Thursday, June 27, 2013

Interview with Robert Staniford author of The Star War Factor

Interview with Robert Staniford author of The Star War Factor:



Robert Staniford is an author and friend from just outside Ascot, Windsor U.K.  Some may recognize Ascot for its famous horse racing history. Robert has five children and six grandchildren. His lifelong involvement in the arts through music, photography, and writing evolved into his book The Star War Factor.

It is a novel written reflecting on events during the apocalypse. The surprising sense of man’s own resources used perhaps by a divine hand threads a viable perspective on man’s own arrogance coming against him or fulfilling prophecy.

Robert refers to himself as a real prodigal son. I think that is a story Robert should reveal in his own way.

Glenda: Robert, you have referred to yourself as a prodigal son. Gilbert, the main character of your book, The Star War Factor, has a troubled past. How much did you draw on your own experiences to develop Gilbert?

Robert:  I was a product of the sixties and embraced much of what was going on with great zeal.  There's something of that in Gilbert but the character is by no means autobiographical.  Like any writer, I've drawn on experience and observation and Gilbert is something of a composite born out of this.

Glenda: How did you come to the realization that you wanted, or felt called, to devote your ministry to the gospel and write an epic novel reflecting on an apocalypse?

Robert:  The novel was written in embryonic form during the Reagan era, long before I became a Christian.  I shelved it at the time but stumbled upon the manuscript a couple of years ago and decided I could rework it and do something with it.  It isn't written as a Christian book.  I think there are already too many good ones that aim at a Christian market.  I didn't want to preach to the choir but rather write something that I hope has secular appeal and might provoke some of the right questions.

I've had a heart for evangelism since I first came to a real understanding of the Gospel message and the fate of those who refuse it.  My daughter, Ruth, suggested that I should apply my knowledge of scripture to teaching.  I haven't really taken that step as such but have started posting articles on a Christian site - with a focus on how God is working to fulfill prophesy in this troubled age.

Glenda: I know that I’d like to read those articles and other’s will as well. Would you post the web address below to that Christian site?

Robert: The web address is www.faithinthesouth.com 

Glenda: There are so many apocalyptic stories out there since 1999 with the new millennium. Somehow the genre has become popular horror, thriller and adventure mesh from monsters to devils and codes. What makes your book and characters different?

Robert: The Star War Factor really crosses a few genres.  There's a sc-fi element as well as an element that appeals to the conspiracy theory crowd.  In addition it touches on real human failing and recovery as well as a romantic element, with some political observation thrown in for good measure.  A writer whom I respect greatly compared the writing to that of John Wyndham, which I find very flattering.

Glenda: Why did you choose Star Wars developed during the Reagan era as a major event contributing to the apocalypse?

Robert:  Like most of us who lived during the cold war era, I felt the threat of nuclear holocaust as a very real and imminent thing.  When Reagan announced the plan to put missiles in space I felt the whole thing was going crazy and the original premise of the book was formed around that time.  I don't believe the threat has by any means gone away and I've no doubt that black projects, which gamble with our future, are continuing.  The situation in the Middle East could blow out of proportion at any time, and that's another issue in the book.  It's sad that people no longer have the awareness they did in the sixties and seventies.  It's as if they think the danger has gone away, or they don't want to think about the fact it's still there.

There's a verse in Zechariah, Chapter 14, that describes the plague which comes upon all the nations who seek to destroy Israel at the time of the Lord's second coming.  The description is very like that of a nuclear holocaust:


"And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem:

Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
And their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." - Zechariah 14:12.  It's worth taking time to read the whole of that chapter to put it in perspective.


Glenda:  If you could pick one quote from you book to emphasize Gilbert’s personality, what would it be?

Robert:  "It's what I do, it isn't who I am."

I’ve found it refreshing to interview Robert for several reasons. For one, he is very genuine in his purpose for writing which brings that heart to the story that commercial authors miss in their attempt to sell the trend.  This interview helped me see into the passion of the man Robert Staniford. Finally, Robert has found that factor in his life that renewed him and that factor is a belief in Biblical teachings we share.

For you the reader, I hope you will read this very significant story The Star War Factor and read it for whatever reason you find it as interesting from both a political, world view, and possibly even Christian standpoint. You can find The Star War Factor at:

Thank you, Robett Staniford for agreeing to this interview, and insight into who you are. I find my readers enjoy knowing the author behind the book. So this is to our readers, yours and mine. I hope you who are reading this will refer a friend to also read the interview and get to know the man behind The Star War Factor.