Best-selling Author Requests 24-7's SupportStephanie Heald - 26 Oct 2007
Fame and fortune has come at a price for the author GP Taylor. “It’s all about spiritual warfare,” he confides to Steph Heald, editor of 24-7News, as they sit in a café in Guildford after a book-signing session next door. His first novel Shadowmancer was a New York Times Bestseller and the follow-up, Wormwood, topped the British paperback charts earlier this year. It sold over 21,000 copies the day that JK Rowling’s Deathly Hallows came out – a record for any non Harry Potter book. Rights have been sold for a Hollywood movie.
But behind the scenes, the man dubbed ‘hotter than Potter’ and even 'the new CS Lewis’ by the BBC, has suffered severe bad health since the release of the first book, he’s been denounced by certain American church leaders, acquired his very own celebrity stalker and even received death threats. Who would have thought that writing books for kids could provoke such vitriol?
Here in the coffee shop, I sense that the man asking the 24-7 Prayer community to stand with him in prayer is not the high-profile author G.P Taylor; it is simply Graham; a man who writes great stories for kids. “The way I see it,” he says, “you guys in your 24-7 prayer cells are the ones on the front-line.”
The Backstory
GP Taylor may write dark, scary fantasy novels but in person he’s neither spooky nor weird. He began life as a roadie for the Sex Pistols, then became a hard-headed policeman and next an Anglican vicar (of the church where Dracula is purportedly buried), before penning his first novel. Last week he released his latest creation, Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box. It’s an adventure story for all ages, but behind its intricate fantasy storyline, there is a clear Christian allegory. The book even includes chunks of Psalm 91! So far the media has tolerated and even celebrated Taylor’s Christianity, but this benevolent climate seems to be changing…
Taylor tells me that, since Mariah Mundi’s release, many doors in the media have inexplicably slammed shut. His PR company is bewildered, unable to explain the sudden cold-shoulder. Sitting in the café, he wonders darkly whether he’s experiencing some kind of back-lash, or even whether there might be spiritual opposition.
If, as the apostle Paul says, we are engaged in a battle against ‘principalities and powers’, then perhaps we should expect a man like Taylor to be firmly in the enemy’s sights. London’s Independent on Sunday magazine described one of his books as “A compelling and dark-edged fantasy,” adding “here is solid confirmation that the devil doesn't have all the best tunes - or plots.” For someone who has tasted material success, the man in front of me is acutely aware of the spiritual realities at work in our world. He recognises the importance of prayer, and the urgency of shaping the culture.
Privately, Taylor tells me that many people have come to faith in Christ after reading his books. “They reach people who would not normally consider reading anything spiritual,” he points out. And then he looks straight at me and asks us to stand with him in prayer…
Please pray for:
- Protection on Graham and his family.
- That the media will open up in support of his new book
- For the forthcoming movie of Shadowmancer, which is currently being made.
