at the right time to save the day. A person who ran inside a burning building to save an older woman. A doctor who was eating in a restaurant, and another person started to choke on his food, and he performed the Heimlich maneuver. When a damaging earthquake, forest fire, or terrorist attack occurs, we see people come from different states or countries to help.
I am also a Coptic Orthodox Christian, so I grew up on bible stories of heroes like Moses, David, and, of course, the Ultimate Hero, Jesus Christ. I also know saints and heroes like St. George. I hear about miraculous and everyday heroes who stood up to our daily enemies.
I am familiar with many different types of heroes. When I was twelve years old, I wanted to write a story with Christian themes and a message that doesn’t alienate non-Christians, so I didn’t want to mention Christianity directly. This is why the word ‘Christian’ and Christian vocabulary are not in my book.
When I came to live in America, I noticed that people don’t understand the meaning of the church and religion. It makes sense because I was raised Orthodox, and the Church is symbolized as the mother and as God’s home, so it is very important to us. The Protestant movement does not focus on the church or protest its traditions, so it makes sense that the church’s importance is not well known. I want to make a story to explain the importance of having a church. Americans know the importance of God and faith, but most don’t know what the church means.